The 7 Day Theory
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The 7 Day Theory is a conspiracy theory spurred by the death of rapper Tupac Shakur. This theory makes the claim that the rapper left clues to how he died or, more popularly, clues that he faked his own death and is alive to this day. Seven albums have been released posthumously, fueling more interest in the possibility that Shakur is still alive. While proponents of the theory insist that it is true, it is more often dismissed as logical fallacy. The numerous references to the number seven (hence "The 7 Day Theory") have been countered by the fact that his album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, was named so for the fact it was completed in a seven day period.
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[edit] Examples
The conspiracy theory centers on the name that Shakur used on his album (Makaveli). Additionally, mention is made of the number of instances of the number seven in facts surrounding his life. Some examples include:
- In song "Heartz of Men" in Book One of All Eyez on Me, Shakur says "I died and came back" 3 minutes and 13 seconds into the track (3+1+3=7).
- Shakur died at age 25 (2+5=7) at 4:03 a.m. (4+3=7) on September 13, 1996, seven months after All Eyez on Me was released (February 13, 1996.[1])
- Shakur supposedly shoots six times in the first track of Seven Day Theory, "Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)". When the track switches and Shakur starts rapping, a seventh shot rings.
- In the music video of "Toss It Up", Shakur shatters a mirror with a bat. A commonly held superstition is that breaking a mirror will bring seven years of bad luck.
- Shakur's close friend Yaki Kadafi of Tha Outlawz was murdered on November 10, 1996, 61 days (6+1=7) after Shakur. Kadafi was possibly the only one who witnessed the rapper's death.
- In the 1997 film Gridlock'd, Shakur and Tim Roth ask about sandwiches. The cook points to the menu where the "L's" on the menu are replaced with an inverted reversed number seven.
- In the 1997 film Gang Related Shakur and Jim Belushi portray corrupt police detectives. In one scene they are found waiting in police room 7. The badge number worn by Shakur was 115 (1+1+5=7).
- References to the number seven can also be seen in his music videos and "allegedly" heard in some of his songs. In the video for "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto", in which Shakur is seen going into room 7 of a hotel at 4:03 (according to a clock in the video). It should be noted however, that the theme for "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto" was centered around "arriving" after his death. Since September 13, 1996 4:03 p.m. was the reported time of death, it may simply mean this is when Shakur arrived in heaven. Finally at the beginning of this video it says "Rukahs, New Mexico", if you switch Rukahs around it comes out "Shakur, New Mexico", it might indicate his new location - New Mexico.
- In the song "Only Fear of Death," in his R U Still Down? (Remember Me), Shakur says, "Never will I die, I'll be back" at the end of 2:41 mark. (2+4+1=7). This either states that he's still alive, or he'll be back.
- In the song "All Out" in his "Until the End of Time" album, Shakur says, "I'm in Jamaica sipping..." at the 1:33 mark. (1+3+3=7) This can also indicate a possible destination. Since the album is also called, "Until the End of Time," Jamaica can also be the place where he is until the end of time.
- The album art for "All Eyes on Me" shows Shakur holding up one hand and covering one finger with the other, so it looks like 3 fingers, and his other hand shows 4 fingers (3+4=7)
- In the song "Thug Luv" with Bone Thugz-N-Harmony, there is a gunshot every 7 seconds througout the duration of the song.
- He died in 1996 (1+9+9+6=25, 2+5=7)
[edit] Other possibilities
- Death, particularly his own, is an important topic in Shakur's songs and music videos. There is one example of this in the video "I Ain't Mad at Cha". The video was released two days after his death. It depicted Shakur in heaven following a shooting in a public place after seeing an event, which is oddly similar to how he died in real life.
- In the song, "Ain't Hard 2 Find", Shakur states: "I heard a rumor I died, murdered in cold blood dramatized/Pictures of me in my final stage you know Mama cried/But that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted, like I no longer existed, mysteriously missin'"
- Shakur created the pseudonym Makaveli, referencing 16th Century writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who suggested that faking one's own death was a legitimate political tactic. Makaveli, with the letters re-arranged, can possibly spell "K am alive" and the most prominent sound in his names is a K sound such as in 2pac and Makaveli. This leads to the thought that he is trying to say that "K" is alive.
- There was also much debate with the unreleased track "God Bless the Dead" on the Greatest Hits album in 1998. In the song Shakur says: "Rest in peace to my motherfucking Biggie Smalls / That's right boy, it's goin on/Right here, Thug Life/God bless the dead". Biggie Smalls (also known as Notorious B.I.G.) died on March 9, 1997, six months after Shakur died. Shakur says "Don't worry if you see God first", which according to some implies Shakur was still alive when Smalls was murdered.
- Throughout the song, "Ballad of a Dead Soulja" on Until the End of Time there are many lyrics that some would use to point to Shakur being alive. Some say Shakur makes a reference to Yaki Kadafi being alive. "A single witness screaming bloody murder, murder/Blast homey tell me homey what ya see now/A blind man and a dead body/I'm meant to leave town/"
- In the music video of Ghetto Gospel, he is seen at his own funeral at the end of the video.
- In the film Juice, Q is scheduled to go 7th in the DJ contest
- In song such as "Thugz Mansion" and "Smoke Weed All Day", the central theme is life after death. Not directly stated in "Smoke Weed All Day", but in "Thugz Mansion" it explores what will happen after death.
- In the song "Lastonesleft" which is on the album Until the End of Time which was released 2001 one of The Outlawz says "Only got my side cause they think 'Pac died nigga"
- In the song "Fair Xchange" which is on the album "Better Dayz" released in 2002, pac says "I betchu I can make you cum 61 times" (6+1=7) also Yaki Kadafi died 61 days after pac did.
- At the beggining of the song "Hold Ya Head" from the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory you can hear a voice whisper "Can you see him" then another voice whisper says "I see him" then you can hear pac whisper "I'm alive".
- In 50 Cent's song "Piggy Bank" he says "Tupac don't pretend".
- In the song "Blasphemy" there are two lines referring to Shakur being alive. The first line, "brothers gettin' shot, coming back resurrected" could be a reference that Shakur is alive and is coming back, and the second line, "The preacher wanted me buried. Why? 'Cause I know he's a liar." could mean that a preacher Shakur knew was opposed to Shakur faking his own death.
[edit] Criticism of the theory
[edit] Numerological coincidences
Given the sheer quantity of numbers that can be associated with Shakur and his death (track times, room numbers, etc.), critics of the theory have pointed out that it is easy to distort such a large sample (adding digits in various ways) to produce any number of startling coincidences that may seem related to the subject.
Furthermore, the number seven is a symbolic number in Christian thought and generally considered to be lucky, which may explain its appearance in music videos, movies and various functions.
The frequent references to death and dying are often argued to be a natural preoccupation of a gangsta rapper: particularly one who had been shot himself and was involved with criminal elements. There is, similarly, a wish to be remembered as being somewhat immortal, particularly in a situation where one's lifespan is likely to be short. Hence Shakur's interest was in the theory of resurrection.
Another argument advanced against the theory is that the preponderance of clues pointing to the faked death are such that the rapper cannot have achieved his hypothetical aim of staying out of the limelight.
[edit] The practical argument
The final point of the Seven Day Theory was that the rapper would return in September 2003, seven years after his death. Various dates were named for his return and some hard core theorists awaited the event with an almost millenarian fervor. That month passed without the return of the rapper, thus dis-proving the theory in the minds of many observers. However, in 2003, the movie Tupac: Resurrection was released.
However, some have set a new date for his return July 7, 2007 or 07/07/07.
[edit] Popular culture
Several entertainers have had their say in Shakur's supposed escape from death.
- During Chris Rock's standup performance in Never Scared, the comedian quoted: "Every year, Tupac comes back from the dead. Records a new album with clues in it. Every record has a clue in it, if you listen real hard, 'the nigga in the red shot me dead' or 'it was a nigga named Kevin wit a Mac 11'. 'Pac is reaching out to us."
- Dave Chapelle in an episode of Chappelle's Show, did a sketch where he was in a club and the DJ announced that he was going to play the "new Tupac" (as imitated by Chappelle.) The track lists several events (such as the Afghanistan War and the 2004 Election) that occurred after Shakur's death, while Tupac explained that it was written "a long time ago". Famous people who were unknown during his lifetime, such as Eminem and Beanie Sigel, were also mentioned in the song. The track even goes as far as to naming things which were happening in the club at the time, going so far as to tell Chappelle to go home to his wife and children, and telling the DJ "Okay, I will" when the DJ says "Tupac, rest in peace."
- In the game "Saints Row", there is a mission called The 7 Day Theory where a singer fakes her own death.
- An encounter with Tupac is featured in the song Tupac, by St. Louis band Matt's Dad's Basement.[1]
- Near the end of the 30 Rock episode "The Source Awards," the rapper Ridikolus (LL Cool J) angrily tells Jack Donaghy "Wait 'til I tell Tupac about this." As Ridikolus realizes what he has admitted, Donaghy reassures him that he "didn't hear anything."
- In Cam'ron's song "Curtis" (Which is a diss towards 50 Cent) when he says "jumped out of the casket bastard reincarnated" his voice is heard in the background after this saying "Makaveli"
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mark Scheerer (1996-09-13). Tupac Shakur dead at 25 (English) (HTML). CNN. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
