Tupac Changes

An Analysis of “Changes” by Tupac

Tupac is known across the world as one of the most inspirational rappers in history. His songs highlight a range of social, political, and economic issues in our country. One song in particular, the 2008 version of “Changes”, is one of Tupac’s most famous. The purpose of this song is to ask people to make a change because we cannot keep living life in the same way we always have. In addition to inspiring change, Tupac hopes to inspire peace and equality as well. In this song, Tupac highlights some very important issues and conflicts that many Americans face on a daily basis. He then takes a stand against these issues and calls for us to make some changes in our way of living. Through his thoughtful

use of lyrics, language, visuals, and cultural knowledge, Tupac delivers an important message, one that many desperately need to hear.
Lyrics are oftentimes the most important aspect of a song.

They have the ability to capture the listener’s attention, convey a message, and deliver the deeper meanings within a song. To this day, Tupac is known as one of the greatest lyricists of all time. Through Tupac’s use of lyrics, he examines the many conflicts within his culture. In the very first line of the song Changes, Tupac raps, “I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself, is life worth living should I blast myself?” In this opening verse, Tupac immediately highlights important issues such as contemplating suicide and living in a world where nothing is changing or improving. He strategically uses these lyrics in the opening line to hook the listeners, grab their attention, and set the pace for the rest of the song. In the next line, Tupac raps, “I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black. My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.” He then says, “Cops give a damn about a negro. Pull the trigger kill a ni**a he's a hero. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares. One less hungry mouth on the welfare.” Tupac uses these lines to highlight the important issues of poverty, racism, crimes committed out of desperation, police racism and brutality against blacks, and the corrupt systems in

place.
First, he examines the issues of poverty and racism, stating his unfortunate reality that being black is even worse than being poor. In the next line, Tupac highlights the fact that poverty and hunger lead him to commit crimes, which seems to be the cause of many crimes in low-income areas. Finally, he discusses the issue of police racism and brutality against blacks, which is still a very prevalent issue today. At the time this song was originally recorded, the infamous case of police brutality against Rodney King was still shocking the nation. Police brutality against blacks and racism were major issues, so the song had a much greater impact at the time.
In the song, Tupac also uses specific language that helps in his effort to convey his message to his audience.

Tupac uses many literary and poetic devices in his songs. In this particular song, Tupac strategically uses rhymes, allusion, anaphora, onomatopoeia, and metaphors, among others. His use of rhymes can be seen throughout his song in lines such as, “And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do. But now I'm back with the blacks givin' it back to you,” and, “I see no changes all I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races.” He also uses allusion, which is defined as a brief reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. In this case, Tupac alludes to Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party with the lines, “It's time to fight back that's what Huey said. Two shots in the dark now Huey's dead.” We can also hear the use of anaphora, or the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of lines, in the song. Tupac cleverly uses the same phrase in the first line of each of his three verses. In the opening line of his first verse he says, “I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself.” In the first line of his second verse, he says, “I see no changes all I see is racist faces.” Finally, in the first line of the third verse, Tupac says, “And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace.” This repetition in each verse is extremely useful to tie

all of the verses together and keep the main idea of the song (change) present in the listeners’ minds from beginning to end.
Another literary device Tupac uses in the song, “Changes” is onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the use of words to imitate sounds. Tupac uses this in the very last line of his final verse when he says, “Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is.” In this case, onomatopoeia is used to symbolize the sound of gunshots. An example of a metaphor can also be heard in the line, “devil take a brother”. In this particular line, the devil can be interpreted as a metaphor for a few things. One might look at the devil in this case as a metaphor for death itself. The devil could also been seen as a metaphor for drugs or even violence. Tupac could be literally saying death takes his brothers away or he could be referring to some the major causes of death that he sees as the devil.
In his songs, Tupac uses explicit language regularly and his videos often show explicit content. The use of explicit language can be looked at from two perspectives. One perspective is that Tupac feels strongly about these issues and uses his language to display the strength of his feelings. However, if you look at this language from a different perspective, you might consider that this language causes his audience to be smaller because many people will not listen to music or watch videos with explicit content. Because of the language he chooses to use, he may actually be limiting the number of people his important messages will reach.
In combination with the lyrics and language used in his song, Tupac also uses specific visuals in his music video to help further portray his message. Because this song and video were released after his death, the video actually includes many previously recorded, and seemingly random, clips pieced together. However, after closer examination, many of the clips in the video actually represent a deeper meaning. For example, Tupac uses a clip of police tape as his opening scene. This immediately displays to viewers that there are problems present. There are many other scenes following which display police officers and African American citizens. There are even depictions of Tupac and his own legal troubles, showing footage of him in a courtroom, being incarcerated, walking in handcuffs, and doing interviews about his life.
In another important scene, you can see a young African American male sitting in the back of a police car and then standing in a jail cell. This scene shows the vicious cycle that many living in impoverished neighborhoods succumb to at a young age. Tupac uses these scenes, along with the accompanying lyrics, to highlight the issues African Americans face and the high crime and prison rates that are a sad part of their reality. There are also other scenes in the video that depict Tupac’s happiness, such as moments of him smiling and laughing, while holding a young child. I think these clips were added in throughout the video to show viewers what life could be like if they were to start making some changes.
Finally, Tupac uses his cultural knowledge to further push his message of necessary change. Tupac is a very credible source when it comes to the topics he raps about in his songs. He grew up in the ghetto and lived much of his life surrounded by drugs, violence, and struggles. If a rich, Caucasian man were singing about racism, poverty, and the struggles of African Americans, his message would likely not be accepted. However, because Tupac is a credible source, this helps people to listen to and believe his message, seeing him as someone with first-hand experience.
Through the use of his lyrics, language, visuals, and cultural knowledge, Tupac attempted to use his song, “Changes” to inspire change throughout the world. He had hopes to inspire people to move from a place of racism, crime, and hate to a place of peace and equality. If he could see the changes America has gone through since his death, and the fact that we do now have an African American president, I think he would be proud. Although Tupac is long gone, his music, his message, and his legacy will live on forever.