BRYN DAVIESAND

VICTORIA JONES

Tupac Amaru Shakur

How It All Started

Tupac was born on June 16th, 1971. His mom was a member of the Black Panthers. Shortly after Tupac was born, she was sent to jail for bombing. When she got out, Tupac’s family moved to Harlem. This is where his mother began using crack and other drugs. She sent Tupac to the Baltimore School of Performing Arts, where he wrote his first rap under the name MC New York. He than moved to California and helped Digital Underground record music. His first solo album was called “2Pacalypse now”. This album included hits like Trapped and Brenda's Got a Baby. This album was dissing cops and government, which caused Dan Quayle to use this album as an example of rap that should be outlawed.

He was later on arrested for shooting at a cop that was abusing a black man, but the charges were dropped. Other movies that he starred in was Juice, Poetic Justice and Above The Rim. He than made a CD with a group called Thug Life consisting of Tupac, Syke, Macadoshis, Mopreme, and The Rated R.

After this, he was shot in New York after entering a building. The security guards who shot him sent him on an elevator to Biggie Smallz and Puffy Combs. If anyone has seen the movie “Notorious” this seen is actually in the movie. The police came and brought him to hosptal, but he left the hospital before he was supposed to.

Later on …

Tupac was at a club one night where he met a woman. He brought her back to his hotel room and they spent the night. The next day, the woman went to his hotel room to see him again, and shortly after she had arrived Tupac’s friends came in and all raped her. Tupac was trying to fight them off but he couldn’t. Although he had nothing to do with the rape, the woman charged him and the other men of rape because she knew she could get money out of Tupac. This is another charge he would have to deal with.

Tupac’s third solo album showed a much more mature side of himself. The lyrics were deeper and more meaningful. He wasn’t joking around anymore.

He was sent to jail, but after 8 months of being in, his best friend Suge bailed him out.

Starting His Career

• Tupac started his career on Tommy Boy Records with Digital Underground. Tupac was first inspired to rap when a friend of his was killed while he was playing with a gun. His first rap was about gun control.

• His second song was called “Me and My Girlfriend” and it was one of his best. The song makes it seem like he’s talking about him and his girlfriend and the things they’ve been through, but when you really listen to the lyrics it’s about him and his gun. This song shows how lyrically talented and why we chose Tupac as our poet.

1st Question

What group was Tupac’s mother a part of?

Interesting Facts

• When Tupac first moved to California, he was homeless for 2 years.

• His fiancé Kidada Jones is the daughter of Quincy Jones. She has a tattoo of Tupac on her arm.

• Tupac has a huge cross on his back that says ‘Exodus 18:11’ which refers to a bible verse which means “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods because he delivered the people from the hands of the Egyptians when they dealt with them arrogantly.”

• Tupac wanted to name his first child Star if it was a daughter and wanted to name his child Michelangelo if it was a boy.

Quotes by Tupac

• “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.”

• “I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing. Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it.”

• “Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it's dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.”

• “In life there are going to be some things that make it hard to smile. Through all the rain and pain you got to keep your sense of humor and smile for me now. Remember that.”

2nd Question

What was Tupac’s wife’s name? Who was her father?

Tupac’s Death

• On September 7th, 1996, Tupac was at a Tyson fight with Suge. He saw Orlando Anderson AKA Baby Lane who is a crip that tried to steal Tupac’s death row chain a while back. Suge and Tupac’s bodyguards beat Baby Lane up. After leaving the fight, Tupac was headed to Suge’s club. Suge was driving. The club is called Club 662. Tupac stuck his head out of the sun roof to talk to some girls, and that’s when the shooting began. Twelve bullets hit Suge’s car, and four hit Tupac in the chest. He was shot by from an unknown person driving a white Cadillac. The car sped off into the night. Suge rushed Tupac to University Medical Center and went through many surgeries, including the removal of his right lung. He stayed strong for the next few days, but he was in critical shape. At one point his body was convulsing so badly that the doctors had to induce paralysis, fearing that other possibilities would damage his brain. Tupac was announced dead seven days after the shooting on Friday, September 13th, at 4:03pm.

"Dear Mama"Verse One

When I was young me and my mama had beefSeventeen years old kicked out on the streets

Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her faceAin't a woman alive that could take my mama's place

Suspended from school; and scared to go home, I was a foolwith the big boys, breakin all the rules

I shed tears with my baby sisterOver the years we was poorer than the other little kids

And even though we had different daddy's, the same dramaWhen things went wrong we'd blame mamaI reminisce on the stress I caused, it was hell

Huggin on my mama from a jail cellAnd who'd think in elementary,I see the penitentiary one day?

And running from the police, that's rightMama catch me, put a whoopin to my backside

And even as a crack friend, mamaYou always was a black queen, mama

I finally understandfor a woman it ain't easy tryin to raise a man

You always was committedA poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it

There's no way I can pay you backBut the plan is to show you that I understand

You are appreciated

Tupac and his Mother

3rd Question

How many bullets were there in total at the shooting?

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juiceI say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots

I give a holler to my sisters on welfareTupac cares, and don't nobody else care

And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lotWhen you come around the block brothas clown a lot

But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let upForgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up

And when he tells you you ain't nuttin don't believe himAnd if he can't learn to love you you should leave him

Cause sista you don't need himAnd I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em

You know it makes me unhappy (what's that)When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy

And since we all came from a womanGot our name from a woman and our game from a woman

I wonder why we take from our womenWhy we rape our women, do we hate our women?

I think it's time to kill for our womenTime to heal our women, be real to our women

And if we don't we'll have a race of babiesThat will hate the ladies, that make the babies

And since a man can't make oneHe has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one

So will the real men get upI know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head upK

eep

Ya

Hea

d U

p

Better Dayz

[Verse One]Time to question our lifestyle, look how we liveSmokin weed like it ain't no thang, so even kids

wanna try now, they lie down and get ran throughNobody watched 'em clockin the evil man do

Faced with the demons, addicted to hearin victims screaminGuess we was evil since birth, product of cursed semens

Cause even our birthdays is cursed daysA born thug in the first place, the worst ways

I'd love to see the block in peaceWith no more dealers and crooked cops, the only way to stop the beast

And only we can changeIt's up to us to clean up the streets, it ain't the same

Too many murders, too many funerals and too many tearsJust seen another brother buried plus I knew him for years

Passed by his family, but what could I say?Keep yo' head up and try to keep the faith

And pray for better days

Thinkin back as an adolescent, who would've guessedthat in my future years, I'd be stressinSome say the ghetto's sick and corruptedPlus my P.O. won't let me hang with the brothers I grew up withTryin to keep my head up and stay strongAll my homies slangin llello all day long, but they wrongSo I'm solo and so brokeSavin up for some Jordan's, cause they dopeI got a girl and I love her but she broke too, and so am II can't take her to the place she wanna go toSo we argue and play fight, all day and nightMakin passionate love 'til the daylightPlus we about to get evicted, can't pay the rentGuess it's time to see who really is yo' friendTell me you pregnant and I'm amazedSo many blessings while we stressinLookin for them better days

For better days, better days, better days, heyyy!Better days.. got me thinkin bout better daysBetter days, better days, better daysHeyyy! Better days.. got me thinkin bout better days

[Verse Three]Now me and you was real cool, hell on them square foolsSince back in high school, we was true, me and youHardly parted or seperated, we stayed fadedAffiliated with gangbangers and still made itUp in the gym, mess with me, gotta mess with himStill dressin like grown men when rollinI went to dark, smokin Newports, gamin marksGot a place in my heart, homey stay smartLocked you up in the pen, and gave you three to tenI send you letters with naked flicks of old friendsHopin you well, I know it's hellDoin time in the cells, you need mail, when you in jailAnd me I'm doin coolI settled down, had a family, workin in night schoolEvery once in a while, I reminisceAnd wonder how we ever came to thisI miss the better days

Analysis of Dear Mama Dear Mama is one of Tupac’s most

famous songs. It’s written about him and his mom. Some good memories and some bad. It shows his fans that growing up was hard his mom. She influenced him in the wrong way. It seems like almost every rapper had a parent like this.

His mom was addicted to drugs, showing Tupac that it was okay to do them. It was okay to run the streets buying drugs, putting yourself in a position that can land you doing jail time.

She was unstable because of these drugs and the people she hung around, and felt that she had to kick Tupac out on the streets at seventeen years old because she couldn’t handle him. Even though from the beginning it was her fault that he ended up like this. Some say that this was a good thing because of the things he went through, he became an amazing rapper.

She was unstable because of these drugs and the people she hung around, and felt that she had to kick Tupac out on the streets at seventeen years old because she couldn’t handle him. Even though from the beginning it was her fault that he ended up like this. Some say that this was a good thing because of the things he went through, he became an amazing rapper.

But in the end no one should have to go through the things he did. No one should have to suffer the pain and anger living in a household of a mother who’s addicted to drugs and family members that don’t care.

Instead of his mom being there for him, he was influence by “the big boys”. He didn’t defend for himself, he was always a follower. He broke the rules because of them and couldn’t get out.

The poem says;“I shed tears with my baby sister

Over the years we was poorer than the other little kidsAnd even though we had different daddy's, the same

dramaWhen things went wrong we'd blame mamaI reminice on the stress I caused, it was hell

Huggin on my mama from a jail cellAnd who'd think in elementary?I see the penitentiary, one day”

Tupac and his little sister were poor because of their mother, and they knew that. They were ashamed of it.

Even though they had different dads, they weren’t around much so everything was blamed on their mother. All of these lyrics show that their mother was to blame for everything but at the same time he says that no one

else could ever take the place of their mom. Growing up he never thought of actually getting caught, he just saw all of the other thugs being good at what they do, and he

followed. But one slip up can change his entire life.

Towards the end of the poem he is saying that now that he’s grown up and reminisces on his life he realizes that being a single mother in a poor community is extremely hard to raise a man like Tupac. He was stubborn and selfish and he didn’t see it at the time because all he wanted to do was party and be like the rest of the thugs on the streets.

What We Think Of Dear Mama

After listening/reading to Dear Mama, we think it described Tupac’s life very well. When you read the lyrics, you get a sense of what it was like and what he felt like growing up. Tupac is a lyrical genius in our opinion, he emphasizes his ideas very well and makes the song flow at the same time. This song shows that Tupac has matured and realizes that without his mother he wouldn’t have been able to survive, and he expresses that idea very well throughout the song.

Analysis of Keep Ya Head Up In this poem, Tupac is writing

for the women living on the streets. He knows how they get picked on and talked down because he was one of those thugs on the streets yelling at them and always looking down on them. He wrote this for the females who are scared to walk down the street to the store because they know a group of grown men acting like teenagers can grab them and beat them, or rape them. He won’t ever understand truly what they went through living on the streets as a young teenager but he knows that they need to have hope and be strong.

We think that he wrote this song to give them hope and to realize that these females don’t deserve what they get on the streets. He wants them to know that there are better ways to live life then on the streets of poor and dangerous communities.

He also states that he hates seeing males getting their girlfriend’s pregnant and then just leaving them alone because they don’t want the responsibility.

“You know it makes me unhappy (what's that)

When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a

pappy”

What We Think Of Keep Ya Head Up

This song shows a lot of maturity on Tupac’s part. A lot of his songs before this was him partying and not caring about anything but making money. This song shows that he has a better outlook on life and shows that he understands the important things in life even though he may not show it all of the time. Keep Ya Head Up is a song about women growing up on the streets and in bad homes and how they don’t deserve the things they get.

Analysis of Better Dayz

This song is about Tupac believing in it’s up to him and his friends to clean up the streets and tell the younger people that using drugs and pushing them isn’t the way to go. All it does it land them in jail or in worse places.

It says how he thinks back on how he lived then and how he lives now. His girlfriend got sent to jail and he sent her letters and things for her, but then he settled down and had a family and went to school. But he still misses the old days.

He talks about him and his girlfriend being in trouble and finding out she’s pregnant, and even though they’re broke and getting kicked out, he still wants to be there for her in any way.

“Tell me you pregnant and I'm amazedSo many blessings while we stressin

Lookin for them better days”

What We Think Of Better Dayz

This song also shows a more mature side of Tupac. In this song he gives you an idea of what it’s like to grow up in the ghetto and to be around drug dealers and killers every day. It’s a very popular song because many young men go through the same struggles he talks about so they can relate, this song has very powerful and deep lyrics. Whenever you’re feeling down about a situation, this is the perfect song to listen to to give you hope.

Bibliography

http://cashtupac.tripod.com/lifestory.htmlhttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/

dearmama.htmlhttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/

keepyaheadup.htmlhttp://www.tupachq.com/facts.cfmhttp://www.2pac.com/