Tupac Shakur: Behind the Scenes
Photo Credit: rish1234all / Shutterstock: Tupac Shakur
By Sonya Surapaneni
We all love some good rap music—listening to it in the shower, blaring it in cars, or even falling asleep to J. Cole’s epic lyrics. Rap has been around for decades, loved by people of all ages around the country. Whether it’s in your ‘workout’ playlist or ‘relax’ playlist, there’s always a different artist for everyone. However, most don’t look into the lyrics behind each song, and are pleasantly surprised when rappers talk about struggles in the community, and how we can move towards a more equal society.
From Eminem’s infamous call-out of Trump, to Wayne constantly advocating for black rights, there have been multiple instances, in which rappers have spoken out—hoping to make the world better for people of color everywhere. This article focuses on the infamous rapper: all time favorite 2Pac.
As you might know already, Tupac Shakur was an infamous hip hop singer, releasing various songs that called people out on their mistakes. Still a legend today, he lives in the mouths of young old-souls, and resides in playlists of everyone across the world. If you haven’t heard of him, however, you need to get going. Stream his music, it’s always worth it.
Tupac fought against injustice all his life, changing the world—little by little. As you might know, he came up with the infamous slogan “THUG LIFE,” empowering communities all over the world. “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by Tupac highlights the injustices that women face in society everyday, while the rapper drops verses like “Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay” and “She tried to sell *****, but end up getting robbed.”
More than just rights for young women, he targets systemic oppression as well, singing “You know they got me trapped in this prison of seclusion,” and “Cause they never talk peace in the black community,” in the infamous song: “Trapped.”
In “Keep Your Head Up,” he advocates for black communities around the world. Specifically, he brings up black women, and many articles quote this as his most ‘woke’ song of all time, and rightfully so.
However, it is important to remember that he was never perfect. He’s rapped to degrade people, and taken it to many extremes. He was an advocate for many, but also pushed down many.
