This is what I was going to turn into as a celebrity profile for Tupac Shakur, however I am going to resubmit it in a completely different arrangement and I dont want this version to go waste so I thought I'd share it with you all.
“I was cultivated in prison. My embryo was in prison.” These are the chilling words of one of the most complex men to have ever walked the earth. These words would recklessly foreshadow the halted life of Tupac Amaru Shakur. My eyes seemed to be attached to the pain that dwelled in his and at the same time excited to see his living face and hear the existing breath that created his poetic words. It was the 15 year old interview displayed in his documentary, “Tupac: Resurrection”, that captivated me. If only he were here looking back at me, giving me answers to my burning questions. Nevertheless, I can only speculate the method behind Tupac’s lyrical madness.
But before there was this controversial figure, there was an ambitious little boy; a little boy who was born on June 16, 1971 in the state of New York City to a roaring caged panther by the name of Afeni Shakur. This revolutionary child was named after an Inca chief of South America. Tupac Amaru meaning “Shining Serpent” and “Thankful to God” defining his surname, Shakur. At a young age he was introduced to the Black Panther movement and was taught to take a stand and become comprehensive to cultural issues. This young charmer could usually be found in front of the television screen admiring what he called, “the pretend world”. He thought that maybe if he pretended to have a normal family or be a product of wealth, his world would make sense. Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, enrolled him in a theater group in New York where he was able to land his first role as Travis from Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Shakur wanted to be an actor. When he was not consumed with the thoughts of acting, Tupac kept a diary where he would write poetry along with his deepest secrets.
After leaving New York due to his mother’s unemployment and homelessness, his family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. He lived on 3955 Greenmount Avenue, a row home, located just around the corner from the high school that I attended. Tupac referred to Baltimore as “complete ignorance town.” Thought it hurts to hear someone down where I’m from, how can I disagree? He attended Baltimore School for the arts, after a successful audition. At this particular school, Tupac was exposed to a world of talent. He was taught the art of Ballet, Shakespeare, Music, and Theater. He was grateful to have been able to learn this information, but infuriated at the fact that all of his friends in the rundown public schools surrounding Baltimore School for the Arts were not getting this same type of treatment.
Without a doubt, I can say that Tupac was right. Majority of Baltimore City public schools are neglected and lack the funds to make education appealing or accessible to the students. The whole demeanor of the students is different from those from Baltimore School of the Arts. Though I attended one of the best public schools in the city, I remember wishing I went to the school for the arts. I always admired how artistic and devoted the students were to their talents. However, the reality is that the children in these broken communities were not getting the same education as Tupac and that was a huge pill for him to swallow. Nonetheless, it was at Baltimore School for the Arts where he crafted his love for performing arts and began to Rap as he continued to write poems. In his documentary, he said, “All of my raps were poetry. As I wrote, I would rap the words.” Tupac, the artist, was developing. Not only was the artist being created, but his higher way of thinking began to manifest. Tupac did not think like most of his friends. He saw the world in a different light. As I once read by an anonymous author,” in a land of apples; I am faithful to the oranges.” In my opinion, this particular line depicts the mysteriousness of Tupac.
A young Tupac, with a curly high top fade, sat before the interviewee and stated his opinion on high school education. He said, “There should be classes on drugs, sex education, and police brutality. But instead we have classes on gym- physical education.” At an age when most boys indulged in drugs, sex and violence, Tupac wanted to make children aware of these misconceptions of being cool. Finally being able to move from Baltimore to Las Angeles, Tupac had hopes of seeing a new type of life. However, there he realized that Black people every where shared poverty, if they shared nothing else. Moving to California was Tupac’s way of escaping violence however it was in the city of Lost Angels where Tupac grew to be the most violent. “If you’re in hell, how can you live like an angel?” he said while explaining his negative behavior. Tupac was very aware of his actions and admitted several times that he had a “big mouth.” He said, “I thought I was being charming, but I was really being immature.”
Due to the absence of a father figure, Tupac was solely raised by his mother. “My mother is totally brilliant”, he passionately said. Though he admired his mother, he felt that he needed a father figure in his life to shape him into a man. Most boys look for a father figure to teach them and to tell them things that only men can pass down to each other. On the absence of his father, he said, “I would have had more discipline and confidence if I had a father.” I am almost positive that his words and feelings echo the emotions of millions of young males who grew up fatherless. He revealed that since he did not have a father, he felt that he had to act hard. Revealing that because he knew how to cook, sew and clean he appeared as “too soft.” His sensitivity seeped through my television speakers. But possibly he evolved into someone too hard.
As a teenager, Tupac embraced the pimps and drug dealers that gave him the love that he had always longed for. These people were, to him supporters and sponsors. He began to sell drugs with his newly found family and realized that he could get money easily and fast, proving his impoverished childhood lifestyle wrong. However, because he lacked skills in selling drugs, he was simply given money and with this he would help pay bills for his mother and use the rest to his advantage. Tupac had the world in his hands but little did he know, the world was soon to be against him.
It was a woman by the name of Leila Steinberg who worked with “Digital Underground” and discovered Tupac’s talent as a lyricist. She also led poetry classes, where she witnessed Tupac’s heart being poured line by line on paper. He began to work and perform with a local California rapper by the name of “Shock G” whom Tupac gave credit for have giving him a start in the rap industry. After several performances with Shock G, the daughter of Ted Field, Founder of “Interscope Records” had heard Tupac’s mix tape and insisted that he be signed. Like an abandoned balloon, Tupac quickly flew to the top.
Producing conscious lyrics and motivating poetry in his music, Tupac related to his community. The community who, like him, shared what he called, a “Thug Life.” “Thug Life” in Tupac’s striking eyes was a philosophy of life. “Thug Life” did not follow the criminal definition. It was the lifestyle of a prideful underdog who was continuously being overlooked yet strived to be successful. Tupac wanted to bring awareness to the rest of the world that people were in fact living a “Thug Life”. This lifestyle was so far from being filled with criminal intent that Tupac created a “code of Thug Life” of which he enforced non-violence and respect. Unfortunately, he too would be a victim. Tupac stated that it wasn’t until he made a record about police brutality, that he became a victim. In 1991, he filed a 10 million civil law suit against the Oakland Police Department for brutally beating him for jaywalking. Like a game of dominos, Tupac’s luck with the law began to continuously fall. It was in 1994 when Shakur was convicted of attacking a former employer while on the set of a music video. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail. This would be the start of several other encounters in prison and run-ins with the law.
Tupac once explained himself to be a gentleman. He claimed that he loved women. Tupac saw women in two different lights. He felt that someone were queens such as those to whom he would motivate in songs such as “Keep Ya Head”, “ I ain’t mad at cha”, and “Changes”. And then there were those who he called “ho’s” and “hoochies” as heard in songs such as “I get around.” Tupac felt that he had the right to calling some women these names because that would be the way the presented themselves. However, with out a doubt, Tupac knew the difference between the two. He had a huge amount of respect for women such as his mother, sister, Jada Pinkett, Jasmine Guy and even Madonna. But as for the ones who he referred to as in his hit, “I get around”, he did exactly just that- “got around.” Tupac’s engagements with women caused him trouble. Tupac was sentenced to four months in jail for sexual assault for a woman. Though there were two sides of the story in this particular case, Tupac had to complete his 4 month jail time. With all of his legal problems, Tupac was becoming just what his protestors wanted him to be; a thug. Tupac began to develop just as many haters as the amount of his fans. He was unwanted by the politicians who believed that he was tearing the black community down with his violent lyrics and harsh words and by older women who felt that his music completely degraded young women. Not only was he unwanted by these people, but he was hated by east coast music industry due to the “East Coast/West Coast battle.” Many people were out to get Tupac Shakur.
As the weight of the world and enemies began to become a burden, Tupac realized that he would not be on this earth for long. His lyrics and poems reflected his haunting feelings. In his infamous poem, “In the event of my demise”, he says, “I will die before my time/because I feel the shadow’s depth…” It was an alarming premonition but for some reason the world knew he was right. He knew he was right. On September 13, 1996, ironically, an advocate for peace, love, equality and poetry would be violently murdered at the tender age of 25; an age where he remained to be mentally imprisoned- trapped in a world of friends and enemies and of love and hate. This rebellious man was misunderstood and only judged of his actions. But for some reason, I understand him. The more I studied Tupac, the more I was able to see our connection; a connection far deeper than us living in the same the city. We were alike; both finding outlets through poetry to express our deepest thoughts and feelings. Being two different people with the same complex minds, I found that both Tupac and I admire the art of thinking, learning and creating our own philosophies. I am intrigued by his paradoxical way of living. In “Tupac: Resurrection,” he proudly said, “Some people see Tupac as a poet, and some see me as a Thug. I’m a Gemini, I have two sides. “
