Tupac Shakur, born the son of two Black Panthers in 1971, grew up to be one of the best-selling rappers of all time, selling over 75 million records even after his tragic death in 1996. His song “Changes” recorded in 1991 and produced in 1998 (based on Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is") discussed many of the injustices the African American population face, focusing on racism, the war on drugs, the perpetuation of poverty, and the overall oppression the African American population experiences (Statistics Brain Research Institute, 2017). I chose this song to discuss because some of the specific injustices he mentioned throughout the song mirrored many discussions we have had in class.
Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks, the son of two Black Panther parents, on June 16, 1971, in Harlem, New York. His mother, Alice Faye Williams who later changed her name
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At its core, black protest music is characterized by the expression of resistance and the articulation of the heartache and pain that Blacks have endured throughout history. Likewise, Shakur as a social critic conveys through his music the despair, anger, and resentment that resonates with many African Americans” (2005). Just as in, the song “Changes” where he illuminates social oppression that affect the African American population. For example, just within the first stanza, Tupac makes reference to poverty and welfare, issues of substance abuse, and racism. Tupac stated “I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black” making the correlation between his skin color and the poverty in which he grew up. He goes on to reinforce this connection further by stating, and “My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.” He also illustrates the relationship between police brutality and race by declaring, “Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a
Conformity can be very crucial, infact a lot of people eventually start hurting themselves or doing drugs just because they don't feel themselves anymore.Why can't society change? why can't that one kid that always follows everyone in the back can turn into the kid that just hangs with the people they really wanna hang with?We need to embrace ourselves so we can stop all this conformity from consuming us.Tupac was a nonconformist, he always did what made him happy and always told the truth.
In the short story “Tupac and My Non-Thug Life” by Jenee Desmond-Harris she talks about the death of Tupac Shakur and the impact it had on her and her friend Thea. I think its interesting that although Harris and Tupac are polar opposites she uses the connection of their race and applys it to this “coming of age” journey. Harris expresses that Tupacs music made her feel apart of something and that she valued the racial equality being voiced through his music. I can relate to this on multiple levels. For example when I’m feeling down and listen to sad music that i can relate to. Listening to music and lyrics that you can relate to brings you a sense of belonging like you arent the only one that has ever felt this way.
The theme of lines 1-5 in, ¨Untitled 1¨ by Tupac Shakur is that African Americans have been oppressed, over many generations. He describes the world, ¨as a ghetto, that they cannot leave,¨ referring to ghettos such as
Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential music artist of the 20th Century. “Murda, Murda, Murda, and Kill, Kill, Kill…” these are they lyrics to one of the songs written by Tupac Shakur. Amidst all the controversy surrounding his personal life, this artist has managed to overcome all obstacles and spread his hope/hate message to a surprisingly receptive audience. Tupac’s music is borrowed from the styles of early rap and hip-hop yet its appeal rested in Tupac himself. His persona of “Thug Poet” opened up a portal into the new genre of “Gangsta Rap.” This new style of music revolutionized the music industry and allowed several new artists to break through in Tupac’s creation, Gangsta Rap, such as; G-unit, Eminem, and many others.
“While the rich kids is drivin ' Benz ,I 'm still tryin ' to hold on to my survivin ' friends.” In this quote Tupac had his audience take a second to image a rick kid driving in the hood with a Benz while a poor African Amirian boy is struggling to keep his friends. Tupac uses his lyrics to help paint a picture though his lyrics of the life of a black person which brings us to Imagery. The use of imagery in this song is amazing. Without even watching the music video and just listening to the song I could easily image everything that Tupac was trying to explain. This is what makes Tupac the best rapper still till this day! Another use of imagery is when he said “Dying inside, but outside you 're looking fearless, While tears, is rollin ' down your cheeks”. By this quote we as the audience should realize that there is more to this song that Tupac is trying to explain. In this quote I feel as though he was explaining that as African Americans more so black women tend to always wear this smile on our face no matter the situation when we know something in us is dying or is just not right. For some reason us black women have a habit of hiding our true feeling and situations. Last was the use of symbols which ties in with imagery. “They got money for wars, but can 't feed the poor”. What was Tupac really trying to say? This quote symbolize so much about America as a whole, and how as a nation we spend so much of our money on weapons for warfare but yet there are little kids who go days and weeks without no food. Is that fair? This quote symbolized pain and loss of hope because they (poor people) will never see a happy day. As they say we have to have the poor to have the
Such as, how Tupac used his song “Changes” to refer to the institutionalized racism in America in regards to law enforcement and so forth. On example from his lyrics states, “Cops give a damn about a negro/ Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.” Another commonly known song that makes ties with Hill’s is Kanye’s song “When It All Falls Down.” Kanye wanted the ties of her lyrics incorporated into his song so much that after his failed attempted to get Lauryn Hills sample cleared he got a replacement singer to perform it on his song alternatively. However, his concept for this song was different as its purpose was more of a self-contemplation of his individualized battle with consumerism. Today society is affected by artists like Lauryn Hill and her lyrics and often quote lyrics like that of hers as references for equality and moral rights in modern society. Today more than ever the incarceration rates are raising extremely. Not to mention, in the past year we have seen some of the biggest out cries for our African American communities with people using the power of social media to come together on a common ground in regards to law enforcement unjustly killing African Americans and other minorities while in the attempt of arresting them. With that being said as Lauryn Hills lyrics state “Ya'll can't handle the truth in a courtroom of lies. Representing security/Holding the word of God
In one of the chapters, ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’ the author reveals how blacks in America use the music to express their anger and commitment to emerge as great people in an unfair community. Most songs are written to educate the society on the negative effects of racism. They encourage the society to love one another and embrace unity. The human nature is founded through a social platform where philosophers claim that people were created to love one another and live with peace and unity. Through this book, it is clear that the blacks in the hip-hop generation are money minded. However, this is expected in a world where the economy is tough. The author claims that the youth are the people who are majorly affected by racism. Many of them have been arrested for pity mistakes which are magnified in the courts due to the impression that the society has on the black people. They engage in dirty activities like drug dealings that that put them on the wrong side of the
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. His birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971. Both of his parents were members of the Black Panther Party. Tupac Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast and West Coast hip hop rivalry. He went to high schools in California and Maryland.
In Changes by Tupac Shakur a black hip-hop artist, now deceased, he rapped about the African American subculture in America. The record label released this song in 1998; it is still popular within subcultures of America. He grew up in the 1980s. The policies of that period had influenced some of his music. I found videos of the song after a quick search on YouTube. The lyrics of this song are found on the internet from Google search of “Tupac, changes”. I have read the lyrics while listening to the music, Tupac emphasized on “that’s just the way it is” (2Pac-Changes). Tupac wanted the African American community to change their behaviors and rise above the social perception, but he believed the perception would never change. The song is very depressing, as Tupac mentioned in the song, when he wakes up he would question whether it is worth living, and wanting to shoot himself (2Pac-Changes). He is desperately wishing the society to transform into a utopia, for people of all colors to get along.
Who really killed Tupac Shakur is one of the most intriguing questions of our generation. The conspiracy theories are endless as well as outlandishly speculative. Many factors contribute to answering this seemingly unanswerable question. Rivalries, money, and fame all play key factors in determining what happened to one of the most famous rappers of all time. Rivalry and tension among his many enemies were the driving causes of Shakur’s death. Even those whom he once called friends may have turned on him as a result of jealousy or revenge. Of all the theories regarding Tupac Shakur’s unsolved murder, the theory most likely to be true is that he was killed by the Crips.
A race issue that occurs within the rap and hip-hop musical genre is the racial stereotypes associated with the musical form. According to Brandt, and Viki rap music and hip- hop music are known for fomenting crime violence, and the continuing formation of negative perceptions revolving around the African-American race (p.362). Many individuals believe that rap and hip-hop music and the culture that forms it is the particular reason for the degradation of the African-American community and the stereotypes that surround that specific ethnic group. An example is a two thousand and seven song produced by artist Nas entitled the N-word. The particular title of the song sparked major debates within not only the African-American community thus the Caucasian communities as well. Debates included topics such as the significance and worth of freedom of speech compared with the need to take a stand against messages that denigrate African-Americans. This specific label turned into an outrage and came to the point where conservative white individuals stood in front of the record label expressing their feelings. These individuals made a point that it is because artists like Nas that there is an increase in gang and street violence within communities. Rap and hip-hop music only depicts a simple-minded image of black men as sex crazed, criminals, or “gangsters”. As said above, community concerns have arisen over time over the use of the N-word, or the fact that many rappers vocalize about white superiority and privilege. Of course rap music did not develop these specific stereotypes, however these stereotypes are being used; and quite successfully in rap and hip-hop which spreads them and keeps the idea that people of color are lazy, all crimin...
June 16th, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York. Lesane Parish Crooks was born. Left by his father, Alice Williams, Tupac's mother changed his name from Lesage to Tupac Amaru Shakur. Tupac has moved from Oakland to New York and back again. When he was fifteen he was into writing rap lyrics and gang related subjects. By the time Tupac was eighteen he had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. Tupac studied the teachings of a war strategist known as Machiavelli in prison.
Rap is about giving voice to a black community otherwise underrepresented, if not silent, in the mass media. It has always been and remains … directly connected to the streets from which it came. (144)
Tupac Amaru Shakur one of the most influential, controversial rappers to have ever existed. He grew up fatherless and at times motherless because of drugs, violence, and twisted ideas. Through struggle and hardships he found his flow. He showed the world that something can come from nothing. From joining up with the Digital Underground to his single debut he worked up he grew his fan base. As he grew in fame so did the East and West rivalry.
It is impossible to separate my voice from this topic, as I was born as an African