Tupac's memoir

Chapter 10

MY MUSIC

My intention with my music

Mohamed Abousen 11

            “Nigga”. That one word that every white person is afraid of. Most black people are afraid of it to, even im afraid of it. The thing is, that word means everything. That word is what separates our music to the white people music. It’s what revolutionized hip-hop. Even though I am afraid of it, I still use it in my raps because its what connects me with my people. I use AAVE because it how I speak with my brothers and sisters and NOT because I’m a gangster like the media and people who are brainwashed by the media pictures me as. I try to connect to my people and that’s the way I do it. I honestly don’t really care about the media, you learn not to. I do my raps for my brothers and sisters in the everyday struggle and not for the media. This is for the media to read. This is to show the world what I really meant with my music. 

I never started off living the street life. I had a stable life with my mama, which I mention in the song “Dear Mama”. I went lived in Baltimore and went to the Baltimore school of Arts where I studied drama and poetry. The thing is my mama didn’t really have a stable job, and a while later I was kicked out from my house and my mama sent me to go live with my family friend. That’s when I got introduced to the thug life. In my song “Dear Mama” I mention “suspended from school and scared to go home, I was a fool with the big boys breaking all the rules”. What I am trying to say here is that I was in with the wrong crowed. That’s how it all starts for everyone they join the wrong crowd. I used to get into a lot of trouble in school hanging out the street boys. “And who’d thing elementary, hey , id see the penitentiary one day, and running from the police that’s write, mama catch me put a whooping to my backside”. Also recited from “Dear Mama” I explain how I used to live in Baltimore went to the school of arts and I thought I had my life quite set, never had I thought that I would go to jail for a year for sexual assault, which to tell you the truth I wasn’t guilty for, there was no proof of the seamen, not proof of the entry no proof of anything. After I started going out to the streets and experiencing the thug life when I moved in with my family friends. My homie and me used to always be running from the cops. Only bad thing about it is that some times we used to get caught, but of course as they say in the hood, you f*** around you f*** around you f*** around you get burnt. My parents were activists in the Black Panther. Huey P. Newton was the founder of the black panthers. He always used to tell us to fight back and not sit down and watch our brothers get discriminated. 5 years ago Huey got shot by a drug dealer which I mention in my song changes “Its time to fight back that’s what Huey said, two shots in the dark now Huey’s dead”. I love Huey for everything he has done for the black community but I believe that we should learn to live with white people not fight against them.

I got a lot of love for my brothers don’t get me wrong, but the last thing we should do is fix our problems through stealing and taking drugs. That’s what ticks me off is that if  couple of black people steal then all black people steal and do drugs, if a couple of white people steal “its okay they were hungry”. “Changes” was my timely meditation on racism, drugs, class, and politics. Y’all know about the Iran-Contra affair when the police planted drugs on some black homeless lady?? I mention this in the song saying “First ship ‘em dope watch them deal to brothers, Give em guns step back watch em kill each other” The police don’t care if black people kill other black people, its like I said in the song “One less hungry mouth on the welfare”. I wrote changes to show the people what is actually happening in the world. Made this to wake them up, but I guess no body gives a crap ey. One of my other really famous song which is all about my brothers in the hood is “My Block”. I use so many significant lyrics that refer to my brothers in the everyday struggle. (Read full lyrics on this website http://rap.genius.com/2pac-my-block-lyrics) “Tear drops and closed caskets, the three strikes law is drastic, and certain death for us ghetto bastards” What I meant in these couple of lyrics is that many youngsters are dying in the ghetto and mothers are always crying. No mother should be alive to see their kid die. I believe that this three strikes law bull shit is just another way to put us black people and minorities in jail. They basically want all us fatherless black boys of the streets. The thing is its not only cops versus black people but its black on black crime aswell. I mentioned in the song that I fear for my life being black.

All these songs and meaningful lyrics that I wrote for my brothers in the ghetto but you forget all that and look at me in disgust because I smoke weed and got thug life tattooed on my stomach. Shame on all y’all people.

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Rational: I chose to make a memoir so that people could see how Tupac influence the hip-hop and black culture from his point of view. My intended audience are Tupac fans and people who criticize Tupac for being a bad role model and accusing him for being a gangster and a thug. My purpose is to teach readers about Tupac’s influence of the black community and hip hop culture from his point of view.  Tupac grew up living in the hard ships of racism, drugs and gang wars. He was even born in jail since his mother was in jail when she gave birth to him. His music reflects on the life he lives and the life of the other African Americans living with the same hard ships. African Americans living in the 90’s lived through the era of when Hip-Hop was at its peek, but so were drug dealing, racism, gang wars/ murder and killing. The text refers to my understanding of culture and Tupac’s influence of the black culture.