F1 legend Lewis Hamilton receives incredible 2Pac honour

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Monaco, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton receives incredible 2Pac honour

Lewis Hamilton has a 'Still I rise' tattoo

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 23 December 2025 17:07

Lewis Hamilton has been honoured by the official Instagram account for the late rapper Tupac Shakur, with an iconic album featuring a picture of the F1 champion.

Tupac's Still I Rise album was released 26 years ago, 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.

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

Why was Hamilton inspired by 2Pac?

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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