To walk around Long Beach and see, hear, or talk about a superstar is not uncommon. Long Beach Poly High School alone has produced the likes of Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Warren G, and boasts over a dozen current and former NFL players including Willie McGinest, DeSean Jackson, and, most recently, Juju Smith-Schuster.
As luck would have it back in 1996, the paths of Long Beach Poly football and one of hip-hop’s greatest icons would cross on a fateful day in September.
To most rap fans, Sept. 7, 1996, will forever be remembered as the day Tupac Shakur was fatally shot to death.