Tupac's Impact On Society

The Nineteen-nineties marked a significant time in the history of Hip-Hop, producing many greats such as Nas, Jay-Z, Biggie, OutKast, and DMX, just to name a few. However, one of the most renowned names in Hip-Hop, even today, is Tupac Shakur, often described as the greatest rapper of all time. What makes Tupac different from the others? Many equate his fame to his relatability. He was a black man that had not only witnessed the struggles of inner-city life such poverty, drugs, gun violence, and police brutality, but even at some points experienced it first hand. He was very vocal about these issues from early on in his career, which escalated his fame greatly. Despite finding himself wealthy in his later life due to his thriving rap career,

Though this may sound like a synopsis of yesterday’s broadcast on CNN, these actually were major markers for the Nineties. Possibly the most memorable marker, however, is the Rodney King beating by the police. Rodney King was a black man in LA stopped by the police after a high speed chase occured. When stopped, he was beaten by officers, an act which was caught on camera and released to the public. Immediately, the people of not only LA, but many across the nation, were outraged by this act of violence and called for the officers to be arrested. Though they were brought to trial, an injustice occurred. The passage states, “However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots” (Artifact 1). Many blacks were infuriated that 30 years after segregation, they were still being treated like second class citizens and having their rights violated by the government. Just three years after this event, Tupac released his song called “Me Against the World” where he described much of what was occurring in LA and inner-cities across America at the time. He wrote, “Can you picture my prophecy?/ Stress in the city, the cops is hot for me/ The projects full of bullets, the bodies is dropping”