Tupac: The Words of an Inspirational Lyricist Essay

2pac (Tupac Shakur) is known as one of the most influential rappers of all time and his music expresses transcendentalism. In the song Changes he raps about how the world needs change and that its corrupt. People need to change and treat others with respect instead of with hate. In the song it says "It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.-Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live-and let's change the way we treat each other." 2pac wants the people to become something better and make an effort to help and treat others with respect. He is advocating a movement. A movement that is dedicated to peace. He had a hard life in New York with a drug dealing father and a missing mother. Although he had an awful life he was optimistic and hopeful this is shown in all of his music. In the song "Keep Your Head up" 2pac raps about being yourself and doing what you believe is right. He wants to start a movement that influence people to act for themselves. A movement where people will be influenced to change and treat others better like his song

Tupac has a lot of self-values that he follows. He even said it's hard sometimes, but he

The public views musicians are some of the most influential people they know, which is why many of them try to maintain this positive image for their audience. The inspiration for many hip hop artist today, Tupac Shakur is a prime example of one who was able to pull himself out of a dark place. Throughout his life, Tupac has faced many obstacles, the largest being his family. Associating with the Black Panther several members Shakur’s family has dealt with the law. His godparents killing a state trooper and teacher and stepfather wanted on the FBI’s Most Wanted. Although not entirely similar, Michael Jackson also had vast amounts of obstacles in his life. From a young age, Jackson had utilized his talents with his brothers to from the band the Jackson 5. Allegedly, he would often be overworked by his father to push for more popularity for the boys. This lack of a childhood contributed to him putting sums of money in his theme park and even being accused of being a pedophile for the degree in which he was around children. Regardless, both had one thing in common. They fought. Unlike the people stated before, these people decided that they did not want to become their obstacles. They did not want to become the people who were a bad influence on them. As a result, they decided to do everything they could.

Tupac, as most of his dedicated fans already know, lead a very turbulent and troubled life which was often depicted in his music. His relation with his mother, gang culture, fixation with death and poetic realism was often depicted in his music; yet he may be considered one of the most transparent and controversial rap artist to ever grab the mic.

Throughout the song, Tupac gives an inside look on the social problems affecting African-Americans and suggests possible solutions. In the first stanza of the song, Tupac first talks about how certain social issues are linked together; he makes a correlation between his skin color and being poor. Tupac says “I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.” Then he explains how poverty causes crime by saying “My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.” And finally, he demonstrates the relationship between police brutality and race by saying “Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.”

Tupac Shakur is one of the most legendary and popular poetic/rap artists to this day. He is considered to be one of the most influential people of his time, influencing every African-American citizen in North America. Thought of as the creator of rap, Tupac has sold over seventy-five million albums worldwide although his career ended as quickly as it started. Six, is the number of years Tupac spent making rap professionally. Thirteen is the number of years Tupac spent writing poetry and rap lyrics. Twenty-five is how old Tupac was when he received four bullets to his chest causing him to pass away. In those twenty-five years, Tupac has influenced millions of people and artists

Tupac Amaru Shakur was a very influential person who overcame many difficulties. Tupac was a rapper of truth that spoke about the things that go on in the “Hood” and the unjust police. He was treated differently because he was black and was even arrested for jaywalking. After he was arrested he was beaten by the cops who wanted him to “learn his place”(Joseph 29). This shows how bad Tupac had it because he was African American. Tupac died an early death at 25 because of a brewing rivalry between the East and West Coast rappers. Shakur was a person who would stand up for what he believed in no matter the cost and died fighting for that. He never let anyone win a battle that he was determined to win and always knew what he was fighting for. His mother was the same, as a loyal member of the Black Panther Party, a group that protected all African Americans from police brutality. Tupac was literally born to be a fighter and carried on his mother's legacy. Despite his rough life, Tupac Shakur became one of the most influential rappers of all time.

Everyone knows a guy by the name of Tupac Shakur, but how do people know Mr. Shakur? Maybe it is by the hardcore gangster and obscene rap lyrics directed towards people, more so aimed towards his east coast rivals. As years went on, more and more people viewed a handful of Tupac’s music as a true work of art, containing strong messages along with stories from his troubled childhood and young adulthood. Later on in both Tupac’s life and career, he began to realize the demise of the African American culture as a whole. During his last stint in prison, not only did he realized all of this wrongdoing throughout this life, but also the negative influence rap and hip hop had over the young African American community. What happened during his incarnation,

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

Tupac Shakur, TLC, and even the young sensation Zendaya Coleman are a few celebrities that are seen as nonconformist in the media. Just like every teenager, I can’t live in a world without music,and I definitely can’t live without these three inspirations on my playlist. Their lyrics have such a great meaning deep down in them, especially the older generation of artist including Tupac and TLC. Just like any other non-conformist, Tupac went against society’s ways and when he wrote he talked about dreams,world peace, and racism. “I’m 23 years old. I might just be my mother’s child, but in all reality. I’m everybody’s child. Nobody raised me; I was raised in this society.” Basically what Tupac is saying is that even though you were raised by

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,

Many contradicting views surround rap music’s controversial subjects and use of language. While some consider it highly offensive, there is some validity to the rhetoric applied in political rap. In the 1990’s racial inequality is rampant with uprisings and segregated neighborhoods that condemn minorities and lower socioeconomic classes to inhumane living conditions. Specifically, Tupac Shakur’s posthumous song “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto” combines an emancipatory lyric with a hopeful and upbeat instrumental to assess the racial inequality in society and the possibility of a better future.

Capture Attention- “Too Many Murders, Too Many Funerals, and Too Many Tears. Just seen another brother buried plus I knew him for years. Passed by his family, but what could I say? Keep yo’ head up head up and try to keep the faith and pray for better days” (Tupac).

Tupac Shakur released the song “Keep Ya Head Up” first in 1993 on his album “Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z.”, then as a single in 1994. Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up”, one of his most notable and recognizable singles, received acclaim upon its release and continues to do so. The record centers on the social climate in the 90’s, and Tupac’s own experiences from his youth. Around the time of the song’s release, Tupac’s indictment in a rape case colored the reception of the song although it remained mainly positive. Tupac speaks on multiple issues through his lyrics, making it effective as a critique of society; moreover, the other creative devices he uses – phrasing, rhythm changes, and samples – make the song effective as an artistic project and back up his social message.

When most people hear the name Tupac, they think of a tattooed thug, a gangsta rapper killed in a tragic shooting who only got what was coming to him, a man who lived by the gun, and who died by the gun. However, those people probably have never taken a chance to look beyond what their eyes tell them, past the ignorance and into the depths of the man who really was Tupac.