"Machiavelli in this.." Hail Mary is one of Tupac Shakur's most noted songs in which he calls himself Machiavelli. Granted that Tupac is one of the most respected emcees to have change the way of we view hip-hop, but what is the relationship between the two poets? Very little know that while Shakur was in prison he studied Machiavelli's The Prince and The Art of War in depth and was inspired to reinvent himself. Most people are aware of the ins and outs of Machiavelli due to classes such as Political Science 101 or like myself World Literature but what about Tupac's version of the new and improved Makaveli? Shakur saw something in The Prince that he identified with. His new name and new approach on life represented a new way of thinking.
Nicolo Machiavelli considered one of the great political philosopher of the Renaissance. His most noted piece The Prince was one before its time. It focused on political aspects and practical problems. Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy at a time when the political party was in an uproar. Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in East Harlem, New York. Shakur life was surrounded by criminals and crime at a young age. Both men did not have a ideal childhood but seem to make the most of their upbringing.
Makaveli is the alias used by rapper Tupac Shakur during the remaining years of his life. Shakur used this alias on his last album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory or Don Killuminati and also reffered to as Makaveli. During his time imprisoned for 11 months for a sexually abused charged in 1992, he read and reread "The Prince" and other pieces of Machiavelli's work. While working on his last album he made a conscious decision to incorporate "Makaveli". Shakur had a intense sense of connection...
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...ves. The Notorious B.I.G and Makaveli publically humiliated each other whether it be in the social media or incorporated in his music. Because of the two altercation other rappers such as Puff Daddy, Mobb Deep, Dr. Dre and Jay-Z were caught in the cross fires because of their relationship with The Notorious B.I.G.
There are numerous parallels between Shakur and Machiavelli. Machiavelli theories in The Prince has influenced a better half of Shakur's life. The Prince and The Art of War influenced his political views, way of life, attitude and most importantly, his music. You begin to appreciate the teachings and knowledge that Shakur learned through Machiavelli's words. It was an unfortunate event for Shakur to be in jail but he came out with a new approach on life, whether or not this approach is what ended his life or maybe prolonged it is another research topic.
Throughout the years Tupac tended to participate in the arts, landing seven movie roles. While Shakur had been producing things professionally since 1987, his career hadn’t truly taken off until the early 90’s when he debuted in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film “Nothing but Trouble.” Up until the day Tupac died, he was going head first into the game. Shakur was always working hard and doing what he loved. Biggie, on the other hand, was from the Clinton Hill section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York. He was nicknamed “Big” because he was overweight from the time he was ten years old. Wallace had been rapping since his early teen years and continued his passion all throughout his life. While he was always excelled in school, he dropped out of school at the age of seventeen. Biggie started dealing drugs at the age of twelve and continued his criminal life until the end. The Notorious B.I.G. was arrested on several occasions. A few examples are that he was arrested in 1989 for weapons charges, 1990 for violation of probation, and in 1991 for dealing Crack Cocaine. On August
There are a lot of Epic Poems written in Literature that intrigue, and capture reader’s attention like; The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Divine Comedy. Never had the Hip-Hop culture had an epic story of its own until Lupe Fiasco came along. Lupe created a 17 song saga Called “Michael Young History (MYH) also known as The Cool” spread throughout his first two albums, and a few mixtapes. MYH is a frictional rap character who was raised by a single hard-working mother who struggle to raise Michael and his loving sister. With the lack of parental guidance the promising, intelligent young Michael turn into a drug deal. Michaels love for the street, and fame sent him to a road of greed, deception. In no time Michael had control of his neighborhood making money, bribing dirty cops to look away from his crimes. As Michael unethical fame rise his friends get jealous, setting Michael to end his life. Unless a music listener is not a Lupe Fiasco fan they will not be aware of this
Assata Shakur’s political views are similar and different from many other political activists but the injustice she faced changed her views in ways other will never understand. Assata Shakur was an African American activist who became a member of the Black Panther party which supported the black power movement. Shakur faces oppression and is persecuted by the FBI for being a member of the black liberation army and the Black Panther party. Assata was convicted and charged with murdering a New Jersey police officer. She faced life in prison but she escaped and fled to Cuba where she seeked political asylum. Assata was persecuted so heavily and incarcerated because of her involvement
author of Prince. They are both philosophers but have totally different perspective on how to be a good leader. While both philosopher’s writing is instructive. Lao-tzu’s advice issues from detached view of a universal ruler; Machiavelli’s advice is very personal perhaps demanding. Both philosophers’ idea will not work for today’s world, because that modern world is not as perfect as Lao-tzu described in Tao-te Ching, and not as chaotic as Machiavelli illustrated in Prince.
Tupac Shakur was an actor and a rapper. He was born in Harlem, New York on June 16, 1971, as Lesane Parish Crooks. Both his mother and father were members of the Black Panthers, which later in his career influenced his political views in his songs .At the age of 13, he began his acting career in the production, “Raisin in the Sun” at the Apollo Theater. Tupac’s mother was single mother of two and struggled with money, forcing them to move around a lot and often stay in shelters.Tupac went to Baltimore School of Arts before dropping out and moving to Marin County in California at the age of 17.
Although similarities between Machiavelli and Lao-Tzu may be difficult to detect, their views are both very extreme. Machiavelli believes that the prince should have total control and do anything to gain power; however, Lao-Tzu desires a political system in which everything runs its own course.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in New York City to Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther member since 1968. She gave birth to him 2 months after she was released from Women’s House of Detentions in Grenwich Village. She was charged with conspiracy to bomb several New York public locations and just had her bail revoked. In court she represented herself and won against the state of New York in a surprising turn out. In Incan dialect, his name Tupac Amaru means “shining serpent” and Shakur is Arabic for “thankful to God.” For most of his childhood his crack addicted mother shuffled Tupac between the ghettos of Harlem and the Bronx. Young Tupac began his performance career with the 127th Street Ensemble and then enrolled Baltimore School for the Arts where he was educated in ballet and acting. Tupac was forced to drop out of the school because he had to move to California with his mother, where his criminal career began. He left his house at the age of 17 because of the continuous fights with his mother he then began selling/doing drugs, and was homeless for about 2 years. His life was spiraling down wards at a rapid rate. Till one day he got his big break. Tupac always dreamt about being famous someday, now his dream was becoming a reality. He struck a recording deal with Interscope records. He was on his way to super stardom, but as we all know with fame comes problems. He was involved in the shooting of two off duty police officers, although the chargers were later dropped. He was also convicted of rape, and sentenced to 5 years in Clinton Correctional Facilities.
Tupac Shakur (2pac) was known as one of those rappers that has made a difference in the black community during the 90’s. All his music talked about the reality of black lives and the struggle of being black not only for black men but also for black women. His songs gave hope to African Americans, and to help them see that black was/is beautiful. Even though Tupac has many hit songs and albums, Keep Ya Head Up has been one of the best songs that Tupac has ever recorded! “The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice the darker the flesh the deeper the roots”.
In recent history, the last fifty years or so, modern businessmen and politicians have given Machiavelli a Renaissance of his own. Professional politicians have written novels they claim to be on the same philosophical level of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Gary Hart, in his book The Patriot: An Exhortation to Liberate America From the Barbarians attempts to update Niccolo to the modern age with his own political philosophies, and attempts to credit Machiavelli by quoting him frequently. “Hart makes an effort to mimic the form, if not the spirit, of the most famous work by his Florentine ‘mentor.’…There is a dedicatory le...
Tupac met Keisha Morris when she was in her 20s. After she was married to Tupac, he committed a crime which he was incarcerated for a period of 10 months at New York City Clinton Correctional Facility. In this article “Love is not enough” Keisha stated that they both were in love until after things got complicated (Jailed Time). Tupac Shakur mentioned about the safety of her”(XXL, 2011). Tupac Shakur is a hip-hop artist, a very influential person in the 20th century in New York City.
Machiavelli and Martin Luther were both hugely influential and controversial authors who wrote in times of turmoil. Although they had different focuses, Machiavelli's being political and Luther's being religious, they came to many similar conclusions, this may be in part to their reactions to a similar time period. Both authors saw the importance of looking into the past and using history as a tool to learn from. Luther believed more in returning to the past while Machiavelli saw it as a way to use what worked while learning from past mistakes. Their writings are filled with examples from the past to further their arguments. They were especially similar when it came to human free will, the role of God, and on the governing of the secular state. More specifically, both Machiavelli and Luther believed that there was an element of free will that humans could choose to take control of, and therefore determine their own outcomes; although there was an element of either God or Fortune weighing in. Also, when it came to the secular state, although their motives might have been different, they believed in similar actions that needed to be taken. The most interesting dynamic between the two would have to be in relation to the Catholic Church and how both viewpoints create a compellingly different view of the Church.
"After some time Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was a success. His career skyrocketed; he became tight with main pawns in the rapping industry. Tupac signed to Deathrow Labels and released songs and albums with them."
Niccolo Machiavelli was a political philosopher from Florence, Italy. The period that Machiavelli lived in was the "rebirth" of art in Italy and rediscovery of ancient philosophy, literature and science. He wrote The Prince, in which he discusses the proper way of living as a prince. His ideas, which were not viewed as beneficial at the time, were incredibly cynical and took time for the rest of the population to really catch onto the ideas. Machiavelli’s view of human nature was that humans are born evil, and while they can show good traits, and the common man is not to be trusted. Unlike Confucius, Machiavelli believes that human nature cannot be changed, and unlike Plato, where Plato believes in humans as social beings. Each respected view
Kading believes that Sean Combs, CEO of the East Coast record label Bad Boy Records, orchestrated Tupac’s death. Kading also got Keith Davis, a Crips gang member, to confess on tape that Diddy paid him $1 million to kill Tupac and Suge. Davis even named his cousin, Orlando Anderson, as the gunman. Davis said, “Orlando rolled down the window, and popped him. If they would have drove on my side, I would have popped them.” Davis claimed Diddy’s motive was defensive, as he was afraid Suge was put a hit on him first. Tupac was only included because Diddy had beef with him after he released “Hit ’Em Up.” This wasn’t the first time Tupac was shot, either. On Nov. 30, 1994, he was shot at multiple times at a recording studio in New York. Tupac said he believed it was people associated with Diddy. The Diddy theory is also supported by Dexter Isaac’s claims that Diddy hired him to rob Tupac at Quad Recording Studio in NYC. Diddy denied any involvement, saying, “This story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous.” It should also be noted that Keith Davis was looking at 25 years to life (due to unrelated crimes) if he didn’t cooperate with
The book The Prince was a book of advice to politicians regarding how gain power and keep that power. The title The Prince is not about someone who has inherited land and a decedent to a king. In Machiavelli’s perspective a prince was a man of the citizens....