F1 legend Lewis Hamilton given extraordinary 2Pac tribute for iconic album

lewis hamilton, ferrari, tattoos — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

Lewis Hamilton given extraordinary 2Pac tribute for iconic album

Lewis Hamilton has a 'Still I rise' tattoo

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 23 December 2025 12:57

Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been honoured by the official Instagram account for the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Tupac's Still I Rise album was released 26 years ago yesterday, an album that is largely regarded as one of the most influential albums of all time, not least because it was released posthumously.

Shakur was assassinated in September 1996, in one of the most infamous crimes in American history, and it has led to the birth of many conspiracy theories surrounding the rapper's death.

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But Still I Rise was an aptly named posthumous album that was released in 1999, and featured Outlawz.

The album name came from a phrase that was first made famous by poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou in a 1978 poem, something that Hamilton has said has been a big inspiration to him.

Hamilton has many tattoos on his body, but the largest one depicts a large cross flanked by angel wings with the words 'Still I Rise', a tattoo that Hamilton recently revealed took 10 hours to complete.

And now, in a celebration of the anniversary of the album's release, the official 2Pac Instagram page has used a picture of Hamilton's back tattoo, alongside the album cover.

In the caption, the Instagram account wrote: "Still I Rise was released 26 years ago today. What was your favourite song on the album?"

Hamilton's 2Pac inspiration

Hamilton's back tattoo is one of the most impressive pieces of art on his entire body, and must have caused a lot of pain given Hamilton got it all done in a single day.

He recently revealed: "I mean, the idea originally came from Tupac, who was my favourite rapper.

"It took like, I think 10 hours or something like that, just in one go, straight away."

Angelou's 1978 poem which was the original use of the phrase in popular culture was primarily written about self-respect and confidence, but became a crucial piece of literature within the American civil rights movement.

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