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Written by Chola Lungu
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Tupac Shakur was born on, June 16 1971. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of his death he stood at 5'9 and weighed 165.
He got his name from an Inca Indian chief. Tupac Amaru means "shining serpant".Shakur means "thankfull to God " in Arabic.
Tupac never finished his high school, but he however attended Baltimore School of Performing Arts.
Shakur was a very influential young man and his fans still talk about him as if he were alive. He had no problems in getting the public's attention, but his songs carried more of a negative message than a positive one.
As well as being a rap artisit , Tupac was an actor .One of the most famous movies he acted in was 'Poetic Justice' in which he starred along side Janet Jackson. He also featured in 'Juice' and 'Above The Rim'.
Unfortunately Tupac died at 25 years,a very short life! But it was filled with hype of activity which included, court cases, gang fights, making movies, producing albums, countless arrests......etc
The Negative Side of Tupac
Tupac Shakur always sang about dying, death, reincarnation and violence. In his song ' Me against the world', Mr. Shakur sounds suicidal. Since this man was a role model for many black youth, they listened to his music and used it to interpert events around them.
"I wake up one morning and ask myself,
is life worth living,should I blast myself?
Changes/I wonder if heaven got a ghetto"
The words from one of Tupac's popular songs. What message would these words give to a suicidal teenager? Considering the fact that buying a gun these days is as easy as buying a loaf of bread from a supermarket. The word 'blast' in the song means shooting yourself, that is suicide!
Tupac's songs are explicit and his videos show acres of nude women. Most adolescents with self esteem problems turn to sexual fulfilment as a resolution.Look at the song Tupac did with ex-choir boys, Jodeci. The video was crude and it seemed to promote group sex. None of the people in the video looked like the had been forced to do what they were doing. None of them looked like they were hurt, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. This kind of video tells the youth that it is alright to get involved in groups that turn to sex as a resolution. The album is apparently labelled 'adult version',but how many adults listen to Tupac. Most parents would not allow their children to listen to this man's music. The language leaves much to be desired.
What kind of role model invites a woman to his hotel room and sexually abuses her? What message was he trying to put across to the young men out there? That women are worthless? In a number of his songs he uses swear words to address women and shows disrespect for the opposite sex.
Before he died he renounced thug life ,saying it was stupid and a thing of the past. That didn't make any difference because his albums had already spread around the world like a bush fire in the summer when all the grass is nice and dry! Youth were listening to his music and following his advise and no one could tell them otherwise.
Some youth went to the extent of getting tatoos like Shakur's.He had five(5) known tatoos on his chest and 9 known tatoos on his back and arms. Did these youth know what the tatoos symbolized??
Tupac's life outside music
Who was Tupac outside his music and acting? Was he a coward ,a sexist, or a sex symbol or some sort of saviour or hero?
Tupac had a life outside his music and acting. He led a thug life kind of life style. Thug life is common in the ghetto. He amazingly continued to influence his fans in and out of the spot light.
He was often involved in gang fights,in one incidence a 6 year old boy was killed in a cross between Tupac's group and another gang.He was once arrested for shooting two police officers in Atlanta,he said he shot in self defence.Tupac wasted his life by being arrested and spending time in jail, for example ,he spent 15 days in jail for beating a video director in Los Angeles and 10 days in jail for threatening fellow rapper with a baseball bat.
In November 1993,Tupac was charged with rapping a Brooklyn woman. There were other times he was charged with sexual abuse and assult.
In April 1994, he was arrested for the posession of marijuana and a gun. Marijuana is an addictive drug, that is smoked by a lot of youth. In November the same year Tupac was shot 5 times in a classified robbery.
Early ending
"I heard a rumour that I died, murdered in cold blood dramatized
Pictures of me in my final stage you know mama cried
But that was fiction,some coward got the story twisted
like I no longer existed,mysteriously missin'
Although I'm worldwide,baby I ain't hard to find."
Words from Tupac's song intitled 'Heaven Ain't Hard to Find'. On the fatal night of September 7th 1996,Tupac Shakur was shot by four men driving a white cadillac. They fired 13 rounds before riding off. He was shot 4 times in the chest. He went through more than one operation and was pronounced dead 6 days later on 13th September. He died of respiratory failure.
At the time of his death,Tupac and his ex-wife Keisha Morris were divorced and he was engaged to Kidida Jones.
Tupac is dead but the 'Tupac wannabees' still hold on to the memories of their hero in the hope that he will return!!
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what's wrong with you why are you hating and tupac wanna bes what's that all about! And that's right he is coming back because we love him.....angel.