The Strength of Your Tupac Fanaticism

[michael823]

2pac to me was as diverse a person as it gets, and I think people are too quick to ignore what caused his anger. You could be a 50 year old Harvard sociology professor, and your opinions on what Tupac offered culturally wouldn't mean a thing. He was the son of a Black Panther, and had a greater understanding of racial injustice than anybody because of it. No matter how old and wise you may feel you have gotten, you will have never lived his life, and could never reach people in the way he did.
He was a leader, and incredible poet, he reached people of every walk of life with his words, had unrivaled intellect and could express it to anybody.
To say he would be a spokesperson for a fast food chain, or doing Pepsi commercials, is just plain ridiculous. He came from nothing, and grew to a level of success that is uncomparable in today's age.
He brought racism to the forefront, and brought understanding to every race of people in a way that even Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X couldn't have. He was the loud voice speaking for those who couldn't articulate it so powerfully, and has an energy that will last far beyond his death. He is still relevant in today's society of materialism, and technology. And if he were still alive I can guarantee he would be doing incredible things for society, and you wouldn't see any of the garbage rappers making music today.

 

[Bender]

tupac is as real as it gets, he took the thug type mentality and connected it to a political mind-state, guerilla warfare at its finest when it comes to rap music

 

[Ristol]

"He brought racism to the forefront, and brought understanding to every race of people in a way that even Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X couldn't have."

Thank you. That is the most hilarious thing I've ever read on this board.

 

[Euphanasia]

^ i don't think it's funny at all actually. Clearly, michael823 is not undermining the greatness of Malcolm and Martin, only trying to articulate that Tupac's own style of lashing out against racism was much different from those two icons. Not every outcry of indignation has to be from a pulpit. The power of music in today's society is truly prolific.

 

[michael823]

Thank you euphanasia, clearly you got the point. It's not like I said Tupac brought more understanding than Martin or Malcolm, I said he did it in a way that they couldn't, which is true.
In no way was I criticizing either, and I think you probably knew that oh wise Ristol. You just preferred to respond with a condescending remark, rather than offering that mature intellect to make counter points, that you claim to have gotten in your ladder years.
In fact I think both were obviously incredible activists, and just as I stated Tupac reached people in a way they couldn't, they reached people in a way Tupac couldn't.
I think people hide behind their old age, and "maturity", and act like Tupac had misplaced anger towards racial injustice. So they say he cries wolf, and blame his immaturity for being so outspoken. But I think it's that energy, determination, and honesty that makes him such a great icon. Racism is so much more behind closed doors now, along with many other of the worlds problems, so people think it just doesn't exist anymore. Tupac was the type to drag it out and talk about it, and bring people from every corner of the world the message of his struggle.
Sure Tupac may have said some things that weren't always appropriate, but he was 25. I watch that interview on Thug Angel of him as a 17yr old, and wonder how someone so young can be so wise. I still find Tupac's music as great as when I was younger, actually greater, because now I have a better understanding of what he was trying to say.

 

[goymz]

A lot of my feelings have been said already.

However I really found my fanaticism waning with the leaks over the past six months: nothing has blown me away, the unheard verses are just Pac rapping the same words in his previously released songs again and again. It doesn't excite me or fire me up anymore, its repetition is a little boring.

A part of me still wishes that I was involved in that community, or at the bare minimum, knew where the Pac remix scene was these days - if nothing else was to leak, I still think some fanmade remixes could do better jobs of some of the versions we have now. And I would have said that six months ago, before these recent leaks.

 

[Ristol]

2pac to me was as diverse a person as it gets, and I think people are too quick to ignore what caused his anger. You could be a 50 year old Harvard sociology professor, and your opinions on what Tupac offered culturally wouldn't mean a thing. He was the son of a Black Panther, and had a greater understanding of racial injustice than anybody because of it. No matter how old and wise you may feel you have gotten, you will have never lived his life, and could never reach people in the way he did.
He was a leader, and incredible poet, he reached people of every walk of life with his words, had unrivaled intellect and could express it to anybody.
To say he would be a spokesperson for a fast food chain, or doing Pepsi commercials, is just plain ridiculous. He came from nothing, and grew to a level of success that is uncomparable in today's age.
He brought racism to the forefront, and brought understanding to every race of people in a way that even Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X couldn't have. He was the loud voice speaking for those who couldn't articulate it so powerfully, and has an energy that will last far beyond his death. He is still relevant in today's society of materialism, and technology. And if he were still alive I can guarantee he would be doing incredible things for society, and you wouldn't see any of the garbage rappers making music today.

And your opinions do matter? No one’s opinions matter more or less than anyone else’s. Is it okay with you if I listen to your opinion and to this fictitious professor? I want to hear everybody. What’s wrong with that? You talk about diversity and then you turn around and call Tupac an “incredible poet.” He wasn’t. He was an incredible rapper. John Keats was an incredible poet. And if you don’t think John Keats is better than Tupac Shakur at writing poetry, then that is your personal shortcoming, and your loss. But I recognize that might be your opinion, and you’re allowed to have it. Don’t feel compelled to defend it to me.

Yes, you were comparing him to Malcolm X and MLK, and you were comparing him favorably. I really shouldn’t have to point this out, but Martin Luther King changed the establishment from the outside of it. That’s almost impossible. He got civil rights legislation signed by 1963, and Malcolm X has (perhaps surprisingly) inspired many people to lives of public service, including Congressman John Lewis. Comparing Tupac to these people is not just ridiculous--it’s offensive.

How about Malcolm X can be Malcolm X and Tupac can be Tupac? Why do we need to mention them in the same breath?

And, why is it ridiculous to guess he’d be doing Pepsi commercials? It’s idle speculation, but beyond that, he hawked many many things in his lifetime. Tupac was not above being a salesman. Don’t act like he was. It’s not ridiculous, it actually happened many times in his life.

There you go elevating him to saint status. “In today’s society of materialism?” Well yeah it’s a lot different now than it was in 1996, huh? In 1996 we were all monks, and so was Tupac. He wasn’t a money-grubbing materialist, now was he? Oh wait, we all are, and we shouldn’t begrudge ourselves that, but he did nothing good for society at large, man. That’s just reaching, in my opinion.

But you’re welcome to have your own opinion. I’m not saying you’re not. I’m just telling you what I think of it.

 

[michael823]

"Comparing Tupac to these people is not just ridiculous--it’s offensive." Okay, be offended then. What you call fancy wine, I call sour grapes, but go ahead march.
Tupac - African American leader, rose above his surroundings on his own, used his iconic platform to educate people of oppression, and troubles facing young black men. You're right, absolutely no comparison to be made.
As for doubting him as a poet, that is your opinion. If John Keats helps you get through the day, than I'm happy for you. Thugz Mansion as an example is an incredible poem to me, and the words profoundly affects my way of thinking. As well as many of his words, and the effect on people that hear them. Prestige is such an illusion, and although people would like to be seen as far to distinguished for Tupac, they aren't. He even understood that "certain" people would listen to it as a fad, then move on to something else, because they never really understood what he was saying. But he created his music for the hopeless, and downtrodden, that would hear it and relate to it in a positive way. So he didn't affect you in a positive way, some people just don't get it. But the people he did reach understand quite well, and his influence on them is undeniable.

 

[Sebastian]

As for the parts I bolded.. think about this: Tupac was 25 when he died. If Malcom X would've died when he was 25 he would've died an unknown street hustler in Harlem. If Martin Luther King Jr would've died at 25 he would've died an unknown priest in an unknown church. Tupac did die when he was 25 and he was a superstar rapper on top of the world. I can't remember who said that originally but it always stuck with me.

Exactly, same here.

Whenever i thought about the question in the past, how "great" as a person he was compared to other well known people, i always remembered this comment.

 

[Kadafi Son]

damn, wassup wit ur super anti-tupac behavior. If somebody wants to compare Pac to civil rights people and back it up, you don't have to be an ass and chastise people on their morals just because you all of a sudden discovered somethin new inside yourself. Nobody cares if in your coming of age, you all of a sudden attained understanding of life and maturity. What are you doing with it? Trying to convert people in seeing that Pac was a talented bum? How enlightening and intellectual. Everybody here already recognized that Pac wasn't a saint, so did I from the beginning. This isn't even that type of dickridin' Pac board. You just really failed to see the social awareness and analyst in Pac's poetry and works. Whatever his actions were, he was doing more activisism (in his New Afrikan Panther in the late 80s) and writing than you or anybody here at age 17/18. From the Bloods & Crips Truce Movement to dedicating "A Place Called Home" for ghetto youth who experience troubles at their own home, Pac's charity has been greatly hidden by the media, so all people know about is his court cases and his "thug" image.

People should be smart enough to know that certain things should not be glamorized because it is detrimental to the psyche. Pac realized this and expressed that kids shouldn't heed everything he does. Our parents do the same thing. Thats something that most rappers whose persona are dangerous don't even take the time out to articulate on.

So you shouldn't take it personally when some one says something righteous about Pac, such as making a song called Brenda or Keep Ya Head Up; because we all recognized that Tha Lunatic and I Get Around came after that track. We understand the good with the bad. But I guess you hindered yourself from it because you wanna believe you've done something in your life that gives you the authority to be better than anybody else and throw stones at a black man who at least tried to make a change in the world already full of decadence. At 25, he was gonna make mistakes just like the very influential and educated Malcolm X at that time.

Fine, I'll say it. 2pac, your poems were short and appeared to be rushed, just like your raps. Yet, even in these sonnets, you've pointed out many factz of life we are afraid to face or analyze. 2pac, you acted real childish in your squabbles with people who disagreed with you. But I recognize that is only the ways of a man; the history of man. Even Malcolm X threw shoots at Martin for being non-violent. But eventually, they compromised and became comradz; so whose to say you won't do that with Biggie and etc. 2pac, why couldn't you keep your paranoid bullet-riddled azz from behind bars? You've got kids lookin up to you. Even though the police beat the shit outta you and your family tree, you gotta have some type of respect for the law. Never mind that they had you and your sister on extra surveillance since elementary school, you should have been a saint like jesus. But you know what, I've known a lot of brothaz who made the same mistakes and been through the same situations you did. The only difference was that the media caught it. And because of your background, you would be villianized by them, with the bad overshadowing the good. But at the end of the day, we take the lessonz we were taught, realize we were only human and strive to the impossible perfection. But bottom line, because of your position, your message would be interpreted in many wayz. So I let it be. I just hate it when certain people put on a pedestal, or a higher standard when you were only human like us.

 

[Sebastian]

One more thing after listening to an old Pac interview:

What always stood out to me was his charisma and his voice! Jada said the following in an interview: "His voice, its something about his voice thats grabs you...".

I could have listened to him all day long. He was such a charismatic figure.

 

[Freedom Froggy]

honestly i still listen to pac every day. i can never seem to get enough of his deep and emotional songs

and only fear of death has moved into the top spot right now

 

[Euphanasia]

^only fear of death is amazing

"i wonder, when will i be happy?"