Who would you say has had the biggest influence on your life?
If you had asked me this question a week ago, my response would most likely have been, "Shit. I haven't got a clue."
But I believe that I have now inadvertently come across the answer to that question.
Ahead of the release of the new Tupac movie, "All Eyez On Me," I decided that I wanted to do a post about the man. We all know that Hollywood is about making profits and pushing agendas, leaving little necessity for historical accuracy in their projects. I wondered in which way they would portray Tupac Shakur, and felt that out of respect, I should create a post that tells of the man I knew him to be through his music and his poetry.
Little did I know that I would come to realise through my preparation for that post, that Tupac had been a major influence on the man that I have become. I knew that I loved him. I knew I have always felt that this world would be a better place if he was still in it. I even knew that I held a great deal of the same beliefs about the world that he did. But never before had I considered that the very ideals I possess could have been placed in my mind by Tupac.
Music is a powerful thing. Nowadays, hip-hop is little more than a melodic advertisement for consumerism and hatred. It wasn't always like that though. Back in the day, before the music industry was completely overrun with negative influences that seek to force a decline in society, hip-hop used to be a force for good. It was once the most powerful enemy of both apathy and ignorance.
Tupac knew this, and with a song such as "Brenda's Got A Baby," he could force the people to pay attention to that which they had been trying so hard to ignore. He made it his mission to shine a light on the disturbing things going on in the darkness, and through doing so, he promoted the idea of positive change in the minds of millions who, until then, had only had room for thoughts of the negative.
But who was Tupac?
Most regard Tupac as a rapper. Some as a rapper and an actor. However, I consider him to be so much more than that. First and foremost, Tupac Shakur was a revolutionary. I wouldn't even call him a rapper, though he did rap. More accurately, he was a poet who was intelligent enough to use hip hop as a delivery mechanism, resulting in his words reaching millions more than could have been achieved through pen and paper alone.
Many of Tupac's songs revealed a deep suffering that he was afflicted by. Comprehending the uglier side of the world seemed a difficult task for him, and in the majority of his songs, his voice carried with it an unmistakable air of emotion. Passionate is probably the best word to describe him in my opinion. Everything he did, he poured his heart into it. Anyone he loved, he loved completely. And anything he wanted, he fought tirelessly to get.
As I watched a number of his speeches over the past week, I was shocked to discover the amount of viewpoints that I share with him. I realised very quickly, that I had vague memories of watching all of these speeches already when I was very young. When coupled with the countless hours of his music that I listened to when growing up, it is no surprise that I find myself having so much in common with him.
Just as the mainstream media transforms half the population into potatoes with their mind control mantras, repeating the same ideals endlessly until they are absorbed into the minds of the people-- I too may have had my own personality, or at least belief structure, shaped by repeated exposure to Tupac's ideologies. I don't really know how I feel about this. But, I know that if you're going to allow someone to influence your character, better that it be one who's character you are able to respect.
It's an uncomfortable feeling to discover that you may be nothing more than shadow of a greater man. I'd rather believe that I would have arrived at this same perspective in my life even if I had never heard of Tupac Shakur, but I am having difficulty convincing myself of that. We simply have too much in common for him to have played no role in my development.
He wasn't perfect.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not implying that Tupac was without fault. Just like everyone else in this world, he had his demons. For all the truth he was able to see in the world, I believe he was somewhat blinded by the perspectives of his mother, Afeni Shakur.
He understood that the poor were getting poorer, and the wealthy wealthier. His vision permitted him a glimpse of the direction the world was headed, which is why I believe he tried so hard to change it. But in my opinion, he struggled to notice all of the oppressed.
I'm pretty sure I have heard every one of his songs a number of times, some probably thousands of times. Thanks to a friend who bought me a book which contained all of Tupac's poems, I have also read all of them. In addition to this, I have viewed a great number of his interviews, and so I believe that I am in a position to make the following assertion.
When Tupac thought of the poor, he thought of ethnic minorities. It seems he had a difficult time seeing that there are plenty of white people who are oppressed in this world too. For some reason, he couldn't see past races, and was unable to shake the idea that all white people are privileged.
It makes perfect sense really. He was raised in a black neighbourhood and witnessed the struggle of the black man. When he finally started seeing a lot of white people, it was through the rich record producers and the likes who were providing him the opportunities he needed.
Regardless of his flaws, I will always have more respect than I could quantify for him and his memory. I can't say there has ever been a celebrity death other than his that has effected me in any way at all, and I know that millions of others had love for him that still exists today.
This is why there are so many conspiracy videos about Tupac being alive still emerging, even 20 years after his demise. Many still have a hard time accepting his passing and so holding onto the belief that he never died is an expected coping mechanism.
Why did he die?
I couldn't tell you this for sure, though I do have my suspicions. We know that the official story is that it was a "beef" with Notorious BIG that resulted in the murder of Tupac. Unsurprisingly, considering the official story is pretty much always bullshit, I have never met a single person who believes that to be true.
The most held theory that I have come across, is that Death Row Records' CEO Suge Knight, who was in the car with Tupac when he was murdered, was the real culprit behind the assassination. The theory holds water, as Tupac was about to leave Death Row Records, and Knight stood to lose out on a lot of money. In spite of the evidence, I don't buy this theory.
A lesser held belief on Tupac's assassination, is that the illuminati were behind his death. The reasons for this vary from person to person, but the main component in this theory is that Tupac was unwilling to submit to the agendas of the alleged Satanic music industry. The theory is given credence by Tupac's fifth and final studio album named, *"The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory," which combines the words "Kill" and "Illuminati" in suggestion of a desire to put an end to the illuminati.
A third theory, and one which I am most inclined to believe, is that Tupac Shakur was assassinated by, or at the behest of the US government. Whilst it sounds to be a crazy theory, and some would argue even harder to believe than the first two, I think there is more in terms of motive for this theory than any other.
In this private phone call, Tupac can be heard discussing plans to clean up the streets to make them safe for children, and about the possibility of setting up a political party so he could have the power to make the changes the had been rapping about for years.
Now it is suspicious enough that this recording exists, and it is supposedly the result of an FBI wire tap. We would then need to ask, why was Tupac being surveilled?
There are a number of recordings and even an interview in the weeks leading up to Tupac's death, where he spoke of creating a political party and running for office. It is my belief that this is exactly what led to his death.
Imagine if you will, a well loved rapper with millions of fans, running for office with the intent of providing better circumstances for ethnic minorities. No, I'm not talking about Kanye West. I don't know of anyone who loves Kanye. Perhaps his music, but loving the person and their ideals is something entirely different.
Tupac would have garnered the vote of most if not all black people. Most if not all rap fans. Most if not all ethnic minorities. And most if not all of those who know how corrupt the government really is.
Tupac could have been president, and bar any type of fraudulent vote counting, would have been should he have been given the opportunity to run.
It makes a lot more sense for Tupac to die in a "gangsta beef" long before the world would find out about his plans to become the change he preached about, and so I would not put it passed forces in the government arranging for his death in order to negate the need to kill him later, when he won, which would have incited a revolution.
It is the government's desire to keep the poor people poor, and Tupac was one of the biggest threats to that agenda that the US has ever seen. This, I believe, is why he simply couldn't have been allowed to live, and why I find myself wondering what the world would be like today if he had.
So when the movie "All Eyez On Me" hits the cinemas soon, how do you think he will be portrayed?
Will he be nothing more than the son of a revolutionary who became a rapper, a thug, and a menace to society?
Or will he be a revolutionary in his own right, who touched the hearts of tens of millions of peoples and forced them to open their eyes to the injustices of the world? A poet who who inspired a generation to look inside themselves and find the strength to be a force for good in a world of increasing badness? Or how a about a man who passionately and valiantly fought for his beliefs, and who gave his life in the quest for change?