Las Vegas police search home in Tupac murder case

Las Vegas police have searched a home as part of their investigation into the murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur almost three decades ago.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department "can confirm a search warrant was served" in the neighboring city of Henderson on Monday, July 17, a spokesperson said in a statement to AFP. 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper said a home had been searched.

Shakur, the best-selling hip-hop artist behind hits such as California Love, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of just 25, and his killers have never been caught. 

Monday's search was "part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation," said the police statement Tuesday, July 18 without providing any further details. 

"It's a case that's gone unsolved and hopefully one day we can change that," Lt. Jason Johansson told the Review-Journal.

Shakur had a brief but spectacular career, rapidly rising from backup dancer to self-styled gangsta rapper and one of the most influential figures in hip-hop, who sold 75 million records.

Shakur also became a key figure in a vaunted rivalry, egged on by promoters, between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop.

Though born in New York, Shakur moved as a teenager with his family to California, becoming one of the most identifiable figures in the West Coast scene. 

The circumstances of Shakur's death in September 1996 remain murky, and theories have long abounded. 

Shakur's murder was followed six months later by the gunning down of his rival East Coast rapper Christopher "The Notorious BIG" Wallace.

Many believe they were slain as part of a rivalry between their music labels, LA-based Death Row and New York's Bad Boy Entertainment. 

But some music historians say the coastal rift was exaggerated for commercial reasons.

Shakur—whose mother Afeni was active in the Black Panther movement and named him after Tupac Amaru, a revolutionary Inca chief—used his lyrics to raise issues facing Black Americans, from police brutality to mass incarceration. (AFP)