Transcript
Tupac is one of my favorite rappers of all time. Tupac is definitely a musician, so his style is very much about melody. He’s definitely from the world of black nationalism, black consciousness, meaning that he is the son of civil rights activists, former Black Panthers. So, he has a particular perspective. But, also, growing up as a young person in the inner city, he has aspirational desires to have the best car, have the most pretty girl, and to be the man, you know, to be popular.
So, his style is kind of going back and forward, between being an advocate for black people in America, and speaking to the powers that be, and being courageous enough to say what nobody else is going to say, and say it and mean it and articulate it. Because not everybody can put together what somebody else is feeling and have them say, “Wow, he said what I want to say.” So it takes a lot of empathy to rap like Tupac, but also to speak to the aspirations of the next generation that want to just be the life of the party, to have the pretty girls, and to just enjoy one’s self because it has the finer things in life.
But, the primary thing that I think that makes Tupac really great is that authenticity of what he’s putting in his music. He’s putting his heart and soul, and he believes in everything that he’s saying. He gives you this contradiction that we all have. So, you may have a song like “Dear Mama” from Tupac, but you could also have something like “Blasphemy”. So, you have these two contrasting view points and styles, but lots of entertainment, because he’s so melodic, so charismatic. All of those things make up the style of Tupac Shakur.
