To add to what you said, Tupac was also getting into acting, which shouldn't be surprising since he was a theatre kid at high school. Lucas apparently wanted Tupac to be Mace Windu and Samuel L Jackson only got the role because Tupac got murdered.

The dude was super talented and was sufficiently radicalized that the feds would want him dead. The combination of having star power and respect from OGs was a potent combination.