My Individual Essay: WHAT MAKES TUPAC SO GREAT?

So everyone wants to know what is so special about Tupac Shakur. I had originally decided to write about Michael Jackson, but I got a few blog comments related to my love for Tupac, so I decided to go in that direction.

There is so much to Tupac. I mean a lot of people say that he is one of the best rappers that ever lived. I love him because he is one of the greatest writers that ever lived. Tupac not only wrote song lyrics, he wrote poetry. (This is one thing that he and Michael Jackson have in common.) And even though Tupac is dead, he has left behind somewhat of a legacy.

Unlike many of the rappers today who just write about money, cars, clothes, and hoes, Tupac mostly wrote about things that actually had meaning. I mean, take “Brenda’s got a Baby” for example. Tupac wrote this song after finding out about a similar occurrence in the news. It is based on a true event. It starts off “So Brenda’s got a baby/But Brenda’s barely got a brain/A damn shame--the girl can hardly spell her name/‘That’s not our problem/ It’s up to Brenda’s family’/Well let me show you how it affects our whole community.” I could recite the whole thing backwards and forwards, but I’ll just let you download the song if you want to hear it. Anyway, the song goes on to tell the story of the young teenage Brenda who comes from a poor family who basically doesn’t pay her any attention. The story ends with Brenda dying trying to do anything she could to support herself and her baby since her parents were not really there for her. “Now Brenda’s got to make her own way/Can’t go to her family; they won’t let her stay/No money, no babysitter; she couldn’t keep a job/She tried to sell crack but end up getting robbed/So now what’s left? It ain’t nothing left to sell/So she sees sex as a way of leaving hell/It’s paying her rent, so she really can’t complain/Prostitute found slain, and Brenda’s her name/She’s got a baby” Then the song goes in to the chorus. Yes it is a sad song. And, yes it is vivid. But Tupac was trying to open people’s eyes to a problem that was becoming a pattern in his time. In order to make changes, you have to open people’s eyes up to the problem.

Of course Tupac’s songs had cursing and violence in them just like most rappers, but his songs were not explicit just for the sake of being so. He had to form his music to grab the attention of the audience he was targeting. Another great song by Tupac Shakur is “Changes”. It talks about how police concentrate too much on busting drug dealers and putting people in jail when there are more important issues at hand. “Can’t a brother get a little peace/It’s war in the streets and war in the Middle East/Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.” It also brings the issue of how so many African Americans were killing each other. The song is about exactly what it’s titled—changes. Tupac talked about how people had to change the way they thought, acted, and treated each other in order for things to get any better.

Another Tupac classic is “Dear Mama”. This song is like a letter of appreciation from Tupac to his mother. It is about how Tupac grew up with just his mom to take care of him and his sister and how he could never repay her for everything she did for them. It is a very touching song that I believe could bring any mother to tears. I will just quote a few of my favorite lines from this one: “When I was sick as a little kid/to keep me happy, there’s no limit to the things you did/And all my childhood memories are full of all the sweet things you did for me/And even though I act craaazy/I gotta thank the Lord that you made me.”

Finally, the last Tupac song that I will quote any lines out of is “Keep Your Head Up”. This is somewhat of a motivational song directed at anyone and everyone who feels like they have the wait of the world on their shoulders. I know I listen to it a lot when I feel down. The chorus is “Keep your head up/Oooh child, things are gonna get easier/Oooh child, things’ll get brighter”. My favorite part is the beginning of the first verse: “Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice/I say the darker the flesh, the even deeper the roots/I give a holler to my sisters on welfare/Tupac cares, if don’t nobody else care.” A few more choice lines are: “It seems the rain’ll never let up/I try to keep my head up and still keep from getting wetter/You know it’s funny; when it rains it pours/They got money for wars but can’t feed the poor.”

If you have never listened to Tupac, or if you have but never really payed any attention to the lyrics, I encourage anyone reading this to do so. You may look at him in a totally new light. For me, and I think for many a lot of other people, he is not just a rapper, he is an icon.

So the question was “Why is Tupac such a symbolic figure to African Americans alike?” I can only positively answer that question for myself, but I believe my answer would be the answer of many others as well. Tupac did not just write to make money; he wrote to send a message to all those within earshot. He used his status to influence the young black community of his time. He was a symbol that the young black boys did not have to steal or sell drugs to make money and provide for their families. He showed the entire black community that they still had a chance to make something of themselves and turn their lives around even if they were from the poorest of neighborhoods. And he was such an icon then, that his music still speaks to people today. People are still downloading his songs and obsessing over his lyrics. (I know I am not the only one.) There are still CDs being put out on the market with his music even though he is no longer alive. There are some people still holding on to the concept that Tupac may even still be alive. This puts him up there along with Elvis, and that is a pretty high place to be. To really see the effect that Tupac’s lyrics have you would have to listen to a few of his songs for yourself. Or you could even just look up some of the song lyrics online. Either way, I think that if you really pay attention, you will understand why Tupac was and still is such an iconic symbol for so many people. And I don’t believe it was just blacks either. I mean, it is not just whites that listen to rock, pop, or country. And I know that it is not just blacks that listen to rap. Tupac influenced an entire world of people, not just one race. I am completely obsessed with him from his style, to his tattoos, to his song lyrics, to his thought process. I can recite almost any song of his on the spot all the way to the end. I am a true Tupac Shakur fan, and there are many others out there just like me. And, unlike many rappers who are so big today, Tupac actually put out great things that helped him earn his greatness.