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Abstract

This essay is about the differences between Tupac Shakur and Lil Wayne.

By differences meaning how has rap and hip hop changed within the

rappers themselves, the way they dress, the point of being a rapper, the

message in their songs. If we look back and compare how artists where

seen before and how they are seen now, its utterly diverse it has changed

a lot within the years. !ap was considered a way of e"pression and

demonstration of feelings, since they had no other way to speak or defend

themselves from discrimination. #oing back more than a century ago, was

when rap had popped onto the $merican music scene. It was first inspired

in West $frican musicians which were telling stories rhythmically, having a

drum with %ust one beat for the time of the lasting story. Whereas, folks

from &aribbean island were also doing the same type of poetry, this was

proclaimed as singing poets which came originated from $frica and the

&aribbean, that had lay and known as the $merican rap music. This is

some of the reasons of why rappers where discriminated, since it was only$fro'$mericans who did this type of genre. (ip hop is very popular, back in

the times they would rap about important things that would be going on in

their lives. &urrently, all youll find about most rap songs is se", violence,

hoes, drugs, weed and party. )ery few artists are actually focusing on the

real value of hip hop, such as *minem, + cent, etc. Individuals are also

not taking in count the lifestyles of the rappers, before there was a lot of

crime, discrimination since they were black people there was a lot of crime

in their neighborhoods, a lot of them were shot and survived them but had

a big recuperation. This is what my essay is going to be about, how has the

industry of rap changed.

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&ontents -age

Introduction./'0

$bout Tupac Shakur0'+

$bout Lil Wayne+'1

&onclusion1'2

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Comparing life and Rap styles: Tupac Shakur vs. LilWayne

There are many types of rap styles on *arth3 this is a reason of why 4&s

dont sound the same, since they are associated in different surroundings

and attitudes. 5ne of the varied styles of rap is $lternative (ip (op, which

basically isnt focused on dance moves or pop hook 6musical idea7, instead

they care more about the conte"t, a uni8ue thought, t make it special.

Battle rap is another style of (ip (op, which produces a superior impact on

the rapper, this one focuses on bragging rhymes about their skills and

success, including verbal insults said directly. The conscious rap is

controlled by the fact of knowledge being the reason of a very important

change, such as self discovery and social awareness. They usually

encourage to positive thoughts, including their critici9ing rhymes against

social harms. &runk started in the :s as a considering form of southern

(ip (op3 its basically a disordered interruption of club beats. The *ast

coast (ip (op was initiated in the streets of ;ew

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4oney !ecords, he gained most of his fame with the groups he associated

that had most selling albums, like #uerrilla Warfare, released in >:::. I

chose this topic because I find it pretty interesting how rap style and life has

changed within the past few years3 there are also many criticisms against

Lil Wayne since he isnt considered as a real rapper, because of his life

style and music themes in his songs. Tupac Shakur instead has a very

harsh life which are written in his songs3 he helped others and everything

that was going on around him was said but in a lyrical way. Basically Tupac

is considered as the #od of the rap, after him comes *minem who is

known as the ?ing of the rap. ;owadays rap doesnt have the same

meaning and respect as before, this is why Lil Wayne is differentiated

against, his lyrics have no meaning or point, and he is nothing but a

wealthy man. I chose this topic since I found it very interesting to compare

@ complete different rappers from different times. I also had the idea of

demonstrating people how rap was before and the respect it had, since

nowadays rap or Ahip hop is %ust commercial music, with no messages

apart from some artists such as *minem, + cent and so on.

Tupac Shakur was a young rapper who was murdered September >/, >::1

6aged @+7 Las )egas. (e was born on Cune >1 >:2> in the *ast (arlem

section of 4anhattan in ;ew :2s. This was a

black revolutionary socialist association happening in the DS$ which began

>:11 to >:E@. Tupac was associated at a very young age with people who

committed serious criminal felonies that lead them to prison3 his godfather

had a high rank in the Black -anther -arty however he had murdered a

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school teacher during a >:1E robbery, he had been kept captive.

;evertheless his stepfather was seen as the FBIs ten most wanted

fugitives, since he had helped his sister escape prison for killing a state

trooper in >:2/. Shakur had a half'sister named Sekyiwa, and an older

stepbrother named 4opreme Shakur3 he mentioned them in many of his

songs and recordings. Guring his childhood he participated in many school

plays, in >:E1 the all moved to Baltimore. (e was then moved to Baltimore

School for $rts which is where he studied acting, poetry, %a99 and ballet. (e

was recogni9ed and remembered as a popular kid in school since he had a

very good sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and the ability to mi"

with all different type of people he was very social towards others. Tupac

Shakur has a very close relationship with one of his best friends Cada

-inkett, they knew each other since they were little kids and lasted until his

death. Tupac and biggie smalls were very important to rap industry3 many

rappers would get influenced by them, he was considered as a benefactor,

funder to the new generation of hip hop artists and rappers that struggle to

demonstrate that even out of the comple"ities of poverty, crime, gang life,

and troubled academic system, success is still a hope for them, it is still

possible. (e mi"ed deep political suggestions with an impatient sense of

lyricism that keeps incomparable, since individuals are disposed to

contradiction, lies, deception and many more. 4any people have

connected with Tupac $maru Shakur since his songs and lifestyle

sometimes didnt line up with each other. ;evertheless regardless of the

corresponding world he lived in, he still remained as a meaningful,

passionate hip hop artist in music history. *very rap artist has tattoos which

made them look cooler and se"y, but Tupac made the difference of making

every one meaningful on his body. ;owadays you can see there are Arap

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artists who are filled with tattoos in every inch of their body. Tupac has

spoken and beaten politicians, congressmen, congresswomen including

presidents and vice presidents to strongly believe his position on how

$frican $merican have been mistreated and uncared for over the years in

the DS$. (e was the first one to release a double &G and brake the !I$$

record for most sold albums for a rap artists.

Lil Wayne on the other hand is completely different story3 he was born on

September @2, >:E@ and grew up in ;ew 5rleans. (is parents divorced

when he was @ years old, is father had abandoned their family. (e grew

older and moved to 4arion $bramson Senior (igh School. (e e"plained

that he had dropped the letter G from his name AGwayne due to the fact he

is a %unior, thus his father is still living and not in his life and never has, in

that case he didnt want to be a Gwayne, he chose instead to be AWayne.

Lil Wayne wrote his first rap song when he was E years old3 in >::> he met

Bryan William a rapper. When he was >@ he appeared in the school play of

AThe Wi9, that same year he accidentally shot himself, he was taken by a

police officer to the hospital, he was a honor student at 4c4ain 4agnet but

he dropped out of school because he wanted to focus on a music career.

(e was arrested for drug and gun control possession. Lil Wayne managed

to get a constant career successful, he began rapping since he was a little

kid and made his own music. (e is very well recogni9ed for his

improvements in his lifetime, this has created a big impact on individuals.

Lil Wayne doesnt have a specific theme in his songs to rap about, most of

his songs have girls and parties in them, he doesnt really sing about

something important to people.

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$t the present time Tupac is still heard because his spirit is still alive and

strong, he rapped about thug life, gangsta things and he also rapped about

people who didnt like him. 4any of his songs are telling his life story and

how he has been mistreated against people who dont agree with him. For

e"ample in the song Achanges it talks about violence against $fro'

$mericans in the Dnited States and how the policemen dont do anything to

avoid it, Acops give a damn about a negroH -ull the trigger, kill a nigga, hes

a hero. Tupac is showing us how black people are treated in these poor

streets of ;ew

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Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Wayne

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/changes.html

http://realtalkny.uproxx.com/2008/09/topic/topic/editorial/the-7-day-theory-remember-

why-tupac-is-important/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Tupac_Shakur_still_important_to_rap_music

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Waynehttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/changes.htmlhttp://realtalkny.uproxx.com/2008/09/topic/topic/editorial/the-7-day-theory-remember-why-tupac-is-important/http://realtalkny.uproxx.com/2008/09/topic/topic/editorial/the-7-day-theory-remember-why-tupac-is-important/http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Tupac_Shakur_still_important_to_rap_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Waynehttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/changes.htmlhttp://realtalkny.uproxx.com/2008/09/topic/topic/editorial/the-7-day-theory-remember-why-tupac-is-important/http://realtalkny.uproxx.com/2008/09/topic/topic/editorial/the-7-day-theory-remember-why-tupac-is-important/http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Tupac_Shakur_still_important_to_rap_music

8/13/2019 rap essay

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Aranza Sanchez

Comparing Life and rap styles: Tupac Shakur vs.

Lil Wayne

Name: Aranza Sanchez

School: The British School Quito

Supervisor: Lucy Hares

Subject: Music

ate: !"#"!$

Main article %or& count: !#'(

Abstract %or& count: )*+

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