For Afeni, he recorded one of the most poignant love ballads to a mother, “Dear Mama.” Killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at age twenty-five, Shakur continues to be a profound part of our cultural imagination, most recently inspiring Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway sensation, Hamilton.
Though he glorified being a “gangsta” in baggy jeans, Shakur was critical of hip-hop excesses and, like his mother, Afeni, who was involved with the Black Panther Party, strove to right social and racial injustices. His eight-month incarceration for sexual assault coincided with his crossover success. Repeatedly condemned for his explicit, violent, and at times misogynistic lyrics, Shakur seemed to embody the “thug life” that his music so artfully populated. With a poetic and raw lyricism, Shakur wrote songs that exposed the inequities experienced by many impoverished inner-city African American communities. Death Row That's where motherfuckers is endin upĭear mama, I'm caught up in this sickness I robbed my adversaries, but slipped and left a witness Wonder if they'll catch me, or will this ***** snitch Should I shoot his *****, or make the ***** rich? Don't wanna commit murder, but damn they got me trapped Hawkin while I'm walkin, and talkin behind my back I'm kind of schizophrenic, I'm in this **** to win it Cause life's a Wheel of, Fortune here's my chance to spin it Got no time for cops, who trip and try to catch me Too fuckin trigger happy, to let them suckers snatch me Niggaz gettin jealous (jealous) tryin to find my stash Whip out the nine, now I'ma dive and pump your ass Peter picked a pepper, but I can pick a punk Snatched him like a *****, and threw him in the trunk The punk thought I was bluffin, but swear I'm nothin nice Before I take your life, first wrestle with these, mics I listen to him scream, Tray Deee went insane I guess the little, mites had finally found his brain New Rovers pull me over, I'm sentenced to the pen Remember that little, bird, he snitched and told a, friend It's trouble on my mind, I'm with the old timers And **** five-oh, blaow blaow.Alternate Title 2pac 4 Ever 1971-1996 Artist Afeni Shakur, - Sitter Tupac Shakur, - 13 Sept 1996 Date 2002 Type Print Medium Color photolithographic poster Dimensions Image/Sheet: 159.4 × 112 cm (62 3/4 × 44 1/8") Credit Line National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply Copyright © Afeni Shakur Object number NPG.2014.115 Exhibition Label Nearly two decades after his death, Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) remains one of the most magnetic and best-selling rappers in music.
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