How Tupac Shakur Affected The World

"And since we all came from a woman

Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman

I wonder why we take from our women

Why we rape our women — do we hate our women?

I think it's time to kill for our women

Time to heal our women, be real to our women

And if we don't we'll have a race of babies

That will hate the ladies that make the babies

And since a man can't make one

He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one

So will the real men get up?"

These were the words of the fiery, tenacious MC Tupac Amaru Shakur who is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, if not the best. From 1991 to 1996 he dropped 4 albums which have, until this day, significantly impacted the world we live in by contributing to Hip-Hop, our society, and the younger generation.

Tupac Amaru Shakur was one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, selling over 75 million albums worldwide (Tupac Still Influencing Culture). He was born in Harlem, New York City and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland but later relocated to Oakland, California. He was named after a Peruvian Revolutionist, who led an uprising against Spanish rule. Before moving to Oakland, he attended the Baltimore School of Arts in Maryland. He dropped out of school when he moved to California and took the streets, becoming associated with selling drugs and gang activity. What he witnessed on the streets started to give him inspiration for his songs, and later in 1990, he joined Digital Underground. Digital Underground was an Oakland based rap group, and after 1 year Tupac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now with them. Then released Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. in 1993 and then after getting accused of sexual assault in 1994, Pac released Me Against The World in 1995. For his next and final release, Tupac signed with Suge Knight's Death Row Records in 1996. That album, All Eyez on Me, was a two-disc album reflecting the “thug life” that Shakur embodied. Later that Year, after attending one of his longtime friends, Mike Tyson's, boxing match, Tupac was shot in a drive-by and died 4 days later in the hospital. The ripple effect that his death left this world is still felt to this day.

"You know they got me trapped in this prison of seclusion

Happiness, living on the streets is a delusion

Even a smooth criminal one day must get caught

Shot up or shot down with the bullet that he bought

Nine-millimeter kickin' thinkin' about what the streets do to me

Cause they never talk peace in the black community"

The hurricane that was Tupac's life took the Hip-Hop industry by storm and to this day, motivates artists to be more poetic, lyrically diverse, and all the more real. Unlike other rappers in the 90s, who were flashy and witty wordsmith MC’s, Tupac was a poet, storyteller, a social commentator with a message for his audience. His words were spat from a different part of his mind, heart, and body, but his work was built on the basis of education and history making it immensely impactful to his listeners. Whatever Tupac witnessed and experienced as a young African-American man, whether it was police brutality, gang violence, prostitution, he would thoughtfully convey into his rhymes and bars. His work would touch listeners the way a book or poem would, leaving them with a moral at the end. Taking inspiration from someone like Shakespeare, Shakur had a poetic pentameter about him that is indefinitely unrivaled. Even his extreme work ethic was unmatched in the industry, as stated in one of his documentaries when Tupac became a big star, he started to change, when everyone else was sleeping, he was continually doing work (Tupac Shakur Archives). After his tragic death, his whole discography became a Bible. People believed his word, studied his lyrics and became experts in his teachings. Tupac will reign as one of the most influential rappers, who ingrained his footstep into the foundation of the genre.

"Now Brenda really never knew her moms

And her dad was a junkie, puttin' death into his arms

It's sad, 'cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know

Just 'cause you're in the ghetto doesn't mean you can't grow

But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation

Do whatever it takes to resist the temptation

Brenda got herself a boyfriend

Her boyfriend was her cousin, now let's watch the joy end

She tried to hide her pregnancy, from her family

Who really didn't care to see, or give a damn if she

Went out and had a church of kids

As long as when the check came they got first dibs"

Tupac's impact on society has been more significant than any other artists now and probably ever. The messages he sent out to his audience about societal problems were from his own experience, as he was raised by a mother who was involved with gangs and struggled with drug addiction. Therefore, Pac was surrounded by poverty, crime, drugs, and violence during his early years. Tupac had “Thug Life” tattooed on his stomach, which is an acronym for “The Hate You Give Little Infants, F***s Everybody”. He made the tattoo because in his point of view, everything starts as a child, “if a kid sees something like gun violence or his mother being addicted to drugs it becomes an everyday thing for them, it's something that they are not ashamed of and will mimic in the future”, he states in an interview. Tupac’s most resonating verses about society came in his early works such as “Brenda's Got a Baby,” in which he addresses pregnancy, ineffective welfare and the toxic family structure rotting the ghetto. Tupac believed spitting the truth to people would help problems stop, as one of his documentaries Tupac: Resurrection states that he wanted to show the world what he's seen, like the footage of the Vietnam war. He felt that if he showed people the graphics of the streets, it would help stop the suffering.

"Based upon the strength of a nation

Conquer the enemy armed with education

Protect yourself, reach for what you want to do

Know thyself, teach by what we've been through

Armed with the knowledge of the place we've been

No one will ever oppress this race again

No Malcolm X in my history text, why's that?

’Cause he tried to educate and liberate all blacks

Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?

He told blacks, if they get smacked, turn the other cheek

I don't get it, so many questions went through my mind

I get sweated, they act like asking questions is a crime"

Tupac became myth-like figure after his passing, people listened to him religiously even more after his death. His music is being heard one generation to the next, portraying his message of street violence which has probably influenced many teenagers living in the ghetto. His thoughtful lyrics and extraordinary work ethic is a source of motivation to youth striving for self-development and self-actualization without any formal education. This could be perceived as a bad thing; however, Pac believed that the education of self/life was the most important type of education but not that formal schooling is worthless. As he was a very well educated himself and loved the works of Shakespeare, yet he believed life and one's own self to be the best teachers to be successful in life.

In conclusion, Tupac Shakur was one of the greatest MCs to ever live and greatly looked upon by other artists with unmatched poetic ability, iconic flow, and unrivaled work ethic. His work deeply affected society and its people, by portraying the problems that not everyone was witnessing or experiencing. Shakur's legacy will forever be engraved into Hip-Hop’s history, and his impact is still profoundly felt today.