“Back in elementary I thrived on misery, left me alone I grew up amongst a dying breed. Inside my mind couldn’t find a place to rest. That’s when I got that thug life tatted on my chest!” I was ten years old when “Me Against The World” was released, and I knew every word to this song. Thankfully, growing up my mother never put too much restriction on my music and movie choices. As long as I wasn’t on the news doing something crazy and blaming it on gangster rap or the movie “Natural Born Killers,” I could watch and listen to almost anything as long as I stayed a kid. Pac is easily on my top 10 Best MCs, even if I was just a kid listening to his stories. All my life my taste of music was before my time. With this being the month of his tragic death I took a step back and wondered what would the music scene be like if he was still around making music. How would he react to the XXL freshman classes, especially this last class? What would he think about skinny jean rap? Would he sign on to be featured the “Panda” remix?
Tupac Amaru Shakur was known for his raw talent and for being unapologetic in his delivery. He was not an artist that played for the masses. You either loved him or you didn’t know hip hop. There is no way that anyone could claim to love hip hop and not know the artist that Pac was. He was an original street poet who told vivid stories with his lyrics, some were as if you were a documentary. He was a modern day Malcolm X, a revolutionary in his own right. Take these elements and fast forward 20 years where the stories have seemed to switch to Instagram and Snapchat like lyrics. The majority of songs today are mostly fluff and advertisements for clothing brands and liquor. Since hip hop is a pretty young culture, a lot of the Pioneers are still living with kids of their own. I can definitely see him in a “then and now” photo with Snoop Dogg...well now Snoop Lion. He could easily have his own show on current events, or addressing some of the changes in hip hop. He would have been the go to artist for a feature on someone’s 5th album releasing after a five year break. You think it was dope when Eminem came through the stage during the “Touch It” remix at the BET Awards? Picture Pac showing up in the middle of “California Love” performance during VH1 Hip Hop Honors. These are just my fantasies of what life possibly would be like if he was still around and able to influence the new generation in the flesh. Let’s place Pac in some situations and see how they play out.
One thing that has gained popularity since the 90’s are reality TV shows. Before it was pretty much the "Real World" and now everyone thinks their life is interesting enough to interrupt my actual real. broke, personal life. One show that has gained popularity is Love and Hip Hop. What would be 2Pac’s role in Love and Hip Hop Hollywood? Well you can stop scratching your heads and wondering because he would not be anywhere near the set of Love and Hip Hop. In fact, he would be against the show thinking it makes us as African Americans look like clowns. In a time like this, he would encourage us to be more than just entertainment and to use our platforms for something greater. He would definitely advise A1 to give his grandmother her pearls back and to stop wearing costume jewelry. Yes, I am aware that his jewelry cost more than whatever means the most to me, however, it does not change the fact that it’s the same style my grandmother wears to church on Easter Sunday. Pac would laugh at this and think that these folks have lost their entire mind for the sake of TV and social media.
Aside from being an award winning hip hop artist, Pac was also a very good actor. He was a guest star on my favorite show" A Different World," and was in about 7 films. It probably would be safe to say that he would have had a few more films under his belt by now. Could you picture him with a role on "Power?" Or better yet "The Wire?" I don’t know what type of role he would have on either show, but I know he would fit in well. I can even see him on "Boardwalk Empire" for a couple of episodes. Just looking at the work he did 20 years ago, he was on his way to do whatever he wanted whether it was in the studio or on a film set. It’s just so much he could have done; l wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t turn one of his classic albums into a Broadway show. That’s how talented and well-rounded he was.
With a name like Tupac who had a mother that was a Black Panther, I’m pretty sure I could place him in the “Black Lives Matter” movement considering he has been about the revolution since birth. He was not shy with the topics of racism and social activism. We all saw interviews where he stressed how important it was to support each other and uplift each other. He even warned us about a presidential candidate, basically calling him out for his greed. He would be at all the protest supporting the cause and speaking up for those who have a hard time being heard and calling out his peers if he felt they could be doing something to help.
How would he react to the new generation of artists? Well, I can see him mentoring an artist like Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick would have him on a song or two, and he would lend his knowledge of the game in their studio sessions. He would explain to him that he has what it takes to pick up where left off or create a lane of his own. As long as he stays in control of his own creativity and doesn’t sell his soul for a quick buck, he would do just fine. Then we have artists like Desiigner, Young Thug, and somebody else I don’t know or listen to, but if I play their song ,a teenager in soccer pants and jays would go nuts. With these type of artists, I don’t think he would look down on them right away, however, he would definitely get a good laugh. Pac understood that things change and will evolve. If you listen to his albums you can hear the difference in each one, and he was really before his time anyway, we are just catching up. He would see how the youth are changing which in return created artists like the ones I mentioned. He would let them do their thing, but he would let them know that although me may not be a killer it would not be wise to push him. On the Fashion side of things, he would have brought back Karl Kani and just stayed clean, not too flashy unless the occasion called for it. I can’t see him rocking male capris and skirts, that’s a lil' too “Gangstalicous” for his taste.
This is just pure assumption from me, who knows what the game would be like if Pac was still around. I do know that hip hop would not be what it is today without his influence. I'm glad my mother allowed me to get into him through his music and movies. I believe what I always liked about him was that he was not one to follow the rules. You either loved or found an excuse to hate him, but he was real, he couldn’t be bought, and he loved his people. Other artist from Common to Jim Jones have credited him as someone who inspired them to do the exact same thing in two different ways. His music was on every one of my playlist except for my “Church Flow” mix I tried to see if “Only God Can Judge Me” would work, but it didn’t fit. I was a soccer player and the last song I would listen to before I got on the field was “Me Against the World” on my “Game Day Mix.” I was often the smallest and darkest on the field, but you couldn’t tell this All-Conference goal keeper nothing. It was just something that stuck with me, I go out there with “nothing to lose, it’s just me against the world baby.” Like all of you 2Pac fans, I do miss his presence, but luckily he left us with enough material to keep us busy until you theorist out there find out where he's hiding. I encourage all skinny jean rap fans to know who he was as well, I know you guys like to party and you may want to add “How Do You Want It” and “I Get Around” to your playlist. He wasn’t always so serious, it was nothing but a gangsta party to him.
