Former Eight Trey Crip member-turned-motivational speaker and community activist Sanyika Shakur, born Kody Scott, has died at 57, according to AllHipHop. Little information surrounding his death has been available. No cause of death has been revealed yet. People began paying tribute to Shakur on Twitter after news emerged. Most notably, Vince Staples who shared a photo of Shakur with the tweet reading, “Rest In Peace.” Glasses Malone also paid homage on Twitter.
Sanyika Shakur, who many knew as Monster Kody, joined the crips when he was 13-years-old before climbing the ranks of the gang under the mentorship of Tookie Williams. His street life inevitably led him to prison where he had a spiritual awakening of sorts and changed his name to Saniyka Shakur.
Shakur is most famously known for his memoir, Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member that he released while in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay Maximum security prison. During his stint in prison, he joined the Republic of New Afrika. After rejecting the street life, he remained committed to being a positive figure in the community.
“I was a criminal. I became a revolutionary. And people expected me to commit class suicide as a successful writer and become a noted author, and to me, I didn’t want to go that way. I didn’t want to be the go to guy when they said, ‘What about gangs?’ Because that’s not what it’s about,” he wrote in the book.
During the 90s, he also befriended 2Pac and maintained a close relationship with the late rapper until the time of his death.
R.I.P. Sanyika Shakur.