Thug Life Army

With all the ‘alive’ theories and it seems everyone picking apart each Tupac track to find ‘clues’ or direction (searching the ‘archives’ because we are starved for a leader, a voice), we forget to see Tupac in the total picture of his life.

Look at the man Tupac Shakur as a whole. Even Tupac said don’t take one little segment of my life to expand on – look at the total picture.

If we look at the total picture; the entire man we call Tupac Shakur, we also see an activist, poet, preacher, and actor: a real genius. That is why he has gained ICON status.

As a whole everything focuses on the struggle of real people in a real world. He dealt with real problems, with real struggles.

The Brenda’s Got A Baby, Keep Your Head Up, Panther Pride, Letter To My Unborn Child are all socially minded tracks. Dear Momma and unconditional Love state the need for family and the love of those who brought us up.

Birthdays are Curse days – in some ways that is true. It all depends on the situation you find yourself in.

Tupac touched so many because so many could relate to him. He was our voice. And he communicated real problems and realities of living in the struggle. He spat real truth and spoke from our hearts as well as his own.

Rap has changed so much since Tupac passed. There are still some rappers who have a social awareness in their spit, but they are very few.

The rap/ hip-hop culture has grown into a business, a multi –million-dollar business. And as it grew and became a business it sucked the rappers up. Rappers started worrying about being accepted instead of their message.

Is it because we no longer have the problems, the struggle that Tupac and the likes of NWA, KRS-1, Public Enemy and others once spoke on?

Of course the struggle still goes on but less and less rappers want to be real with their spit. They don’t want to make waves that might cost them an endorsement. The message now is the ‘bling’, bub in the club and hoochies.

So folks like Eminem clean out their closet and everyone says that’s great. So his closet is clean now but the streets are worse for it. They are still tattered and full of life’s ‘pot holes’.

Today’s rap adds to the problem, it does nothing for the struggle.

So is it really important if a rapper ‘likes dat der’ or if you can find another ‘in the club drinking bub?

Brenda is still having babies and instead of Dear Momma and Unconditional love, we get rappers spiting hate toward their mothers and wives.

Many wanted to see Tupac make it. Because if he made it, we made it. He rapped us. Not black or white but he rapped a generation who like the generation before are tired of the same ol same ol. And he voiced our frustration and cares.

You don’t sell millions of rap albums only in the community of color. Many felt Tupac and his music and writings.

The Mission:

This brings us to the topic of ‘What Happened in ’96?

Tupac ‘trained’ many in the ways of ‘THUG LIFE’, and the mission directed to addressing the struggle.

So where are the souljah’s at? If a General is assassinated the mission still goes on, or does it.

Sure we have Chuck D, KRS-1 Big Syke and some others still spitting the ‘real’ for the troops, but most are in the quest for the ‘bling’ instead of the mission at hand.

Now we have Tupac’s unreleased tracks being handed over to Eminem for producing? What happened to “ if it ain’t westside, it ain’t Pac, and that’s on my momma”…

These tracks already have beats, I would think. Why not leave them original? Why confuse and water down the legacy of Tupac with re-worked tracks?

The One Nation Project is said to be complete and ready to drop—as is. But they say they do not know where the Masters are for it.

I would urge whoever has those Masters to hold on to them ‘safely’ until this love affair with the east is over.

The tracks Eminem did for Tupac: Resurrection were not westcoast beats, and many agree with that. It is not that they were bad tracks, after all they were Tupac. But you can get better remixes using westcoast beats from the westcoast mix master himself—Mr. Cynical.

I would like to see the ‘ students’, the souljahs that Tupac trained, start to shine. Start carrying on with the mission they were trained for. The General may be gone but we need a voice now as much as we did in ’96, maybe even more.

Look at the total picture and re-group the troops. Take command and carry on with the mission---if you dare to struggle.

R.I.P. Brother Tupac. Enlighten your souljahs to carry on the mission.  1-Peace