Tupac Shakur s The Rap Game - 1345 Words

In 1998, Tupac Shakur released the song, â€Å"Changes,† directly dealing with the war on drugs, the treatment of African Americans by police officers, and the struggles of living in the ghetto. Hip-Hop music in general tends to be very impactful towards the African American community. Tupac has always stood out in the rap game because of his ability to be poetic and show feelings while being a gangster rapper at the same time. Changes is one of Tupac Shakur s most famous songs. The rapper compromises his more dominant bad-boy gangster side to tackle African American social issues in this song. In the first few lines of the song Tupac writes, I m tired of bein poor and even worse I m black, my stomach hurts, so I m lookin for a purse to snatch. These lines illustrate how a lot of black people in America live in poverty and are not given as many opportunities to do good in society, so instead they divert to committing crimes in order to just get by. This concept is repeated when he raps Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare. When Shakur states, Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a n*gga, he s a hero, he s mentioning the controversial topic of how African Americans, more commonly African American males, are targeted by the police and if a cop kills an African American male it s not a big deal. I believe this portion of Shakur’s song directly relates to W.E.B. Du Bois’, â€Å"Of Our SpiritualShow MoreRelatedTupac Shakur: a Hip Hop Inspiration1236 Words   |  5 PagesTupac Shakur: A Hip-Hop Inspiration Music is a cultural journal that expresses the realities and emotions of life in a poetic way. For the African American culture, music has always been a statement for many controversial topics such as racism, religion, politics, education, crime, and violence. In the 1990’s, Hip-Hop became the newest cultural and artistic voice for the African American population. Genres such as jazz, blues, rock-n-roll, and gospel that once dominated the musical cultureRead More90s Hip Hop and Rap1320 Words   |  6 PagesRap and hip-hop first started to come together in the 1970 s, but didn t really materialize and become popular until the 1990 s. With a huge surge in popularity and growth in the 1990 s, it seemed that rap and hip-hop had started a cultural phenomenon that still has noticeable effects easily seen today in music and also in pop culture. A cultural phenomenon is an idea, trend, or movement that shapes and defines that time period. During the 1990 s, rap and hip-hop spread like wild fire acrossRead MoreTupac Shakur - Turning Struggles Into Success1646 Words   |  7 PagesTupac Shakur – Turning Struggles into Success Violent lyrics, a bad-boy image, and a long criminal record are what attracted and connected millions of young adults to the now legendary rapper Tupac Shakur. 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Rap music has become the most popular type of music in the U.S. Rap music can give people entertainment and can also tell a story in someones life. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, rap music is defined as, a style of music associated with urban street gangs and characterized by violent, tough talking, often misogynistic lyrics (Miffin, 2000). Rap music was formed in theRead MoreEssay On The Shots Heard Around The World1645 Words   |  7 Pagesnight, rapper Tupac Shakur was attending a boxing match with his friend Suge Knight. They just got done watching Bruce Seldon attempt to take on â€Å"Iron† Mike Tyson, as they head out of the arena in their BMW, a man approaches the car and guns down Tupac. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead just hours later. Across the United States, in the heart of hip-hop, there was another rapper who was fatally shot. His name was Christopher Wallace, better known as his rap alias, TheRead MoreAs Rap Began To Garner More Popularity The Subtly That2122 Words   |  9 Pages As rap began to garner more popularity the subtly that was used by the Harlem Renaissance slowly began to disappear. Due to the work made by the protest poets rap began to take a more open stand against the racism and disenfranchisement the African American community was facing and led to more of a national dialogue to happen. Several rap artists took stands against police brutality, relegation to poor income housing, poverty leading to gang violence, and their social standing within the UnitedRead More On Tupac Shakur Essay1928 Words   |  8 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tupac Shakur could possibly be the most influential and compelling of all rappers (Dyson 106) Do we really know who Tupac was? The famous phrase, never judge a book by its cover applies to Tupacs own personality and character. A first look at Tupac and you see darkness, you see a violent man with no purpose or direction in his life. Then you look deeper inside him, you step into his shoes and see a kind, caring, but very confused man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tupacs life story is like any other typicalRead MoreMusically Inspired Movements Essays778 Words   |  4 Pagesindividual’s to express particular emotions, it more importantly displays its message in the masses of society further leading to cultural movements. Examples of musically inspired movements include Michael Jackson’s environment awareness, the Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G rivalry, and Drake’s motto YOLO. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, inspired a worldwide movement. In 1995, Michael Jackson wrote a socially conscious piece on environmental and animal awareness in his song, â€Å"Earth Song