Tupac Shakur – An Inspirational Person To Underprivileged Individuals
What could define someone as being inspirational to others, do they have to wear a suit and tie, have a degree from Harvard, drive an expensive car and speak of nothing but glory? No, it all depends on the person of whom they are trying to inspire that is why Tupac Shakur is an inspirational icon to underprivileged individuals. Through his music, poetry, and political views, Tupac Shakur, inspires young disadvantaged people to recognize that there is life for them outside of the ghetto, drugs, poverty and other adversities. He speaks of poverty, teenage pregnancies, single parenting, self-esteem and an array of other problems that people living in the ghetto are faced with. Despite all of the negative associations with his name, Tupac has managed to capture the hearts, emotions and attention of many people because they relate to his life in some type of way. When someone listens to some of Shakur’s songs and hears their life story, while another may hear a situation that someone close to them is going though. Either way, his words appeal to people’s lives in a positive way. Sadly, some people cannot overcome all of the negativity to see the impact that he has upon society. Dyson states “Tupac's language was inflamed with love for the desperately poor. He was a ghetto Dickens who explained the plight of the downtrodden in rebellious rhyme”. His analysis of Shakur’s lyrics better supports and exemplifies the claim of Tupac being an inspirational person.
A lot of people are probably very curious as to how Tupac Shakur can be considered an icon to anyone, let alone to children. He is known as a “hard core” rapper who degrades women, endorses thug life, and has a lengthy criminal record and a multitude of other negative things. Rap music alone by its self already has a negative connotation of being corrupt for the youth therefore Tupac’s negative actions and involvements do not make it any better. Dyson shows an example of the hypocritical behavior implied by Tupac; he states “His eager embrace of ethical ambivalence came off to critics as mere hypocrisy. After all, how could the same artist — or, given the unwilling suspension of disbelief, the same man — encourage women to keep their heads up one moment and then quickly pelt them with harsh epithets”. Tupac has done a lot of mischief during his career that disqualifies him to be considered ideal for people to look up to. The lyrics in this song “Hit ‘Em Up” shows negativity of an artist who desires to put harm upon someone and outrage. No parent wants their daughters and sons looking up to a coward who is constantly in trouble with the law, gang banging, and a sexist. Most inspirational people live a life of decency, glory, honor, obscurity, and simplicity. Even though Tupac lyrics imply good qualities, his life style and negative actions are looked at with a side eye, when being considered inspirational.
Regardless of the negativity surrounding Tupac, his lyrics gives inspiration to the deprived, and hope to poverty stricken individuals. Through his songs and poetry, Tupac uses ethos as a poor, young, black boy in the ghetto to reach out and influence others’ lives. He talked about his ethos in songs such as: “I Ain’t Mad at Cha,” “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Brenda’s Gotta Baby,” and “Dear Mama”. Tupac states in “Keep Ya Head Up”, “I give a holler to my sisters on welfare Tupac cares, and don't nobody else care And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot When you come around the block brothas clown a lot But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up” (Shakur, 1998), which gives women inspiration and explains to them that Tupac relates to their situation in some matter or another. Brown states “His [Tupac] songs functions as a musical autobiography that constructs identity and provides a voice for the black youth culture”. Tupac lyrics with or without his consent encourages, mentors, and provides guidance for others.
Another way in which Tupac is considered inspirational is through his courageous, outspoken political standpoint. Tupac spoke very liberally when it came down politics. He used his power and fame as a popular rapper to speak nationally about issues that were being neglected. Stanford argues, “ He [Tupac] differs from the others by engaging in authentic activism, attempting to develop solution –oriented ideas and motivating his listeners to also ‘do politics’”. His actions to empower justice and stand against racism, discrimination, and even black on black crime support his role as an activist against things of such nature. Tupac spoke about political issues such as “ hopes, aspirations, pain, worries, suspicions and experiences of young people living in disadvantaged communities” that other artist were too afraid to speak of. The fact that he was brave enough to set aside his hard core persona, to speak of issues that affected poor communities justifies his position and role in politics.
More importantly Tupac Shakur is influential and inspirational simply because he is relatable to all of his fans. Dyson speaks of Tupac’s ability to remain appealing and interesting to his fans even though he has been deceased for nearly two decades. He attests “A full decade after his death, Tupac Shakur has the culture in a headlock. He has released nearly twice as many albums dead — eight — than the five he released when he was alive”. The reason why Shakur can still sell records years after his murder is because people relate to him. Not do the poor, young, disadvantaged individuals relate to him, Tupac also relates to almost everyone. Tupac’s studies of philosophy also strengthened his appeal to be reliable to people. He studied a multitude of works by philosophers, some of the greats such as: Maya Angelou and Machiavelli. Tupac studying these artists broadens his perspective which also strengthens his ability to appeal to more fans. He relates to everyone who has faced a problem in their lives, to people who are afraid to voice their opinions and to people who are fighting for what they believe in such as discrimination and adversity and will not give up until they have reached a solution. Another reason why he is relatable is for him just being Tupac Amare Shakur. His pure honesty about social problems and the fact that he used his ethos to speak with about their problems, all make Tupac relatable.
Tupac Shakur, over the past few decades has grown to become an influential icon in his own way. He rapped about issues that other rappers would not talk about because it would make them look weak. He used his fame and power to give back to people through lyrics in his music and poetry. He rapped about women in an uplifting manner, told children to keep their head up and showed the world that people can survive from the ghetto and still make a better life for themselves. Many people have valid explanations as to why Tupac would not be considered inspirational but they don’t realize the influence that he has on people’s lives. Shakur’s lyrics give people inspiration to not give up because there is going to come a day when they will get through it all. The fact that Tupac has lived through the poverty, adversity and ghetto, proves his credibility therefore reinforces his ability to provide guidance to people. Tupac’s explicit lyrics may have caused him a great deal of trouble but to the average kid in the ghetto they were a source of inspiration. These lyrics gave them inspiration to continue to strive for their dreams and realize that somebody understands what you are going through who actually cares. The words that he spoke at times would seem like they came from a man of a higher education than what he obtained but they did not. It is almost shocking to hear such positive words come from a self-proclaimed “thug”. He was absolutely blessed with a talent of wisdom and he shared it to us through his words. Many will remember Tupac Shakur as a gang banging rapper from the ghetto that always stayed in trouble and was shot down over gang related activities but no one can overlook his true gift, which was his ability to spread support, love and wisdom to people who may be going through hardships and disadvantages similar to ones that he was faced with. This is why Tupac Shakur is an icon to society.
