For several decades the black community suffered from discrimination, poverty and uncivilized treatment, particularly from police officers. Although in 1964 the government outlawed segregation from whites and blacks in public facilities, jobs and education the progress was barely visible. Therefore the black community got tired of the lack of progress, and began speaking up through music and other sources. The song “Changes” by Tupac falls into the “three step process as part of the blues” since it acknowledges evil and disappointment by “fingering” a variety of brutal, personal experiences that happened in his personal life and community. According to academician Craig Werner, Ralf Ellison, whom was another analyzer of the blues, saw music as a philosophy of life. They …show more content…
The first step talks about expressing an unpleasant personal experience. Tupac definitely expresses this several times throughout the song. He narrates the murder of his “brother” and therefore questions the existence of god. Tupac does not only questions god, but he starts to question himself and the purpose of life. Which falls into the third step category. The very first lines of the song talk about Tupac contemplating suicide because of the unpleasant environment he is surrounded by, feeling hopeless because there is only so much he can do. He later explains that people who speak up, and fight for equality are often silenced. “It’s time to fight back that’s what Huey said, two shots in the dark now Huey’s dead” (line 12). Huey Newton was a black activist, co-founder of the “Black Panther Party.” The BPP was a political organization promoting self-defense. We were able to see this in the documentary “The Black Power Mixtape.” On the following verse Tupac says: “I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch Cops give a damn about a
copies, and I want that so badly, but I can't do that. I would be wrong to do that, knowing what I know and having the brain that I have, for me to even go and write some simple *censored* would be wrong even though I would get paid and I would get more people's money." (Patrick, Tony, n.p.) This means that Tupac has a strong will and values. He resisted the temptation to write some easy rhyming words and get peoples money. He instead followed his values and worked
Changes - Tupac Shakur Changes by Tupac, is a song about the struggles and racial issues of African American people living in the poverty stricken areas or ‘Ghetto’s’ of America. Tupac sings about the injustices for his people living in poverty and how people need to stand up and make a change for the better, as the way things are going are not helping to
On September 7, 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur was riding in the passenger side of a black BMW driven by Marion Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records. Tupac and Suge had just finished watching Mike Tyson defeat Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tupac was standing up through the sunroof while the car was stopped at a traffic light. The Cadillac containing the gunmen passed an entourage of Tupac’s allies, many of them bodyguards. Four unidentified men pulled alongside Suge’s car, fired 13 rounds, and sped away. No one gives chase and there were no witnesses on the street. How come? Why not, especially after a heavyweight fight? Tupac was shot in multiple places
To help understand Tupac’s poem, you must grasp yourself around the image of a very young boy, who has no father, grew up in the rougher parts of New York, and was barely supported by his mother.
Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential artist of our last decade. He not only made several albums, but was also a large role in many films and a poet. Millions of people bought and still buy his albums. He was a pioneer to gangster rap, and he sang about things that mattered. Although, he was a role model and was admired by many, he also had a lot of enemies, and in the end, his enemies over powered his fans by taking his life. Some say that he may still be alive, but no one really knows.
“it's time to fight back," that's what Huey said. Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead” are all references to the Black Panther Party, a neighbourhood watch who were formed in order to stop the police brutality among African Americans. Tupacs parents were affiliated with this party which would have meant that he had somewhat of an emotional attachment to this group. The use of allusion to a group that Tupac’s parents were a part of and by highlighting their mistakes, in that violence is not the way to solve issues and that changes must be made on how issues such as police brutality are solved. This can be proven through the use of enjambment as Tupac continues his reference to the Black Panther party by alluding to the death of huey newton, the founding member of the black panther party who was brutally killed at an early hour of the morning. Huey Newton’s radical militant viewpoint in order to eradicate police brutality would eventually end up in his death. By bringing up this Tupac hoped for the listener to understand that violence is not the way to solve violence.
Tupac is just one of the many artists that talked about social justice issues. He along with many others gave a voice to people that were scared whilst expressing themselves. Even though Tupac did not have the best life he still found a way to express himself through music. Social justice issues are something that we can left untouched that is why artists talk about them throughout
Thesis: the paper’s focus on hip-hop as a music genre that has changed the lives of the black Americans
To gaze into the lyrics of both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur is like living in the ghettos of New York City where violence never stops. Both of these artists grew up seeing and living a life filled with violence. Gunshots and drive-byes, death and murder were a daily occurrence. Although the lyrics of both artists are simply telling their life stories and how hard it was to grow up in their “hoods” they contain vulgar, hateful, and sexual verses that send the wrong message to their listeners. Whether these listeners are teens or adults, white or black, they are continually sending notions of hatred and fear through their lyrics and actions. Ultimately,
In the same fashion that Elvis defined Rock ‘n’ Roll; Tupac Shakur defined the hip-hop music scene, as we know it today. What made Tupac (also known as 2Pac, or Makaveli) so special were his enormous talent, his on screen friendly looks, and the sense that he was “real” and talked the talk, while walking the walk. Tupac was born on June 16, 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after Tupac Amaru, the Inca Indian that was sentenced to death by the Spaniards. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York. Tupac spent a lot of time moving around as he was growing up. He was the son of a Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland. Tupac moved from Harlem, to Baltimore, to Oakland. The constant moving caused Tupac to fit into his new
In his letter to president Reagan, Snoop Dogg addresses the policies Reagan enacted during his term that attacked the poor and hard-working communities in the United States to benefit the wealthy. In turn, the accomplishment of Civil Rights movement was quickly replaced with the crack epidemic and war on drugs, annihilating hope for the future. All the thoughts of despair and poverty associated with the life of the ghetto is reflected in Hip Hop culture and music. In his letter, communities united together to form a Black America against a common enemy: the president of the United States.
In the 5th line and 6th line of this song, Tupac addresses a second issue that is mentioned in the song which is the mistreatment of black people by the police. “Cops give a damn about a negro. Pull the trigger, kill a nigga he’s a hero”. Tupac incorporates rhyme with the use of a derogatory term starting with n in order to signify the mistreatment. The rhyme uses repetition of sound adds a musical effect to make the song sound and the use of the naughty word starting with n is a term used to
Tupac wrote a song while he was in jail called “Dear Mama” it was written towards his Mother, and all the other Mothers who are trying to raise a family with problems of addiction poverty and social indicatives such as his. Tupac explained about his mom in this song he wrote it because he was thanking his nom for sacrificing herself so much for him. Tupac also rapped about his beliefs and what he wanted to say to the world at that certain time and also Tupac wanted to be different form all the other rappers around at that time he wanted to express his feelings. And also Tupac made a big change that changed society by brining attention to all the injustice around our country if it wasn’t
Tupac uses this poem to let us get a glimpse into the world he lives in everyday and urges people not let them stop us from chasing our goals. There are different poetic devices used throughout the poem to make his theme clear to the reader. He uses these devices to develop cogent expressions to appeal to the reader. This poem is a simple rhyming 12 bar poem told from the perspective of Tupac, it’s literally called “Life through my eyes”.
Within Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” the Black Community is seen to have had to face too many trials that have made them want to give up. These men and women were not accepted within their communities, and they were brutally treated for years. However, Sam Cooke still believed throughout his song that a change would be soon to come. Cooke uses a simile to portray the idea that he has had to run “like the river” that he was born by his entire life. This image explains the instability he had to face in his life even as a young child. Instability is still a factor being faced by many black children that are not able to grow up in a safe environment with guardians of a good influence. He readdresses the point that a person of his color is told that he is not wanted around. He was not able to go to places such as “downtown” or the “movies” to just enjoy the life he was given without being reminded of the oppressor who did not accept his presence as a human being longing for a fulfilling life too. Even his own brother “knocks him down” just like his oppressor rather than helping him move forward, creating a motif that the black community needs to stop bringing each other down and lift each other up if they want a true change to come their way. This relates to a common topic today in which black on black crime is still at a high and steady rate, and not enough is being done to solve this issue. Even though the author writes that there have been points he did not believe he could