On Tupac Shakur

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'Tupac Shakur could possibly be the most influential and compelling of all rappers' (Dyson 106) Do we really know who Tupac was? The famous phrase, 'never judge a book by its cover' applies to Tupac's own personality and character. A first look at Tupac and you see darkness, you see a violent man with no purpose or direction in his life. Then you look deeper inside him, you step into his shoes and see a kind, caring, but very confused man.

Tupac's life story is like any other typical 'thug' lifestyle. Yet, he had accomplished what no other rapper had accomplished before, realism. ?You know, I have read this report, and this young man seems to me to be absolutely remarkable? stated by a judge in one of Tupac?s hearings. (Dyson 248) He told us the reality of life and how he handles it. Not by violence, but by an always peaceful state of mind. Because Tupac showed to us his two different personalities as a person he has helped our youth and society to relate to his life and change our life.

What we only see in Tupac is the violent life he lived and how he is the root of corruption among our youth. ?They say Tupac [hip-hop] teaches our youth to be gangsters and has no positive message, but they forget the U.S. climate is negative.? (Anonymous poem author) Judging someone by their outside character can never determine what they are feeling on the inside. In other words, Tupac was the true example of society today. We see the negative clearly, but how much do we know about the positive?

Tupac?s mother, Afeni Shakur, contributed to Tupac?s other positive side. ?He even wrote a song called ?Dear Mama? addressed to his mother expressing his love for her and thanking her for always trying her best to raise him, even though she made some mistakes.? (?Lexus? www.4freeessays.com) Just like his mother, Tupac made many mistakes in his lifetime and learned from them. Yet, by the time he learned from them it was too late to change his ?thug life? (?Lexus? www.4freeessays.com) ways.

Tupac?s fans saw two sides to Tupac, the negative and the positive. ?His identity crisis manifested itself in his music, which developed an almost psychotic split personality: liberal minded thoughtfulness one moment, raging misogynistic hostility the next? (Browne 58) These two sides is what inspired fans to love Tupac Shakur so much. The people who listened...

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...respect because we all know that to dream is to fly and while we criticized Tupac?s troubled flight, we did it so safely from the ground. (Datcher 37) To look into the eyes of Tupac all you see is violence. To step into his shoes all you see is yourself, struggling to decide what is right and wrong from Tupac?s point of view. Maybe the famous rapper Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) was right; ?Come experience life as we know it, as some of you should know it? (Jay-Z?s ?Coming of Age?)

Bibliography

Datcher, Michael. Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur. Black Words Inc., 1996 December

Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler if you Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. BasicCivitas Books., 2001 August

Light, Alan. Tupac Shakur. New York: Three Rivers Press, a division of Crown Publishing Inc. 1997, 1998

White, Armond. Rebel for the Hell of It. New York: Thunder?s Mouth Press, 1997

?Lexus? http://www.4freeessays.com/essays/838.shtml

(website creator unknown) www.home.pi.be/~koenleen/English/influence.htm

Jackson, Derrick. The Boston Globe. 22 August 1993

McFarson, Ginny. Entertainment Weekly. 21 August 1996

Browne, David. Entertainment Weekly. 22 November 1996

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