Monday, September 13, 2010
11:22 PM | Posted by
Janus
In my death, people will understand what I was talking about. – Tupac Shakur
During the history of Hip-Hop a lot of artists grabbed the mic… some of them came & gone; some of them left an irreplaceable mark and stayed in the game forever. 14 years ago on this very day Tupac Amaru Shakur’s heart stopped beating.
Rebel of the underground… if there’s one word to describe Pac then the word is “genuineness”. One of the truest artists who have ever touched the mic, he ain’t never been afraid to be himself. Hip-Hop became not only his own reflection but also the reflection of the whole generation, of every ghetto boy & girl, of everyone who been thru’ struggles & survived, of everyone who knows how to win having lost, of everyone who knows the true meaning of T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. Son of Black Panthers & the streets… intellectual thug… Tupac Sharuk never bit his tongue & spitted nothing but reality. His songs became real confessions of a “rose that grew from concrete” & even tho’ the society wasn’t ready to hear the truth Pac never stopped doing his thing cuz that was the only way of living for him.
Machiavelli never followed trends, he chose eternal over temporary instead. A lot of people might call him contradictory but he simply wasn’t scared to be real. His every song has raw emotion/soul to it. “Before I write I let my mind go blind and let the Lord do His thing”. And if you let ya heart do the listening you’ll hear universal messages in Pac’s songs. He never preached & said/did some mad stuff a lot of times but all the mess he been thru helped him to see further than most people could. He told stories that were based on his own experience but at the same time when you listen to those songs you got the feeling like “this is my story”.
“If we're all saying that rap is an art form then we gotta be more responsible for our lyrics. If you see everybody dying because of what you're saying, it don't matter that you didn't make them die, it just matters that you didn't save them.” And without a doubt Tupac’s lyrics impacted a lot of people & their lives. Pac’s influence is undeniable. He managed to become a lot more than just a Hip-Hop icon; he’s inspired millions of people all over the world and he still does. He was the definition of Ride Or Die; he lived by his beliefs & every minute of his life he was ready to die for those beliefs. “Never surrender, it's all about the faith you got don't ever stop, just push it til you hit the top and if you drop, at least you know you gave your all be true to you, and that way you can never fall.” Tupac became a lot more than just an icon, role model… he was a true leader who showed the whole world that “reality is wrong; dreams are for real” and no one but us can turn our dreams into a better reality.
It’s been 14 years since he passed away but today Tupac Amaru Shakur is still one of the most influential Hip-Hop artists of all times.
There are lots of lessons taught by Pac but the most essential one… at least for young emcees & for the whole Hip-Hop community… is treat ya new song like it’s ya last song cuz another day ain’t guaranteed. Artists’ attitude is supposta be like “if I die tomorrow, will I be proud of my legacy? Did I give the world a piece of my heart through the songs I recorded?” Cuz at the end of the day no one will remember how many records you sold, how many Grammy’s you won, how many times you were on the cover of this or that magazine, how much money you made… it’s the feeling ya music gives that will be remembered forever.
“A coward dies a thousand deaths... a soldier dies but once”… but the truth never dies and Tupac is gon live forever thru his legacy. His music has already raised a generation & I’m sure that it will inspire people even in 20 or 50 years. And that’s why today I don’t feel like saying “R.I.P.”… just “Long live Tupac’s soul!”
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