In this WORLD,
Filled with countless threats;
I beg GOD to find A WAY,
For our ghetto kids TO BREATHE;
Show a sign,
Make us believe.
(2Pac)
Guess who's back?
It's TUPAC - The Rose that grew...out of concrete; with broken petals...and all.
"Holla If You Hear Me"!
I want to introduce SOMEBODY who also bore the name AMARU SHAKUR: meaning "Shinning Warrior".
His journey started from the Digital Underground, with Shock G (1989).
With not only RHYME - but also REASON - he 'rapped' his way up, to the Hip Hop Hall of Fame:
And became a 'G'!
Lord can you hear me speak?
Can you forgive me for my sins?
If I had it all again,
-I'd still play to win-
We can rant and rave
About slavery for ages;
Or we can start making POSITIVE,
And hit 'em with
A little ghetto gospel
(2Pac)
He held the m.i.c with confidence, and spat out the mind-boggling lyrics of "Me Against The World".
Blessed with a poet's muse, he proposed his "Ambition Over Adversity", with his ready pen.
And hand-in-hand, interpreting script, plot-by-plot, scene-after-scene, Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson brought Poetic Justice to live on the Big Screen.
He was Creativity Speaking rhyme and metre and drama:
"Never kept a secret, always stayed real", as he'd say!
Made a lot of money
Seen a lot of places...
[Your only son's become a man ]
I'm watching time fly,
I love my people, do or die;
But I wonder why we're scared
To let each other FLY...
(2Pac : "KRAZY")
Nowadays, Snoop Dogg prides himself as the 'Uncle of Rap'.
I bet if 2Pac were alive, he would almost certainly be the 'Father of Rap'!
"Lord Knows".
Recently, Chris Brown ( a.k.a Breezy ) 'upgraded' his black Lamborghini Garllado with the words "Lord Knows":
In tribute to one of hip hop's G.O.A.T.
Greatest. Of. All. Time.
Today, professors teach the poems and lyrics of these man at colleges and universities, in the same manner that they'd recite Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Ivy League institutions of learning such as Harvard and Yale, not to mention Howard, hold symposia in honour of him, from time to time.
Alas, there are even students getting credits for studying this young man's life!
The LIFE of a Westside Playa
Where cowards die,
And t'is all a ball.
In L.A we're wearin Chucks not Baltics,
That's right!
Dressed in Locs and Khaki suits,
And ride is what we do!
Flossin but havin caution,
We collide with other crews;
Famous cause We Program Worldwide.
Say what you say,
But give me that bomb beat from Dre;
Let me serenade the streets of L.A!
(2Pac; California Love)
Biggie made music for you to dance to; Tupac made music that left reason for you...to THINK.
When you listened to Kid n Play, you did nothing more than party all night. But when you listened to Tupac, what you gained was KNOWLEDGE and SELF-PRIDE.
Tupac Amaru Shakur changed the Rap Game, forever - leave out the so-called Gangsta Sh*t!
So, whenever you turn up your stereo, or your mp4 is blasting "Hail Mary" or "Makaveli", all you need to do is Nod Your Head...to a 'G';
That's right!
We are not just singing "Killuminati", we are hailing 2Pac a.k.a Makaveli - The Don!
No one knows my struggle,
They only see the trouble;
Not knowin it's hard to carry on
When no one loves you.
Picture me inside the misery of poverty;
No one alive has ever witnessed
Struggles I SURVIVED:
Dreaming of riches;
In a position of making a difference...
(2Pac; Thugz Mansion)
He's still everywhere: Homes. Offices. Clubs. On the Streets. 2Pac's music lives on.
PAY ATTENTION.
His image is plastered to Walls; printed on T-shirts and displayed on Shopping Malls.
WORLDWIDE!
TUPAC was stereotyped a THUG, especially by the American media, inspite of his immense creativity and respect for the work ethic.
The media were quick to point an accusing finger at yet another blackman commiting a crime, without making the equivalent effort to decipher why such a person would have decided to tread that dangerous path, not to mention what could have prompted the act.
In his music, Tupac strove to voice with such passion and occassionally with unbriddled anger, not only why the crime was possibly committed, but also what could have caused the fellow to walk that ungainful road.
Lord knows I've been a witness to homicide:
Seen drive-bys taking lives,
Little kids die!
Wonder why as I walk by,
Broken-hearted;
As I glance at the chalk-line getting high?
This ain't the life for me,
I wanna change.
But ain't no future right for me,
I'm stuck in the game,
I'm trapped inside a maze...
I'm fallin to the floor
Beggin for the Lord to let me
Into Heaven's Door -
Shed so many tears.
Lord I suffered through the years,
And shed so many tears.
TUPAC was born into a family where both parents were steeped in the "Black Struggle" movement, otherwise known as The Black Panthers.
His father was Billy Garland and his mother, Afeni Shakur. They lived like their counterparts in the projects or the inner-city:
They were deeply 'flawed'.
They used mind-blowing drugs like 'crack cocaine' and such; they were dope fiends.
Not surprising therefore, Pac became the poster-child for the point-blank expression of what was wrong in the black community in America:
Racism. Police brutality. Social deprivation. Drug abuse. Single parenthood.
This pain and anger drove his music.
For instance, in the hit number "Dear Mama", talking about his late father he said:
"I didn't even cry, man. I felt I needed a daddy to show me the ropes, and I didn't have one."
To Tupac, the drug dealing, the violence and the drive-by killings perpetrated by the inner-city youth were less of an in-born error of behaviour; and more of a means of surviving the harsh reality of their existence.
They constituted a rich bundle of evidence in support of the contradictions of the human experience.
The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
Life after all is a matter of CHOICES, as it is a matter of the CARDS YOU'VE BEEN DEALT by providence.
Perhaps, this explains why such a pensive and highly cerebral hip hop artist became the ICON for the 90's Gangsta Rapper.
Perhaps, it also may explain his bizzare paranoia.
There was no mercy on the streets,
I couldn't rest;
I'm barely standin,
About to go to pieces screamin peace;
I had my mind full of demons,
Tryin to break free;
They planted seeds that they hatched,
Sparkin the flame inside my brain like a match;
Such a dirty game!
No memories just misery...
Will I survive 'till the mornin
To see the sun?
Lord I suffered through the years,
And shed so many tears.
Lord I lost so many peers,
And shed so many tears.
I'm havin visions,
God can you feel me?
Take me away from all the pressure
And all the pain;
Show me some happiness again,
I'm goin blind...ain't livin well.
(Tupac Shakur)
His songs were all about his struggles and the life he led.
He discussed themes that were not only socially taboo to white America, but he also sought to reach the underbelly of the American society -
To expose the ills that plagued the black community; the very ones the white majority shied away from.
THUG LIFE was his radical idea, aimed at maintaining some level of order in the gang-infested streets.
He bought the simple idea that it would be much easier to achieve semi-control of the chaos seen in the streets, than it would be to eliminate the gangs from the streets altogether.
His method was to 're-write the rules of conduct' of the various gangs.
Back in elementary school,
I thrived on misery;
Left me alone,
I grew up amongst a dying breed;
Inside my mind,
I couldn't find a place to rest;
Until I GOT THAT THUG LIFE
Tattooed on my chest.
Tell me,
Can you feel me?
(Tupac Shakur)
PAC was a wunderkind.
Apart from the rap game, he is considered 'a hip hop intellectual' in retrospect.
According to the renowned American Scholar, Michael Eric Dyson, Tupac helped to deconstruct the 'Anti-intellectualism' that formerly pervaded rap, as well as a large part of the black inner-city community.
The rapper deployed NOT only his 'street smarts', but also his 'book knowledge' -
To enlighten a heady generation who felt they have been left helpless on the bleak fringes of the American Society.
Having a deep thirst for knowledge and a voracious appetite for books, Pac perused many a book - including The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and The Art of War by Sun Tzu, plus other books on philosophy, strategy, and politics.
"Pac...was a social activist and was one of the greatest in advocating political, economic, social and racial equality", re-affirms Chantal Verhagen, a Dutch fan.
Tupac had earlier attended the Baltimore School of the Performing Arts. There he 'rubbed minds' on several occasions with the famous English bard, William Shakespeare.
Not surprising therefore that Kenny Leon, the Tony Award-winning director of the Tupac theatrical, "Holla If You Hear Me", claims that the latter belongs to such "army of writers as August Wilson and William Shakespeare".
Like Shakespearean verses, 2Pac's poems have also become pieces of Timeless Literature.
"I looked at Pac's words on paper. He's like Shakespeare and Lorraine Hansberry. He was trying to say stuff about Honour, Respect and Love of country", nods Kenny Leon, in the affirmative.
The message I stress:
To make you stop,
Study your lessons;
Don't settle for less,
Even the genius asks questions.
Be grateful for blessings.
Don't ever change,
Keep your essence.
The power is in the people,
The politics we address;
ALWAYS do YOUR BEST.
(Tupac)
Considered to be one of the best-selling artists of all time, 2Pac Amaru Shakur has sold more than 75 million albums as at 2010.
His ART - Music, Poetry, Acting - was basically an imitation of his LIFE.
Both Good and Bad.
ON A FINAL NOTE, the question is: do we forget 2Pac because he was 'A THUG' ?
I think the answer is NO!
Instead we should EXAMINE the system that made him the way he was; and a society that yet continues to make other young men and women look the wrong way.
If America does not like the image of a thug, it should wake up and do something about it.
Now, there is enough reason this rapper, 19 years gone to the grave, still possesses the power to wake up the conscience of a living generation.
He made stirring music and wrote heart-felt verses borne out of universal themes.
He showed us that we are not to be considered less, just because we are going through pain:
The pain that arises from the daily conflicts of living in a highly capitalized America.
Where all at once, your attention is torn unpalatably between creating a communal sense of camaraderie and pursuing personal financial gains.
He teaches us that though we all seem to walk around like we have got this life figured out, the truth remains that we are lost and searching for solace.
"There was a time in my life when I felt like I just couldn't take it anymore. Tupac's poetry and lyrics were just the right amount of help I needed. I am stronger because of him", reflects Medina Maxim, now a 28year old 2Pac Chicago fan.
According to Michael Eric Dyson:
"2Pac was a transcendent force of creative fury who relentlessly articulated a generation's defining moods -
"Its confusion and pain, its nobility and courage, its loves and hates, its hopelessness and self-destruction.
"He was A ZEITGIST IN SAGGING JEANS" !
In his own earthly Pursuit of Happiness or the American Dream, 2Pac concludes lyrically:
"I ain't mad at cha; ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME".
But TOMORROW I SEE changes:
A chance to build anew,
Built on Spirit,
Intent on Heart,
And ideal based on Truth.
And TOMORROW I WAKE:
With second wind,
And strong because of Pride.
To know I fought
With all my heart;
TO KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE.
(Tupac)
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