Tupac Shakur "changes"

Tupac Shakur "Changes"

The year 1971 was a pivotal moment in the United States' history. That was when the rapper Tupac Shakur was born. He was named after the Peruvian revolutionary Tupac Amaru II, and he grew to become one of the most influential rappers the world has ever known. His lyrics are tinged with raw feeling, commentary on poverty, black culture, urban ghettos, and the kind of profound perspective only a person with first hand experience in ghettos can have. His lyrics made the listener think, and transported the listener into the life of a teenage mother in "Brenda's Got A Baby," he made the listener experience police brutality in "Trapped," and gave listeners his raw, personal perspective on the tragedies of poverty in countless other classic songs. One song of his, however that sticks out in my mind the most is "Changes," released in 1995 in his "Greatest Hits" album, released after his death. Its lyrics are as raw and as personal as any of his other songs, but this stands out to me because it connects to Malcolm X's message.

Malcolm X and Tupac Shakur both grew up in broken homes, and both had a controversial message that both angered and excited Americans. Countless Americans called for an end to Malcolm X's inflammatory messages concerning the race relations in the U.S. Malcolm X essentially advocated "any means necessary" to overcome the racial injustice and unfair policies that African-Americans were subjected to. In Shakur's song, "Changes," he raps, "It's time to fight back that's what Huey said/2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead" referencing Huey Newton, leader of the Black Panthers, who was murdered in 1989 in Oakland. Shakur advocates a concerted effort on the part of the greater African-American community to ‘fight against the system' and fight against racism.

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