"The Inspiration" Tupac Shakur

Cam Watt December 10, 2015

The great career of the rap artist and also actor Lesane Parish Crooks, also known as Tupac Shakur began when he was just 13. He attended the Baltimore School of Arts before he dropped out. He then became a background dancer and roadie for the rap group Digital Underground in Marin County, California. Before Lesane became known as Tupac, many people failed to realize that it wasn’t actually his first rap name. His first rap name was MC New York.While he was apart of this group, he still worked on his own music pieces. Later, when the Digital Underground group release an EP, Tupac was featured on it and became a well known rapper. The album caused a great start to Tupac’s stardom. It was a year later when he finally signed by himself with Interscope.

The following year, Tupac released 2pacalypse, one of his most well known pieces. This album was ranked number 64 in pop music and number 13 in R&B. It was a stunning success, and from this album, Tupac’s fan base vastly expanded. Tupac’s message wasn’t just any message. He attained his lyrics through the society he was placed in. The society of racial discrimination in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Tupac rapped about the racial profiling he, as well as many of his friends had to endure. The racial profiling was more towards the police and how they were trying to discriminate against the African American race. The argument of most of Tupac’s songs were violence related. Through his message, many people overcame various adversities. Tupac had more influences other than societal dilemmas. His parents were also a factor in his influence. Both of Tupac’s parents were members of the Black Panther Party. “Shakur was the son of Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur” (Through their influence, Tupac was raised to challenge police brutality. Therefore, his message usually included violence toward police and encouraged the hatred toward them. Many people decided to join in on Tupac’s reassurance of the police discrimination.

https://youtu.be/izXzRIYke5E

Interview Of Tupac Shakur

Tupac was not only a rap artist, but he also was an actor in various movies. He starred in a movie in 1992, Ernest Dickerson’s Juice. Just like many of his rap theme’s, this movie was about racial discrimination and violence with young teens, except this plot was in Harlem. Not only did the teens deal with police discrimination, but they also had to deal with gang violence and family struggles. He also starred in a movie in 1993, by the name of Poetic Justice. He played a main character named Lucky. Though, this movie was about finding love through poems cited throughout the movie written by the character Tupac fell in love with, Justice played by Janet Jackson. This movie brought a lot more attention to Tupac. Knowing that Tupac could rap and also be an actor was a big impression to many of his fans and followers. The voices of the youth expanded on Tupac’s message and acted in brutal ways.

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After these movies were produced, Tupac continued expanded on his own musical talents. He put out two more albums; one titled Strictly 4 My N.*.G.G.A.Z, and the other was Thug Life Volume: 1. These two albums were the stamp of approval for Tupac’s career. Many other artists and record labels began learning and reaching out to Tupac for tips, advice, and guidance into becoming an influential character in the society they were in. From the East coast to the West coast, almost everyone who was into the Hip-Hop/R&B/Pop culture was interested in the message Tupac was sending.

From this point on, many artists followed Pac’s influencing movement. Rap became more and more popular as Tupac’s career advanced. He put out more albums and later became one of the top artists of the late 80’s and early 90’s. He even became known as The Father Of Rap. To branch off of Tupac’s nickname, Snoop Dogg became The Uncle Of Rap. Many other artists decided to mooch off of Tupac’s idea’s. They began rapping about the poverty they were placed in and how it caused them to be the way there are. The police were an extensive part of this movement. They were hated in places like Compton, Brooklyn, and other big cities from the East coast to the West coast.

At this time, Tupac was having trouble with a former friend of his, Christopher George Latore Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls or The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie and Pac used to be very close friends. They did concerts together, interviews, and also hung out from time to time. This friendship deteriorated when Tupac was shot at a recording studio in New York. At the time, Biggie and a great rapper, P. Diddy were present. Tupac believed that he was set up by Biggie Smalls and then began trouble between the two. Tupac had many reasons to believe that Biggie set him up. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Biggie and Pac were the most popular artists out and Tupac believed that Biggie wanted the fame for himself. Therefore, it would cause Biggie to plan an assassination of Tupac. Shortly after the shooting, Tupac was sent to Prison for sexually harassing a fan. In prison, he released Hit Em Up, a diss track towards Biggie Smalls. Not only did he make a diss track, but shortly after he also made Me Against The World, a whole album about how trust is indicative. This album hit the top charts within weeks and it stayed at the top. Tupac became the first artist to have an album as number one on the BillBoard 200 while in prison. This sparked lots of fans minds.

Tupac mastered every element, every aspect”. His legacy left a message that inspired many artists. The top artists of today will always relate back to Tupac. For instance, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Z.

Tupac is placed among the top rappers of all time because of his legacy. Other MC’s say that “Tupac mastered every element, every aspect” (Wikipedia). His legacy left a message that inspired many artists. The top artists of today will always relate back to Tupac. For instance, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Z. Some of the greatest artists known today will refer to Tupac as their inspiration to rap music. Even Eminem, known as The Rap God, will tell anyone that Tupac was the greatest of all time and inspired him to write lyrics of his own about the society he grew up in and how he’s trying to overcome it.

https://youtu.be/5CvED0F5LAw

Interview Of J. Cole Referring To Tupac

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Instead of actually rapping all about “thug life”, Tupac actually tried to teach something to the youth. Not all of his messages were about violence, or discrimination. When you listen closely to Tupac’s music, you can tell that he was very well educated. He used a contradictory style in his music. In one song, he would talk about black on black crime, then in the next, he would talk about killing all his enemies. He would rap about being a player in one song, then in the next, he would support women and their rights. This was the first time that many people had seen or heard of a style like this, and many people loved it.

Tupac’s message and influence on many alternative rappers became well known through interviews, music, and poems. Not only was Pac an inspiration to rappers, but he was also a role model for many teenagers and young adults. He was known as a symbol of rap and it’s violence. More than anything, he was a martyr of this culture. Tupac started the rapid growth of the rap/hip-hop/pop culture. Through various albums from trust, to racial discrimination, Pac spoke passionately about how the society helped him grow as a man. This was the legacy that made Pac an influential character to the society we live in.

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