Posted by Tyler Mills in Music | 1 Comment
Did Tupac Shakur’s Death Indirectly Save Lives?
Posted by Tyler Mills in Music
The fifteen year anniversary of the death of Tupac Shakur has just passed. The music industry has certainly changed since 1996. Napster, YouTube and so many inventions have made it more difficult to sell music these days. The rap and R&B scene has changed since 1996. The beef between rappers typically does not get violent anymore.
JaRule and 50 Cent had a very harsh feud a few years ago that may have had some shooting related injuries associated with it, but rappers typically keep things in perspective when it comes to beefs that can come out in songs or in personal matters. The fact that rappers do keep things in a better perspective these days could mean that indirectly Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur saved lives.
Tupac Shakur was probably going to become a much bigger crossover star if he did not pass away. Roger Ebert had already spoken highly about Shakur’s work in a film. Tupac Shakur starred in “Poetic Justice” with Janet Jackson. Janet Jackson has been a successful actress in an occasional film as well. People have to be able to speculate about the future when it comes to Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur, these comments keep these two in your mind and it makes their message relevant.
Some people are always going to wonder whether Tupac’s association with Suge Knight is what eventually did him in. Suge Knight made a lot of money working with Tupac Shakur and he was deeply impacted by the death of Tupac. Tupac had more relevant lyrics than many music critics give him credit for. If you listen to songs like “Dear Mama” and “Keep Ya Head Up” you can hear the social issues being discussed with these songs. You can enjoy many of the posthumous albums that bare Tupac Shakur’s name. There are plenty of socially conscience rappers out there, but they may not get the publicity that they want.
This is one thought-provoking read, Tyler. Almost as if to say the A-bombs dropped on Japan in ’45 saved many more lives by abruptly ending the war, it seems like a plausible case to opine that when the rap wars of the early 90′s got out of hand in a hurry that it gave pause to everyone in that sector of the industry and forced them to reevaluate things. Further, 2pac was very relevant indeed; didn’t just rap about “bitches and bling”. No, the fodder for his art came from a very personal struggle, and most people don’t understand what it truly is to struggle, and therefore cannot relate to his message. I still believe that it was his cult of personality that attracted the majority of his fans (he probably could have rapped the Yellow Pages and made a mint).