Tupac the myth. The Man. The Legend.

Today marks the 20th year that Tupac has been “gone” from the earth, He left with us the timeless music, the powerful words, and the ride or die attitude…

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16th, 1971, he went on to become one of the highest selling musicians ever. Spoke words of empowerment in his books. No one knows if Tupac is alive or dead but there’s one thing that stayed forever, that’s his spirit.. He made blacks feel proud to be black and spoke of ways to better ourselves. He told us to write letters to our momma, told us Brenda has a baby and told us that we needed to make changes..

Tupac’s presence in the world is unmatched, few come in compassion to his attitude, smile, and his mind. From the nose ring to the million dollar smile to Gianni Versace having a crush on him.. An icon in every sense of the world. His roles on “Juice”, “Poetic Justice”, and “Above The Rim”. Made his presence felt on screen as well, not only was he a famous musician but he can act as well.

Tupac is left with the impression that he was a gangsta, outlaw and wanted violence but the people only focus on what others say about him and not truly what he is to many people across the nation especially those who lives throughout his words. He was a child of the ghetto speaking for it. He touched lives because he grew up in the environment and got out of it all be by himself and speaking his mind with strength and courage. So he was filled with wisdom and spoke about many topics that were dear to him

What you learn from his words was that we need to love each other so the we can grow and better ourselves and our communities.. One thing that struck with me the only time i read the Tupac poem book that magically disappeared out of my teachers library never to be seen again after i put it back that day. So i only got to read it one time but the words never left my memory..

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

(Autobiographical)

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack

in the concrete

Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned 2 walk

without having feet

Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams

it learned 2 breathe fresh air

Long live the rose that grew from concrete

when no one else even cared!

In The Depths of Solitude: Dedicated 2 Me

I exist in the depths of solitude

pondering my true goal

Trying 2 find peace of mind

and still preserve my soul

Constantly yearning 2 be accepted

and from all receive respect

Never compromising but sometimes risky

and that is my only regret

A young heart with an old soul

how can there be peace

How can I be in the depths of solitude

when there R 2 inside of me

This duo within me causes

the perfect opportunity

2 learn and live twice as fast

as those who accept simplicity

Sometimes I Cry (Poem)

Sometimes when I’m alone

I cry because I’m on my own

The tears I cry R bitter and warm

They flow with life but take no form

I cry because my heart is torn

and I find it difficult 2 carry on

If I had an ear 2 confide in

I would cry among my treasured friends

But who do u know that stops that long

To help another carry on

The world moves fast and it would rather pass u by

than 2 stop and c what makes u cry

It’s painful and sad and sometimes I cry

and no one cares about why.

When you first read the book, these poems are the first three poems your hit with.. Such an introduction to the mind of Tupac. At 14 years old, these words stuck with me because i felt the same way he did and ever since he’s been someone i can look up.

A man isn’t supposed to have these emotions coming from the ghetto. As a child in the ghetto, your told “dont wear your emotions on your sleeve” and my personal favorite “ only women cry”. So, with these rules instructed in you, the last thing you want to do is have emotions. In tense environments, the men who don’t show emotions, show guns and violence. This is why Tupac is such an important figure because when he was on the top of his game, he showed his emotions. He made kids feel okay for thinking the same way he did, He made it safe to feel something.

But the last thing he wanted was violence, he preached for peace and love. So when, you take out emotions, you put in fear. The fear of losing your life because someone else without emotions feared you taking his life which lead to him shooting you. So maybe having emotions isn’t so bad because someone who cant feel simply can not live. The fear that overdrives the brain is the fear of being called soft or “not a nigga” because this breaks us mentally because we were taught to toughen up. So when, a man has fear in his heart, he takes something that doesn’t have fear and uses it because it’s soulless.

The ideology that a man isnt supposed to feel takes away his ability to love. So when you take love out of a heart, a heart is dead. The love that provides a man to take care of his loved ones, himself, and have love for strangers. Something that is needed for you to be in tune with your mind, body, and soul. The ability to feel and love is essential especially to a child, a child loses self of esteem when he doesn't get love. Mental abuse is a scary thing to look at when the home environment isnt the safest nor the best, the words coming out the mouth from the person who is supposed to love you forever and always says things to lower your self of esteem and defeat your spirit. When negative vibes are around, they attract negative thoughts. Teens turn to the streets due to uncontrollable home environment or simply have no one to raise em, so the first thing they do is go to a place where there’s love. In a gang, theres unity and brotherhood. Those attract us the most because having someone there for you is everything. But little, do they know is that the streets will kill you. They will kill you with it gets them money.

And that’s where the structure falls apart and now you want to kill because how you feel towards a certain someone who belittles you and doesn't respect you.

Tupac was apart of the biggest rap label in the world and the biggest force on DeathRow Records next to Snoop and Suge Knight. His legendary hard work lead him to his legacy,his ability to write albums in a short amount time delivered amazing pieces of work.

On “All eyez on me”, he fully transformed into a superstar. He dropped the perfect album, an album for everyone, the first time he finally had the perfect mix to songs on his album. Party songs, hardcore songs, and smooth songs along with soft songs, conscious to top off a full star packed album with anything you could ever ask from Pac. This would be the last album he would make alive but he made the album staright from jail after getting bailed at for 1.5 M, also shot at the police, got shot himself five times, has family ties in the black panthers. A social conscious thug made the best album he could at the time which would be two of three albums he had on his deal with Suge for bailing him out of jail. Pac left a legacy that can never be topped because there’s only one Tupac, he was himself everywhere he went and was ready to fight for us at anytime.

His beef with fellow rapper Biggie Smalls became one of the talked about music beefs in recent history, it started off as a friendship.

Two pioneers of the two coasts, every rapper from each coast wanted to be Pac and Biggie because, they were amazing at what they did. Sadly enough, these two men were murdered because a truce couldn’t be settled which resulted into violence act. These two were torn apart because of opposing members in respected groups are different views on both of em, these two could of touched more lives but instead they both lay in a coffin due to a bullet.

If Tupac was here today, i wouldn’t know what he’ll say about the world right now. Would he be outraged at Trump being on TV and disrespecting his own kind? Would he cry tears because so many brothers have been robbed of their lives by Police men? Or He would smile because there’s a black president at the helm right now? These things i never know but Tupac did leave me with one thing and that is the fact that love overrules everything. Love is needed in life for growth and for freedom. The freedom is ones right to do whatever he or she wants to do with ones life, i think that was Pac’s biggest message is that we’re not powerless, he wants us to grow because he himself as grown and became who he was. Thank you Tupac for everything you have done for me.

Yesterday, i was on the train and heard the song “Changes”, and the lyrics that followed were “I see no changes wake up in the morning and i ask myself is life worth living should i blast myself?”

As i look up, i see a man with all black shades with a tupac shirt on. You call it fate? I say i dont know. This is just a letter to my idol.