Tupac Shakur and Black Power

Tupac Shakur’s music – before enveloping himself in the Thug Life mentality – is almost like a revival of the earliest forms of hip-hop. His lyrics express a deep discontent for the state of America and its African American youth. Much like Grandmaster Flash’s song “The Message”, most of Tupac’s music is observational. Unlike most of the “hip-hop” that we hear on the radio today, he calls out to the public to recognize the daily struggle of the African American youth.

He understood what it meant to live in poverty. In his speech at a Malcolm X grassroots organization, he talks about the independency of the impoverished African American youth, the ones who raised themselves. They are the ones with doped up parents. When they have to live on their own, they fall into drugs and gang violence. This is their way out. Knowing this, Tupac raps about the under-privileged and the institutional penitentiary they are placed in. In his song “Panther Power” he raps:

  As real as it seems the American Dream

         Ain't nothing but another calculated schemes

   To get us locked up shot up back in chains

  To deny us of the future rob our names

His lyrics are powerful, and mixed with a beat that makes easy listening; it’s a message to the youth and those ignoring them. Since many of them do not have parents to look up to, Tupac calls upon the Malcolm X grassroots organization not to disparage the youth and their behavior, but to raise them. He calls for a rebirth of Black Power; Black Power that rises from the ashes of people like Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X. Tupac’s parents were both black panthers. His mother was his biggest influence and he talks about her in many of his songs. She spoke to him about African American History, much like how Obama and Malcolm X were raised as kids. He came to realize that he had someone looking out for him in his life and that many others around him did not. His music became a micro version of Black Power, power for the youth.

The “thug” life persona that Tupac developed later on in his hip-hop career can be interpreted in different ways. To be thug meant to be scraping for a living, regardless of the way someone did it. With this definition, working at a dead end job barely making any money could be considered thug. In Tupac’s case, it was dealing and hustling. However, he was never truly in that scene. It wasn’t until he got involved with Death Row Records and Suge Knight (the record label’s cold-hearted producer) that he began taking on the thug life. Every time I watch a video of Tupac rapping about thug life, I think back to his interviews when he was younger, when he was trying to call attention to the youth. I’ve always thought that the thug “outfit” was actually an “outlet”, something that was relatable to many so that he could cast his message for youth development further, but I am still unsure.

If you have time, there is a well-made and interesting documentary of Tupac Shakur on Netflix that I highly recommend watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWs5r_BcnLk Panther Power Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWM9BdBFWuw Malcolm X Grassroots Organization

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/ghettogospel.html Ghetto Gospel Lyrics

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/ghettogospel.html Panther Power Lyrics

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/onlygodcanjudgeme.html Only God Can Judge Me