A TUPAC SHAKUR EULOGY
Since his death, Tupac has been called a black prince, a revolutionary, an icon for Generation X, a hip hop lazarus, a brotha for black America.
Some see only the tattoos and the jewerly - the body language - as a way of describing him. Or the angry and the defiant messages. They can't get past his persona.
Still others see Tupac as the most talented singer ever in the rap-music industry.
To many, Tupac Shakur was a figure of violence, who became a victim of the same v 19219v2114t iolent gang culture he glorified - shot down on the streets of Las Vegas in a gangster-like killing.
Those who knew him best saw him as a force moving toward the truth, cut down before he could mature and reach his full potential, before he had a chance to come into his own. He was young, not yet matured, they said. They felt his anger, his frustration, his pain. They have called him the '90s Elvis, or John Lennon, or Jimmy Hendrix, or Jim Morrison, or Sammy Davis Jr., or any other famous singer who was also a symbol of something bigger than himself.
"To me, I feel that my game is strong", Tupac told Tony Patrick. "I feel as though I'm a shinning prince, just like Malcolm, and feel that all of us are shining princes, and if we live like shining princes, then whatever we want can be ours." Tupac considered his music spiritual, like the old Negro spirituals.
"Except for the fact that I'm not saying, 'We shall overcome'", he explained. "I'm saying, 'We ARE overcome'."
Many people belive Tupac was a promising talent who wound up a casualty of a society that destroys African - American youth, males in particular. It's not just a belief among many that the black man in America today is an endagered species. It's based on actual statistics. If the drugs don't get them, the violence will. And if the violence doesn't get them, the cops and the justice system eventually will bring hem down.
Writer Kevin Powell elaborated. "There's a perception in the black community that if you're young and black and male, and happen to be making lots of money, you are vulnerable to attacks from the system or the powers that be."
"You know what I think?" E-40 , a San Francisco rapper, who once recorded with Tupac, asked Spin magazine. "Tupac is looking down on us, saying: 'Y'all don't know what you're missing up here.' We the ones in hell."
The killing of Tupac Shakur heightened the debate about whether gangsta rap promotes violence or is just a reflection of the ugly mood of the streets. A dark aura of violence looms over the hip hop music industry. To some, Tupac, with his tattoos that promoted firearms, had it coming. To others, Tupac's songs spoke against the gun culture of the ghetto.
In "Young Niggaz", he sang, "Don't wanna be another statistic out here doin' nothin'/Tryin' to maintain in this dirty game/Keep it real and I will even if it kills me/My young niggaz stay away from this dumb niggaz/Put down the gun and have some fun, nigga."
After Biggie Smalls was shot to death, Quincy Jones, who would have been Tupac's father-in-law had he survived, wrote in Vibe magazine, "When will it end? When will the senseless killing of our hip-hop heroes cease? I thought Tupac's death was going to be the end of it, but the psycho-drama keeps going. The murder of Christopher Wallace... is the latest in what is becoming a pathetic string of deaths in and around the rap community. And the speed with which the media turned this unnecessary tragedy into evidence of a 'Rap War', a 'Slay Revenge', makes me worry that we haven't heard the last shots ring out yet.
"I love hip hop. To me, it is a kindred spirit to beebop, the music that started my career. But I also know history. The gangster lifestyle that is so often glorified and heralded in this music is not 'keeping it real'; it is fake, not even entertainment. A sad farce at best and a grim tragedy at worst."
"'Real' is being shot five times with 'real' bullets. 'Real' is having a promising life end at 24 years old of age by somebody you might call 'brother'. If that's keeping it real, it is up to all of us to redefine what 'real' means to the Hip Hop Nation...Ultimately, love is real."
In a prepared statement the day after Biggie's death, Quincy Jones said he was "absolutely stunned."
"This death, as well as the death of Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E [from AIDS], Marvin Gaye, and so many more young people who we never hear about, are senseless acts that should never have happened."
"I spent my formative years growing up in 'Gangster Central' on the southside of Chicago, so I am no stranger to random violence," he said. "If life continues to imitate art this way, it will result in self-inflicted genocide. We all need to reevaluate what our priorities are or else we have nothing to look forward to except more of this madness."
He said he had developed a "close personal relationship" with "the superstar rappers"
over the last 10 years. "It's witnessing their genius and compassion that makes incidents such as these particularly disturbing to me".
No formal funeral service was held for the slain rapper. This was at the request of his family, who said he would not have wanted one. In fact, the family old reporters that Tupac had talked about his death and had specifically stated that he didn't want a funeral if he were to die. He told friends when he was in high school that when he died they could snort his ashes home to Georgia to the house Tupac had brought for her (through Death Row). Later, she scattered them over a neighborhood park in L.A. But spontaneous celebrations of Tupac's life were held all over the country.
Friends remembered Tupac at the Civic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after his death. They called it "Keep Ya Head Up!, The Celebration of Tupac Shakur", a three-hour tribute of speeches, poetry, reading, dance and music.
"I know people are sad, but I am here and we are here to celebrate 'Pac and continue on with his spirit", Afeni Shakur said of her son.
Shock G and Money-B, members of Digital Underground where Tupac's professional
music career began, issued a statement after Tupac died.
"If you want to mourn, do it for your own personal loss", they said. Don't mourn for 'Pac. Remember him for his art and don't be sad for his death. 'Pac lived a short, fast, concentrated and intense life. He lived a 70-year life in 25 years. He went out the way he wanted: in the glitter of the gangsta life, hit record on the charts, new movie in the can, and money in the pocket. All 'Pac wanted was to hear himself on the radio and see himself on the movie screen. He did all that - and more". (...)
His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, wrote a letter, "To My Son", from inside a Florence, Colorado, federal penitentiary the night Tupac died. Excepts were reprinted on the World Wide Web by Double J Productions.
"I love you whenever, forever. Tupac, so much I needed to say, so much you wanted to say. Many conversations between us within the ether...
You never yelled out, 'Somebody save me!' You only asked for your soul to be free, whenever, forever. You told us to keep our head up, knowing the pain was coming. Knowing to look for the strength in the havens. Set your soul free, Tupac Amaru.
The victories - we will teach your missionn. We are thankful for you. We love you, Tupac Shakur. We ain't mad at you. We'll be better because of you.
So now I give you my tears so I might assimilate your loss and I can live on in peace.
Knowing I will feed your spirit with my unconditional love, knowing you will need it on your next journey. May Allah bless you for your deeds and forgive your errors. Tupac, come to me and give me strength.
Love always,
Your father, friend, comrade, Mutulu."
The killing of Tupac Shakur remains unsolved.
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