Sie sind auf Seite 1von 12

Spezialgebiet Englisch

Tupac Amaru Shakur


(1971-1996)

verfasst von Ren Ulrich

Index
I. Early life and career beginning.....................................................................................................3 II. 2Pacalypse Now, police brutality. shooting in Marin City........................................................4 III. Thug Life and rape charge.........................................................................................................5 IV. Prison sentence, Me Against the World and the sale of his soul..........................................5 V. Outlawz...........................................................................................................................................6 VI. Last album and new rapper name Makaveli........................................................................6 VII. East Coast vs. West Coast Beef.................................................................................................6 VIII. Tupac's Death / the end of East vs. West Coast Beef.............................................................7 IX. Influences and musical style.......................................................................................................8 X. Analysis of Changes..................................................................................................................8 XI. Tupac's message.........................................................................................................................10 XII. Woman equality.......................................................................................................................10 XIII. Legacy......................................................................................................................................10

I. Early life and career beginnings (19711990)


Tupac, known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was born on June 16, 1971, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. He was named after Tpac Amaru, a Peruvian revolutionary who led a revolt against Spain and as a result he was executed. In addition, Tupac Amaru means Shining Serpent and Shakur means Thankful To God, in Arabic. His mother, Afeni Shakur, and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is an American black revolutionary party, which staged protests. The partys original purpose was to monitor black ghettos to protect residents from acts of police brutality. Often times, police came to beat and arrest several members of these protests. Although unconfirmed by the Shakur family, several sources list his birth name as Lesane Parish Crooks. This name was supposedly entered on the birth certificate because Afeni feared her enemies would attack her son, and disguised his true identity using a different last name. She changed it later, following her separation from Garland and marriage to Mutulu Shakur. From childhood, it is known that everyone called Tupac the Black Prince. When he was aged two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This childs father, Mutulu, was also a Black Panther activist who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal amoured-car robbery, which took place in 1981. With Mutulu away, the family experienced hard times. No matter where they moved-the Bronx, Harlem, homeless shelters- Tupac was distressed. I remember crying all the time. My major thing growing up was I couldnt fit in. Because I was from everywhere. I didnt have no buddies that I grew up with. Because of this instability at such a young age, Tupac grew up a troublesome child, he referred to it as I have to play the hand I was dealt. When Tupac was 10 he and Afeni moved to Baltimore in the hope of giving him a chance in life by enrolling him at the Baltimore School Of Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet.He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in The Nutcracker. Tupac excelled in every performance as his true talent showed, despite his troubled past. Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana Smith, as his beatbox, won many rap competitions and was considered to be the best rapper in his school. He was remembered as one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix with all crowds. He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until his death. In the documentary Tupac Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life." Pinkett Smith calls him "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada" appears in his book. People could see Tupac had true talent as he wrote his fist rap under the alias MC New York in June 1986. Despite this talent and happiness Tupac was showing Afeni again moved, this time away from the Eastside of America, to Marine City, in California, which is on the Westside of America. The sides or coasts of America would become an important factor in Tupacs life, and death. The East vs Westside beef between rappers and gangsters was already going on, but with Tupacs contributions, it would esculate out of control, resulting in in bloodshed. Tupac said after leaving the school in Baltimore, leaving that school affected me so much, I see that as the point where I got of track. Shortly after moving Tupac moves in with a neighbour and begins to slang drugs. Tupac lived from an early age with people who were struggling and who were imprisoned. For example his godfather, Elmer, a high ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Runaways list. Mutulu was wanted for having helped his sister Assata to escape from a prison in New Jersey. She had been imprisoned for killing a state trooper in 1973. Mutulu was 3

caught in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a truck in which two police officers and a guard were killed. Tupac also had an older stepbrother, Mopreme, who appeared in many of his recordings.

II. 2Pacalypse Now, police brutality. shooting in Marin City (199093)


After his family moved to California, Tupac began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989. That same year, Steinberg organized a concert with a former group of Shakur's, "Strictly Dope"; the concert led to him being signed with Atron Gregory. He set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the young rap group Digital Underground in 1990. Tupac was a massive hit and it was clear he was destined for bigger things. However, by this time, Tupac had already been arrested 8 times. Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble and also appeared with the group in the film of the same name. In 1991 when Tupac was on his first tour with Digital Underground he talked of his hopes and dreams of using his talents to turn bad to good and become a pro-black revolutionary He spoke with the wild enthusiasm of a youth who wanted to accomplish everything at once, because he had yet to learn that in life only so much is possible. He wasnt a gangster or a thug, not yet. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital Underground again on his album. Tupac released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Though the album did not generate any "Top Ten" hits, 2Pacalypse Now is hailed by many critics and fans for its underground feel, with many rappers such as Nas, Eminem and Game having pointed to it as inspiration. The album's name is a reference to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now. He released this album under his new rapper name 2Pac. The album generated significant controversy. However on the 11th April 1992, Ronald Ray Howard, aged 19, shoots a Texas trooper. Howards lawyer claims Tupacs debut album 2Pacalypse Now, caused him to kill, this reflected very badly on Tupacs gangster lyrics throughout the album, and also him as a person, as his lifestyle comes under closer review and his many fights with the law become publicised. Dan Quayle, who was the senator of Indiana and the 44th Vice President of the United States, criticized it. Quayle said, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society." The record was important in showcasing 2Pac's political conviction and his focus on lyrical skills. In additon, it also helped Tupac as a rap artist as his audiences believed his gangster lyrics are truthful, and not fake, which resulted in many more sales and media hype for 2pac! Tupac tended to attract a lot attention on stage, because of his gift to make people laugh but listen and learn, and also because of his good looks and good nature, it was hard not to like Tupac. But he was deeply affected by what he was seeing around him and what he had seen as a youngster, and later this would reveal the darker side of Tupac. Later on in his career Tupac tended to show more of his darker side, both in and out of his songs. But he still continued to show his lighter side in many of his songs throughout his career, songs released in life and in his death. Both sides of him influenced so many peoples lives for good, inspiring his people to carry on, and to Keep Ya Head Up, through the struggle that is life. However his songs also influenced people in bad ways, especially when a murderer blamed Tupacs debut solo album, 2pacalypse Now for his own urge to kill. Tupac seemed to constantly struggle with these two sides of his soul, switching the sides of his psyche back and forth between the life of a thug and the way of the revolutionary. 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality in his songs. His style on this album was highly influenced by the social consciousness and Afrocentrism pervading hip hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this primary release, Shakur helped extend the success of such rap groups as Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash, as he became one of the first major socially conscious 4

rappers from the West Coast. In October 1991, Tupac filed a $10 million civil suit against the Oakland Police Department, claiming they brutally beat him for jaywalking. On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, Shakur performed at an outdoor festival, and stayed for an hour afterwards signing autographs and pictures. A confrontation occurred in which someone pulled out a gun, and accidentally dropped it. As it was picked up, a bullet discharged. About 100 yards away, Qa'id Walker-Teal, a 6-year-old, was hit and killed by a bullet at a playground. On the other hand some other sources report that the child was the victim of a stray bullet in a shootout between Shakur's entourage and a rival group. Shakur and his brother Mopreme left in their car and were stopped by an angry mob. The police "rescued" them and took the two into prison, who were soon released without charge. Ballistics tests proved the bullet that killed the boy was not from Shakur's or any members of his entourage's gun. Shakur's lawyer said that the festival was a "nasty situation," and his client was saddened by the death of the young boy. He was dealt another huge blow as he learns that whilst he is on tour, his mother, Afeni, is addicted to crack. Tupac reacted badly to this, and refers to this moment in many of his songs as an awful time in his life. It is believed that Afenis partner had earlier introuduced Afeni to crack. Yet Tupac still carried on with Digital Underground, every day learning more, and every day pushing more for his own chance to get on his own stage. In the same year Tupac made his film debut, starring in Ernest Dickinsons film Juice, which brought Hollywood success, and earned him praise for his portrayel of his character, Bishop, for which he is perhaps best remebered for the line, Im crazy and I dont give a fuck!

III. Thug Life and rape charge (1994)


In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including his brother Mopreme and a few other rappers. People in their neighborhood always called them thugs, so they started saying, Thug Life. Shut up. The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which went gold. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur. The album was originally released by Shakur's label . Due to criticism about gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. The album contains only ten tracks because Interscope Records felt many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release. They critized passionately bad things they have seen. For example racism, drugs, life on the streets, police brutality and many other things. Especially these things characterize also Tupac's songs and lyrics. In November 1993, Shakur and some other members of his entourage were charged with sexually abusing a young woman in a hotel room. Shakur denied the charges. By the time the long trial was coming to an end, on November 30 1994, just one night before court meeting, robbers assaulted and shot Tupac several times in the lobby of his Recording Studios in Manhattan. The thieves made of with $40,000 worth of his jewellery. Five bullets hit Tupac in the head, groin and arm. Fortunetly he managed to survive through the night and even checked himself out of hospital just 3 hours after surgery in a wheelchair to present himself the next morning at the court hearing. Unfortunetly though, he was found guilty and sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on sexual assault charge. Tupac later accused fellow rap artist and at this point one of his best friends The Notorious B.I.G. of involvement of the shooting and for stealing his lyrics whilst Tupac was in jail.

IV. Prison sentence, Me Against the World and the sale of his soul (1995)
Shakur began serving his prison sentence February 14, 1995. Shortly afterward, he released his multi-platinum album Me Against the World. Shakur became the first artist to have an album at 5

number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. The album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record for highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential hip hop albums of all-time. While serving his sentence, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, on April 4, 1995; the couple divorced in 1996. While imprisoned, Shakur read many books by Niccol Machiavelli, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy and strategy. These things also characterize his later recorded songs. In this album, Tupac raps about contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unscrupulous aggression, sympathy, playfulness, and hope. Meanwhile Suge Knight president of Hip-Hops most successful and controversial label, Death Row Records, had arranged parole for Tupac, who had only served 8 months of his sentence, and posted the required $1.4 million bail. The deal was that Tupac signed to Death Row Records when released from jail and recorded 3 albums for the label. It was clear that he accepted this deal as he hated prison and would have done everything to get himself out there. The reality of it is that Tupac didn't want to join Deathrow as he said at the time he signed the contract I know Im selling my soul. But he couldnt stand another few years in prison. Newly signed to Death Row a double CD entitled All Eyez On Me was released by Tupac, the album received supporting and outstandingly good reviews and went over 9 times platinum, selling over 6 million in its first year. The album generated the hit single California Love with 2pac featuring rap legend Dr Dre. Tupac had gained worldwide success and was the biggest influence to the youth since the great N.W.A. In the same year Tupac received many acting offers and so began to concentrate on his acting career, appearing in films Gridlock'd and Bullet. In All Eyez Of Me many tracks are considered by many critics to be classics. All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works. While still containing socially aware songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his first albums. Shakur described it as a celebration of life, and the record was critically and commercially successful.

V. Outlawz
The Outlawz is an American hip hop group founded by Tupac Shakur in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Tuapc was part of it until the day he died. While being in prison, he apparantly never recieved one visit or phone call form his homies who he thought betrayed him. Fueled by his anger that these people, he started ideas to construct a group consisting of Thug Life soldiers . Together, they are best known for the numerous songs, albums and offensively diss songs they did with Tupac. Yafeu Fula was Tupacs godbrother and the pair became inseparable growing up together living in the same households at times. When Tupac was incarcerated in 1995 Yafeu would visit Tupac daily, and it was there in one of those visits that they decided to form the rap group Outlawz which is a backronym for Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriorz. The other memebers would join from another group which first appeared on a Tupac Shakur single in 1993. The Outlawz were a second family for Tupac but also a bad influence, as they pushed him to make more offensively diss songs and sell drugs on the streets to get cash.

VI. Last album and new rapper name Makaveli (1996)


The Don - Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, commonly shortened to The 7 Day Theory, is the fifth and final studio album by Tupac Shakur, under the new stage name Makaveli, finished before his 6

death and his first studio album to be posthumously released. The emotion and anger showcased on the album has been admired by a large part of the hip-hop community, including other rappers. This album was certified 4 Platinum on June 15, 1999.

VII. East Coast vs. West Coast Beef (1996-97)


The East CoastWest Coast hip hop rivalry was a fight in the 1990s between artists and fans of the East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop scenes in the United States. Focal points of the controversy were East Coast-based rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (and his label, Bad Boy Records), and West Coast-based rapper 2pac (and his label, Death Row Records), both of whom were murdered. 2pac and Notorious B.I.G. were actually good friends in their earlier days! Before the two rappers started violent lyrical controversies, and public accusations of one another resulting in much violence between the two coasts these two artists have performed together and also supported each other off stage as close friends. The controversy between the two coasts started off when the friendship of 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G begun in 1994, Tupac supported BIG as an artist, assisting BIG in his struggling career to be known as a rap star, and they made some tracks such as the now famous 2Pac & Biggie Runnin. They met pretty often, having dinner at Tupacs house, or just hanging out. Tupac helped Biggie, he introduced him into Thug Life, supported him on tracks and on stage as the picture above, and even bought Biggies first rolex watch. The beef between the pair came towards the end of 1994. Trouble really began when Tupac was shot 5 times on November 30th, 1994. It set the grounds for his beef with Biggie, Puffy and Badboy Records as a whole. Tupac believed the shooting, but also the infamous rape case was part of a setup from Bad Boy Records and its affiliates. The setup in the shooting seemed to run hand in hand with the rape case Tupac was going through at the time of the shooting. At this point, 2pac became more and more aggresive and started making beef songs, in which he is dissing other rappers. This is where the beef between Tupac and Badboy originally began. Tupac never directly blamed Biggie or Puffy in the shooting, but they were his friends, and they never warned him, and he believed they knew about the planned attack on Tupacs life. After he went to prison they never visited him and as Tupac said, they abandoned him and tried to take his position. While Tupac was in prison he said he thought about giving up rap all together. He said the reason he didnt was the fact that they were trying to dirty up his name and take away everything hed worked for. Their friendship was later worsened when BIG released an album that Tupac said was remarkably similar to 2Pacs upcoming album, which resulted in Tupac re-recording the entire album. Pac also mentioned that Biggie was rapping about my life when he was rapping about the cash, jewelry and assets he did not really have. BIG even began to dress like 2Pac. This can be reffered to in 2Pacs track Hit em up, in which he is dissing Biggie Smalls and all Bad Boy Records artists. Tupac says Now its all about versace / You copied my style / 5 shots couldnt drop me / I took it and smiled, the Outlawz also diss Biggie on the same track with lines like a B-writer / Pac style taker / Ill tell you to face,you aint nothing shit but a faker. However Tupac couldnt escape his dark side and carried on getting in a lot of trouble both with the law and many other people, including his rap peers. Tupac continued the East vs West coast beef, and in May 1996 he and fellow Death Row artist Snoop Doggy Dogg released 2 of Amerikaz most Wanted. In the video, caricatures of Biggie and Puffy are punished for setting up Tupac. Then again on June 4, 1996 Death Row released Tupacs Hit Em Up, a brutal attack against Biggie, Bad Boy, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, Lil Kim and Puffy. This beef was now getting very personal and more serious by the day as it looked more and more likely to end in violence.

VIII. Tupac's Death / end of East vs. West Coast Beef (1996)
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac attended the Mike TysonBruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After leaving the match, one of Knight's associates spotted 21-yearold Orlando Anderson, who had robbed a member of Death Row's entourage. Knight's partner told Shakur, who attacked Anderson. Shakur's entourage, as well as Knight and his followers, assisted in attacking Anderson. After the brawl, Shakur went with Knight to go to a Death Row-owned Club. He rode in Knight's limousine as part of a larger convoy, including many in Shakur's entourage. At around 11:0011:05 pm, they were halted on Las Vegas Boulevard by Metro bicycle police for playing the car stereo too loudly. The party was released without being fined a few minutes later. At about 11:10 pm, while they were stopped at a red light, a vehicle occupied by two women pulled up on their left side. Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof, exchanged words with the two women, and invited them to go to the Club with them. At approximately 11:15 pm, a white, fourdoor, late-model Cadillac with an unknown number of occupants pulled up to the limousine's right side, rolled down a window, and rapidly fired gunshots at Shakur. He was hit in the chest, pelvis, and his right hand and thigh. One of the rounds went into Shakur's right lung. At the hospital, Shakur was heavily wounded and was placed on life support machines. While in the critical care unit, on the afternoon of Friday, September 13, 1996, Shakur died of internal bleeding; Shakur's body was cremated the next day and some of his ashes were later mixed with marijuana and smoked by members of the Outlawz. Yet Tupac seemed to know that because of his lifestyle and the controversy he seemed to cause, that he would die before he was 30 as he expressed this through many of his songs. There are many complications in his death and he often rapped about faking his own death, leading his big fans to believe he was still alive, faking his death to avaid enemies. He had changed his alias to Makaveli, referring to the Italian politician Machiavelli who wrote about cheating death, he also rapped about the death / murder of The Notorious B.I.G., which happened after his death in 1997. With Notorious B.I.G.'s death the East Coast vs. West Coast Beef ended. Unfortunatly, both murders remain unsolved!

IX. Influences and musical style


Shakur's music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and world organizations, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism and liberty. Tupacs love of theater and Shakespeare also influenced his work and songs. Once, Tupac said I love Shakespeare. He wrote some of the rawest stories, man. I mean look at Romeo and Juliet. That's some serious ghetto shit. You got this guy Romeo from the Bloods who falls for Juliet, a female from the Crips, and everybody in both gangs are against them. So they have to sneak out and they end up dead for nothing. Real tragic stuff. The thing about Tupac was he had so many sides. He was unafraid to write about his vulnerabilities. Also, he had enjoyed and had been influenced by the work of the day's English and Irish pop musicians as a teenager such as Kate Bush and U2.

X. Analysis of Changes
"Changes" is a hip hop song by 2Pac. The song was originally recorded in 1992, but later remixed during 1997-1998. When Tupac was shot to death in 1996, he left behind a great deal of unreleased material. This is one of many songs that surfaced after his death. The song samples the 1986 hit "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The song makes references to the Black Panther 8

Party. "Changes" remains one of 2Pac's most notable and popular songs. In this song, many subjects concerning African-Americans injustices are being conveyed. Subjects like racial-profiling, poverty and racism affect the everyday life of African-American. In the song Changes, Tuapc gives an inside look at the daily life of an African-American. Tupac seems to be trying to express the idea that changes needs to be made to therefore stop poverty and racism that African-American are facing every day. Tupac also criticizes the dispersion of African-Americans over the idea to unite to overcome poverty and racism facing them. The title of Tupacs song is called Changes. It is call Changes for numerous obvious reasons. Tupac starts the song by stating; I see no changes. He is possibly referring to the changes that were brought upon after the AfricanAmerican Civil Right Movement, during the 50s and 60s. African-American Civil Movement was supposed to bring an end to social issues like racism and poverty afflicting African-American population. But in the song Changes, he states that he sees no changes. The same social issues that concerns African-Americans before the Civil Right Movement are still common afterwards. Throughout the song, Tupac gives an inside look on the social problems afflicting AfricanAmericans and suggests possible resolutions. In the first stanza of the song Changes, Tupac first talks about how certain social issues are link together; he makes a correlation between his skin color and being poor: I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black. Then he explains how poverty causes crime: My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch. And finally, he demonstrates the relationship between police brutality and race: Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero. Following the links between the social issues, Tupac makes interesting observation on why African-American communities have trouble dealing with these social problems: First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers. Give 'em guns, step back, and watch 'em kill each other. His observation could be interpreted as a conspiracy into eliminating or significantly diminish the African-American population in the United States of America. However, Tupac does not mention who is behind the plot. Tupac suggests the solution of unity into solving the social issues that African-Americans are facing. African-Americans should united together to solve poverty, racism and violence. I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes. In these two verses, it could be notice that Tupac uses the pronoun we to represent unity among African-American. The importance of unity makes it possible for changing the ways to deal with these complex social issues. At the end of the first paragraph of the song Changes, Tupac seems to be making a criticism of how social issues would not solve itself if they were just ignored: I'd love to go back to when we played as kids, but things change, and that's the way it is. In the second stanza of the song Changes, Tupac reconfirms social issues that afflicts African-Americans; violence: And only time we chill is when we kill each other. and drugs: 'Cause mo' black than white is smokin' crack tonight. A couple of verses further, Tupac makes the ultimate point that the unity for changes has not happen because there are too many individualistic people who are not willing to give up their personal interests. Try to show another way, but they stayin' in the dope game. This verse shows the people have a choice but instead they choose the life of crime. How are they able to change the social issues afflicting them if some are not cooperating. It could be assume that Tupac is clearly stating the importance of African-American unity to overcome the challenging social issues facing them; violence, racial profiling and drugs. After the second paragraph he's saying that thing's will always stay the same until black people change it themselves, instead of waiting for other people to take action. "It's time for us as a people to make a change. Let's change the way we eat, change the way we live, and change the way we treat each other. You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do; What we gotta do to survive" He wants them to change everything, the old way they were going about life wasn't working so he wants them to change in order to survive. The last paragraph of the song is about Tupac drops the idea of unity because of the fact that nobody is following it. He has to therefore do what is best for him like everyone. Some things will never change! is the last verse of this song and Tupac tries to say that some things will never change, if you don't change your 9

attitude.

XI. Tupac's message


What Tupac was trying to do with his music was bring more awarness in the hip hop culture. That is the way how he started. later on, he did more commercial stuff and party songs, as a result he wanted to escape Suge Knight's contract as fast as possible. However, 2pac's message changed from time to time, you have to remember he was only a kid when he got into the rap game and he really didn't have a father figure or role model to guide him and teach him the rules. He mentions it in his song Dear Mama, that he didn't know his father and had no relationship to him. No love from my daddy 'cause the coward wasn't there/He passed away and I didn't cry, cause my anger wouldn't let me feel for a stranger. But he always made deep rap songs through out his career like 'mamas just a little girl'. Tupac's music was definitely art and his lyrics are poems. In every song he is pouring his heart out and showing his deepest feelings. The way how he played around with words and the way he reached alot of diffrent people through his music, it is amazing that even after 14 years people still consider him the best there ever was. While not every song he recorded contains a direct message, every song he made a truthful reflection and what he perceived at that time. He used his music to tell others about his life experiences, whether optimistic or otherwise. So many people feel this man's music because he was so down to earth, and kept us listening; he wanted us to see the same vision he had for a better future, for the individual and for humanity as a whole. His subjects and thoughts where timeless and he was always true and stayed real. Many people (mostly blacks) will say that Tupac was some sort of father figure to them, even if he was just a rapper. He tried to uplift his race and clean up the ghettos and put structure in these places because nobody else was doing it. And this all through his music!

XII. Woman equality


A woman brought you into this world, so you have no right to disrespect one. This is one of the most famous quotes of Tupac. He was one of a few rappers at this time, who payed respect to woman and wanted equality. The special thing was, that he was talking about all woman, no matter what race they are. In his song Keep ya head up he raps about the mistreatment women face each day and calls for men to change their actions with women and treating them as equals. A website for the National Organization for Women describes this song as some of the most black women-friendly lyrics I have ever heard in a rap song.. Keep Ya Head Up, is a vital message needed for a change to be made in society. And since we all came from a woman / Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women / Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women / Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies /That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can't make one / He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up /I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up In my opinion is this the best part of his song with a great message.

XIII. Legacy
Although Tupac is since 1996 dead, he still remains a cultural icon and a modern legend in many countries. Moreover to preserve Shakur's legacy, his mother founded the Shakur Family Foundation (later renamed the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation or TASF) in 1997. The TASF's givin mission is 10

to "provide training and support for students who tend to improve their creative talents." The TASF sponsors essay contests, charity events, a performing arts day camp for teenagers and undergraduate scholarships. The Foundation officially opened the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA) in Georgia, in 2005. In 2003, a documentary about Shakur entitled Tupac: Resurrection was released under the monitoring of his mother and narrated completely in his voice. It was nominated for Best Documentary in the 2005 Academy Awards. Proceeds will go to a charity set up by Shakur's mother Afeni. Also in 2003, Harvard University co-sponsored an academic symposium entitled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero." The speakers discussed a wide range of topics dealing with Shakur's impact on entertainment. According to Forbes, in 2008 Shakur's estate made $15 million. At the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, President Barack Obama roasted mogul Donald Trump, referencing Shakur and Biggie Smalls.No one is happier, no one is prouder, to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald.And thats because he can get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing? What really happened at Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac? Years later Tupac is still releasing albums from the grave and still inspiring the masses. Current rappers use his songs to mix with their own in post mortem duets. Almost every rapper lists him among their greatest influences and inspirations. No other rapper in history has been so deep and so real in his lyrics. He was not a character, he was a larger than life figure that is still a mystery to this day. Perhaps he was the last true poet, not far off from the likes of Bob Dylan. Unfortunatly towards the end of his life he became seemingly ignorant, engaging in a feud with his once best friend Notorious B.I.G. And he showed the thug inside of him more and more often. And maybe because his life was cut so short at the age of 25, we will never know what he was truly capable of and how great he could have been. Tupac Shakur stands as a black icon in our time. He was not a role model. He was someone with a message to be heard. We must make our own inferences based on what he gave us, and use it wisely to improve our society.

11

Sources:
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur www.2pacworld.co.uk/tupac-life/tupac-biography www.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast-West_Coast_hip_hop_rivalry www.2pacworld.co.uk/tupac-life/east-vs-west-coast-hip-hop www.2pacworld.co.uk/tupac-life/tupacs-groups www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlawz www.2pacworld.co.uk/tupac-death/police-report-on-tupacs-murder-1996 www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/changes.html www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPvEtoM6V_0 www.lyricinterpretations.com/Tupac-Shakur/Changes www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/keepyaheadup.html www.wmst2010.blogspot.co.at/2008/04/keep-ya-head-up.html

12

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen