Many people believe Tupac was bald due to male pattern baldness but contrary to popular belief we saw Tupac with Hair throughout his entire life, childhood, early teenage years and up until his death.
The decision to implement the bald rapper look was inspired by the rap group onyx as he felt it suited him better which resulted in it becoming his signature look.
Our editorial revisits the different hairstyles Tupac had throughout his life!
Tupac with Hair throughout his Career
Buzz Cut
One of the oldest Tupac photos features his relatively low buzz cut which we see in his yearbook photo whilst he attended Baltimore.
Coming from low income housing the buzz cut was the style worn by most African American students during the 80s and 90s as it was an affordable haircut.
1 level across his entire head with the occasional fade seemed to be the haircut at the time. We would begin to see him try other styles as he got older.
Tupac Jheri Curl
It’s the mid-80s and the most prominent hairstyle in black culture is the Jheri curl! Tupac clearly influenced at the time would have the look during this period.
As a result of Hip Hop gaining commercial success through the likes of NWA, we begin to see a mass appeal around rapper’s dress sense and hairstyles!
Eazy E’s hair in jheri curls becomes a staple look!
Not to mention Michael Jackson has just dropped the biggest album ever, thriller! The 80s was Jheri curl crazy and Tupac was no stranger to this!
High Top Fade
As Hip Hop began to grow a cultural identity would begin to form and one of the 1st indicators of this was how hair was worn by the youth.
Art imitates life; therefore, we would see the musicians having their hair worn in ways those black youth in the communities were styling it.
In addition to this one of the most significant looks was Tupac with hair moments comes from the movie juice.
The distinctive box fade features a line parting separating the afro with faded sides. In homage to this moment, we saw Young Joc Hair feature a shaved in Tupac when he wore the high-top fade.
Prison Interview
Back in September 1995 Tupac was interviewed at Clinton Correctional Facility in which we can see the rapper with a full set of hair.
Tupac was able to grow his hair out during this time since he wasn’t able to access the constant grooming services, he was privy too as a celebrity.
If there was any doubt about Tupac being permanently bald then this interview may sure rumours were put to rest.
Mugshot
If you take a closer look at Tupac’s mugshot image you will be able to see hair being sprout out from his scalp.
It looks to be just over a level one, prior to this he would also have his head shaven but going just a week without a shave and we begin to see hair growth happen again.
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