Posted on 06/16/2014 5:56:32 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Tupac would have turned 43 today. In age of Trayvon and Jordan Davis, here's why we have a hard time letting him go.
Tupac Shakur lived for twenty-five years. I was nine years-old when he died and twenty-five seemed so grown to me. Twenty-five sounded like you had lived. It wasn’t until I started approaching twenty-five myself that I realized how close to black boyhood Tupac, born forty-three years ago to the day, was when he died.
I think that’s part of the reason we have a hard time letting him go. For all of his faults (and there were many), he continues to show up in our conspiracy theories and urban legends, as a hologram at Coachella and an inspiration on Broadway, in our art, our style, our memorials, our fantasies, and our histories because of what he represented. Tupac wasn’t the most impressive rapper. Only a diehard mourns the loss of his actual rhyme skills. But more than any other figure of that time, and probably since, Tupac articulated black boy rage in a way that was authentic, relatable, and easily translated to a nation determined to kill us. When he rapped, his vocal strain came directly from the gut, where he held his pain. He spoke with his entire body and you could damn near see the fury and anger pulsating just underneath his skin. Tupac screamed in America’s face on behalf of black boys in Brooklyn, Compton, Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, Baltimore, Miami, and all over who had been terrorized by white supremacy.
Which is why reading this never-before-told account of his last words wasn’t the least bit shocking....
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
How a middling rapper from the 90’s became the black Elvis is something that has always mystified me.
And yet a black man ended up shooting him.
I think he gets points when his name is spelled right on the tele-scroller.
But I do enjoy tweaking her every now and again. So I formulated this little twist:
"I'm not racist at all, but I'm afraid that some people of other races might harbor racist feelings toward me."
Never heard of Smith. He’s probably jealous that he wasn’t able to participate in the Shakur-laced joints that were smoked by members of Shakur’s posse after the cremation.
Why don’t the idiot start placing some of the responsibility where it belongs? Is it whitey’s fault most black men are not honorable enough to even give a damn about their own children? Is whitey keeping you from your children? If so, you’re a pathetic person.
Tupac spelled backwards is “Caput”
Why was this posted? And who the hell cares who this misquided boy known as ‘Tupac’ was?
Um, after his unfortunate shooting, shouldn’t that be “One Pack”?
Spelled sideways, it's "Cat-Pu."
“How a middling rapper from the 90’s became the black Elvis is something that has always mystified me.”
That’s what really perplexed me to a great extent as well.
I never understood how this guy reached such iconic status other than the fact that he died young and was a casualty in the East Coast/West Coast feud in the 90’s that basically resulted in nothing more than large venues banning rap acts.
I mean I can name some early 80’s or 90’s rap groups/artists and even a few songs they did. I can name absolutely nothing of TuPac’s.
Look out Tony Robbins!
Me, too, especially considering Elvis likely learned some of his stuff playing music with black folks. How music went from Nat King Cole to the Temptations to hip-hop, I don't know, but it is like a culture falling off a cliff.
But, somehow, 'cappin', (signifying, dozens) got to be big money instead of just street corner entertainment and "aspiring rapper" is the new middlin' guitar picker on their way to Nashville.
If half as much energy was spent doing as gets spent on whining about the 'man' holding them down/back, if half as much time was spent cleaning house as is spent complaining, there would not be nearly as much to bitch about. But there ain't no money in that.
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