Greatest Hits by 2Pac
“That’s just the way it is / Things will never be the same / That’s just the way it is / Aww, yeah / Some things will never change”
- Tupac Shakur, “Changes”
Lately, I have been remembering quotes that follow the concept of living even though dead. The two quotes that stood out to me were by Chuck Palahniuk and Terry Pratchett. Palahniuk said “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” while Pratchett said, “ No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die.”
This week and feeling nostalgic, I am completing my triad of top rappers with the one and only Tupac with his album 2Pac Greatest Hits, released on November 24th, 1998. Tupac Amaru Shakur aka 2Pac or Makaveli was born on June 16th, 1971, and was assassinated on September 13th, 1996. I think that Tupac helped expand on and lay foundations to the Rap Culture, making it socially acceptable and marketable in the process.
The cover of the album is Tupac staring into the camera giving off a soulful vibe. The album is full of sweet beats, great collaborations, and music you can either dance to or increase your social awareness. Also the songs are timeless.
My top two favorite songs from the album are “Changes’ and “Dear Mama”. Within the sociopolitical climate of today, it’s important to go back and listen to what Pac had to say in the first track. The second one, well, simply, gets to your soul.
We gotta make a change
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes
Let's change the way we eat
Let's change the way we live
And let's change the way we treat each other
You see, the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
What we gotta do, to survive
I adore “Changes” because he is listing some of the things that he sees wrong in the black community and is trying to get them to make changes to those wrongs by changing their behaviors and not putting each other down with a good message have as a reminder. That little prose within the song exemplifies something that Pac thought back in 93, and that applies itself today. Society isn’t working the way that it should. People are dying, whether that be because of a pandemic that hits poorer people and people of color disproportionately, due to hunger even though many of us waste food, or at the hands of the police. Something is wrong when those sworn to protect us are the first to detest us, right? Therefore, we have to do what we have to do, to survive.
And who'd think in elementary, hey
I'd see the penitentiary one day?
And runnin' from the police, that's right
Mama catch me, put a whoopin' to my backside
And even as a crack fiend, Mama
You always was a black queen, Mama
I finally understand
For a woman, it ain't easy tryin' to raise a man
On the other hand, I adore Dear Mama because; he shows respect and love for his mom l, it showcases his emotions and there is social awareness to social circumstances. The crack epidemic and the reality and pain that came from that reality were clear to Pac, even at that time. Today, we still face those same problems, and happily still love our mothers like 2Pac did his. Even though some things should change, others should stay the same. Let’s keep the good and alter what doesn’t work to make it work.
Overall, the album receives a 9/10.