DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                TAG: 9703280057

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHELE VERNON-CHESLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  111 lines

IS TUPAC ALIVE?

TUPAC SHAKUR is alive.

He faked his death and is living in Mexico or the Caribbean or the mind of your closest friend.

All across the country and here in Hampton Roads, on radio stations and in school hallways, fans and casual listeners are chattering endlessly about the life and ``alleged death'' of the rap star. Tupac, they say, wanted to get out of the rap scene. He wanted to change his life and lifestyle. The only way he could achieve that change was to fake his death and go into exile.

``I think he's still alive, because he's getting too much publicity dead and he's coming out with more videos and more songs and stuff,'' said Quindora Greenlee, a 17-year-old senior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. ``I don't think he's dead, because they showed Notorious B.I.G.'s funeral on TV, they didn't show his. They said he was cremated. They didn't show nothing. I think he's somewhere on the island.''

According to police accounts, Tupac Amaru Shakur died Sept. 13, six days after his body was riddled by bullets fired from a passing car. His death shook many in the music industry and left fans puzzling over the details.

``You can trust me. He's not alive,'' said Sgt. Kevin Manning of the Las Vegas Police Department. ``I saw the autopsy.''

Manning said that Las Vegas police received 300 calls after a March 14 episode of ``Unsolved Mysteries'' on television focused on Tupac. ``Fifty percent were from people saying he's alive,'' said Manning.

Tupac's music, though soundly criticized by some, appealed to ``the struggle most people have with wanting to do the right thing, wanting to be an asset to the community and giving in to some of the vices of the environment,'' said Seko Varner, a school resource counselor at Hunt-Mapp Middle School in Portsmouth and former host of the Underground Preservation Society radio program.

He was a hero to a number of people, said Michael Gonzales, a writer for Vibe magazine. ``A lot of people don't like to think that their heroes are gone.''

That may be why the rumors of Tupac's faked death tend to be greatly exaggerated, according to Havelock Nelson, a rap columnist for Billboard magazine.

``When you're not sure of something, your imagination gets to work and anything that seems credible at the moment, you grab it.''

But, for some, it's hard to doubt the Machiavelli theory?

The theory probes the many nuances of Tupac's latest album, including the depiction of a crucified Tupac on the cover and his repeated references to his death. But most importantly to believers, the album was released under the name Makaveli, a phonetic spelling of Machiavelli.

For the unschooled among us, Machiavelli was the 16th century Florentine statesman who suggested that politicians sometimes may be excused for performing acts of violence or deception. The term Machiavellian connotes craftiness or deceit.

Tupac changed his name, believers say, as a sign that he's still alive.

``The Makaveli stuff is happening now,'' said Sherita Gullette, 18, a freshman at Norfolk State University. ``Just like Makaveli, he faked his death. . . . Why? Because he was so popular. He was trying to change his way of life.''

Don't buy Makaveli? Then, check out the numbers?

Tupac allegedly died at 4:03 p.m. He was 25. If you add 4 plus 3 or 2 plus 5 you get 7. His latest album is entitled ``7 Day Theory.'' Besides, 7 is a lucky number. Maybe Tupac was lucky and didn't die.

If the luck thing doesn't work for you, get this. Tupac died on Friday the 13th. Enough said.

``There are just too many unanswered questions,'' said Gullette, a believer. ``It took so long for his mom to come out. There was no funeral. The memorial service was canceled, then he was cremated.''

Noted rapper Chuck D. of Public Enemy raised similar questions last year during an online chat. He asked why Las Vegas police had not yet recovered the white Cadillac from which the fatal shots were fired and why no witnesses to the shooting had emerged. His comments got people talking, wondering, pondering. But Chuck D. is not a believer, said his publicist Jana Fleishman.

``Chuck just asked 10 questions and that's his whole attitude,'' said Fleishman. ``No, he does not believe Tupac is alive.''

Even if Chuck D. doesn't believe the rumors, his 10 questions helped promote the discussion. He's listed as a source on at least two Tupac web pages. One page, located at www.cs.arizona.edu/people/bastin/ tupac/temp.html, has seen more than 100,000 visitors.

``If you didn't know,'' creator J.D. Bastin says at the page's beginning, ``Tupac Shakur is my idol. I have always looked up to him for his strong spirit, for staying true to himself and for always keeping it real.''

The Internet is not the only place where the rumors thrive. The theories flow off the lips of parents, like Gullette's 43-year-old dad, who said Tupac is living in Cuba, and out of the mouths of babes.

``My 7-year-old tells me he really isn't dead. He's living in Mexico,'' said Shirley Carter, a mass communications and journalism professor at Norfolk State. ``He said he heard it in the other media, not the mainstream. . . It's like a cult thing. It started as a rumor. My concern is that my 7-year-old son is taking this stuff seriously and that it can have a life of its own outside mainstream media.''

Carter believes her son gets his information from classmates and friends, the same way her peers used to spread rumors about their entertainment idols.

``I suppose that it's from a generational point of view,'' said Carter. ``It's no different than how we felt about the Beatles or Marvin Gaye or entertainers from our era. As a mother, though, I'm concerned that this is something my 7-year-old is repeating.''

Not all Tupac fans buy the idea that the rapper faked his death.

``I think since the death of B.I.G. it's come back up,'' said Mikado Hinson, a 21-year-old junior at Norfolk State. ``A lot of fans just don't want to let it go. I don't know why he would risk that. . . just to make some money. Death is nothing to play with. . . Personally, I think he's gone home.''

Whether or not Tupac is alive is not the issue, said Varner. ``The real issue is the struggle he had and his attempt to move on and do good things. He wanted to make sure in next election that teen-agers voted. We need to take those positive messages.''

Still, it would be nice if Tupac were here to offer those messages, said Mynette Eady, a senior at Deep Creek High School in Chesa-peake.

``He was a person who had a voice that could speak to youth. I think that's what we lost because people listened.''

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