It's been almost 20 years since his passing and yet, people are still checking for him. 20 years is a lifetime in pop culture, yet almost every teen and pre teen know who Pac is. Why? What was about the man that casts such a long media shadow?
2pac might have been THE last ever rap artist that wrote rap lyrics about topics that I understood all too well, especially some of the tracks from his first 3 albums.
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Because he was actually talented. Unlike most rappers, Tupac was actually an ARTIST which many fail to remember. He wasn't rapping for the sole purpose of getting money, he sincerely wanted the world to know what life was like for folks who wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Not only was he poetic in expressing himself, he had a distinct eye for creativity. Let's not even get started on his acting career, because Pac could actually act. Even though the media loves to showcase his "thuglife" persona, the multiple arrests, jail time, court time, etc. of Pac, in all actually, the man was highly intelligent. So much respect exists for him to this very day and will continue on beyond today.
I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince.
Because the world will always be full of gullible young men who don’t realize Tupac’s thug life image was concoted by white record executives who wanted to commercially exploit negative stereotypes of black men.
Because the world will always be full of gullible young men who don’t realize Tupac’s thug life image was concoted by white record executives who wanted to commercially exploit negative stereotypes of black men.
I could say that about a lot of C-rappers or F-artists, though with TuPac I believe it was real...
But just like every successful Blue chipper, actor or musician, he went through the 'channels' to get there...
For example, Digital Underground (He was originally a dancer in the band before a rapper/BV singer),
and a very cheesy perfomance in the movie Nothin' But Trouble
- A far cry from his Thug Life persona...
I'm wondering, What the Blue Moon hell were Record execs thinking with Vanilla Ice though?!
'dre
[Edited 4/18/12 21:55pm]
Tried many flavours - but sooner or later, always go back to the Purple Kool-aid!
Because the world will always be full of gullible young men who don’t realize Tupac’s thug life image was concoted by white record executives who wanted to commercially exploit negative stereotypes of black men.
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
This right here.
The salvation of man is through love and in love. - Dr. V. Frankl
"When you close your heart, you close your mind." - Michael Jackson (Man In The Mirror)
"I don't need anger management, I need people to stop pissing me off"
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Come on Militant. You don't really believe all that do you?
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Come on Militant. You don't really believe all that do you?
Yes, I do. For the record, I have a close association with the Shakur family and many of Tupac's associates and they are among the most intelligent and beautiful people I know. But I felt this ever since I first heard Tupac as a child. Along with Prince, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain he is the artist that changed my life the most. My knowledge and dedication to his life and legacy afforded me the opportunity to create a documentary about him back in 2006 - a primetime BBC documentary to commemorate the 10th anniversay of his passing. One of the greatest things I've ever been able to do.
Which part troubled you about what I wrote? I can give plenty of examples for everything I said, if you'd like.
Come on Militant. You don't really believe all that do you?
Yes, I do. For the record, I have a close association with the Shakur family and many of Tupac's associates and they are among the most intelligent and beautiful people I know. But I felt this ever since I first heard Tupac as a child. Along with Prince, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain he is the artist that changed my life the most. My knowledge and dedication to his life and legacy afforded me the opportunity to create a documentary about him back in 2006 - a primetime BBC documentary to commemorate the 10th anniversay of his passing. One of the greatest things I've ever been able to do.
Which part troubled you about what I wrote? I can give plenty of examples for everything I said, if you'd like.
Well imo both of them were phonies and after all is said and done Tupac is on videotape kicking and beating someone down in a hotel hallway right before his death.
Dying was the worst thing to happen to him because since musical standards had already been lowered while he was popular, he became an undeserving "legend" during his death and it helped all this rediculous "thug" foolishness continue to live on instead of fizzle out like it should have.
Because the world will always be full of gullible young men who don’t realize Tupac’s thug life image was concoted by white record executives who wanted to commercially exploit negative stereotypes of black men.
Because any current shit-hop artist keeps talking and talking about him and how he "influenced" their careers...if the man was still alive, he would probably laugh at them, just as 70s rock bands usually mocked 80s hair-metal bands...
and because the 90s are not THAT far away, just sayin'...the 80s are, that's why superior acts like DMC or PE are slighty forgotten/underappreciated...
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Reality check. Dude was starting 2 believe his own hype. The only problem with that is the nonsense that happens on video shoots don't go down quite like that in the real world.
Yes, I do. For the record, I have a close association with the Shakur family and many of Tupac's associates and they are among the most intelligent and beautiful people I know. But I felt this ever since I first heard Tupac as a child. Along with Prince, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain he is the artist that changed my life the most. My knowledge and dedication to his life and legacy afforded me the opportunity to create a documentary about him back in 2006 - a primetime BBC documentary to commemorate the 10th anniversay of his passing. One of the greatest things I've ever been able to do.
Which part troubled you about what I wrote? I can give plenty of examples for everything I said, if you'd like.
Well imo both of them were phonies and after all is said and done Tupac is on videotape kicking and beating someone down in a hotel hallway right before his death.
People tend to overlook that and act is if it didn't exist. This was someone who was a star and here he was fighting and beating someone like common gutter trash would do. He lived by the sword and he died by it.
Well imo both of them were phonies and after all is said and done Tupac is on videotape kicking and beating someone down in a hotel hallway right before his death.
People tend to overlook that and act is if it didn't exist. This was someone who was a star and here he was fighting and beating someone like common gutter trash would do. He lived by the sword and he died by it.
Exactly, that's not even including his criminal charges.
But to answer your original question; He was the one of the few (probably the last) talented and intelligent rapper. His music was the truth.
Eminem is talented and somewhat intelligent; but his music doesn't come close to Tupac's.
Whilst some of Jay Z's albums are equal to Tupac's, Jay's flow, talent, lyrics and intelligence barely scrape Pac's radar.
It's been 14 years since his death and at the time of his death, hip hop was reaching out to audiciences around the globe and becoming popular. So for a lot of young kids and teens around the world, he spoke to them because he knew the struggles that they were going through. Unlike many artists he was real and spoke to them, and not only did he talk about women, parties but also about social problems and he truly meant it. He is so popular because not only did he appeal urban people in the US, but also the academics and the middle class kids, women, and people around the world. I think that he inspired a lot of people, because he was so crazy yet smart...
When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace -Jimi Hendrix
People tend to overlook that and act is if it didn't exist. This was someone who was a star and here he was fighting and beating someone like common gutter trash would do. He lived by the sword and he died by it.
Exactly, that's not even including his criminal charges.
But to answer your original question; He was the one of the few (probably the last) talented and intelligent rapper. His music was the truth.
Eminem is talented and somewhat intelligent; but his music doesn't come close to Tupac's.
Whilst some of Jay Z's albums are equal to Tupac's, Jay's flow, talent, lyrics and intelligence barely scrape Pac's radar.
[Edited 4/17/12 9:37am]
So you honestly believe pac was the "last" talented & intelligent rapper? That's funny, what about Nas!, Q-Tip, Common, Mos Def, Immortal Technique even Lupe Fiasco? There are more rappers but I dont feel the need to put their names on here. Jay-Z has some classic stuff too, but as far as lyrcism and intelligence Nas has always been better than both Jay & Em. Nas is on Pacs level, politically speaking Immortal Technique is also up there, he got some of the best underground LPs in hiphop.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace -Jimi Hendrix
Smart? Why are people saying this? It trivializes and is demeaning saying he was "smart." Yall act like he had a Ph.D. or was a rocket science. Just because he was articulate and was into many things? So a black dude is smart because of that everyday shit that most of us all do on the daily anyways? It's as if the general public's vision of black dudes is talking in ghetto slang and eating pork rinds and just watching movies and playing video games? Anything other than that is a "smart" black dude?
To me, there's something of a negative resonance with 2Pac. Sure people love his music but the industry was more attracted to his bad boy image and that's why they tried to find it in other rappers from DMX, Ja Rule, 50 Cent on down. They weren't interested in 1991-1993 2Pac though that era 2Pac was also something of a bad boy (or "thug") then as well. But then you look at his background and you think "hmm... OK, something's off" because if he was as real as he claimed or inspired to be, then why was there so many mixed signals? I think Pac was very complex but with the "intelligence" - and he had some social messages that still resonate with some part of his audience (including me), there was also still the need to prove that he was "keeping it real". The last year of his life was nothing but smoke and mirrors because he was living the life of his image and I think that's what killed him: "the image". My dad always said his ignorance is what got him killed - and I believe it.
Because he was real, he wore his heart on his sleeve, he was unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic, entertaining, a great songwriter as well as rapper, he was intelligent, artistic, poetic, with a deep rooted understanding of the real social issues he wrote about, he attracted talent to him in the same way that Prince does, he was relateable to both men and women, he wasn't a misogynist unlike many other rappers (see 'Keep Ya Head Up' for example), he was incredibly prolific but consistently brilliant (even most of his unreleased material is excellent), he was a gifted poet and actor, and he's the icon/hero for troubled youth, (especially 80's and 90's babies) in the same way that Kurt is. His life story has been mytholigized to the point of legend, and he was ahead of his time in the sense that his words remain relevant today.
Those are just SOME of the reasons why. There never has, and there never will be another artist like him. He's utterly unique and especially within the realms of hip-hop. He transcends it.
Also, lemme add, near the end of his life during his interviews, Pac thought it was impossible for him to fully "change" because "the world made me that way". I don't know if that sounded defeatist or what...
Because the world will always be full of gullible young men who don’t realize Tupac’s thug life image was concoted by white record executives who wanted to commercially exploit negative stereotypes of black men.
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THIS!^ 
