The 7 Day Theory: Remembering Why Tupac is Important
I had a conversation with a couple of people the other day about the importance of Tupac. Somebody told me that Tupac wasn’t one of the most globally known, or internationally recognized Black people ever. Another person said that his music wasn’t politically or socially relevant; that he wasn’t as important to Black music as Bob Marley.
All of this is just a couple of weeks after Blender Magazine said Pac was the most overrated musician of all-time.
So is the world coming to the end? Was Tupac really not that important, then and now?
Tupac was the most important Hip-Hop artist ever. He was important not just for what he did, but for what he said.
Whether it is twelve years after he pasted away, or seven days after the anniversary of his death, we must never forget what Pac contributed to the world in his short time here.
With the amount of books, documentaries, and articles produced on Tupac’s life, I never thought I’d be put in a position to have to defend Pac’s importance to Black people. I thought the fact that scholars like Michael Eric Dyson and Mark Anthony Neal, and institutions like University of Cal-Berkeley, studied Tupac was enough to justify his significance. I figured the murals of him in Brazil, the respect for him in Cuba, and the people who asked me about him in South Africa was a testament to his global impact. Perhaps being studied in a college classroom isn’t enough to show Pac’s importance to American history. And maybe Brazil and Cuba don’t show his global meaning.
Maybe time makes us forgetful.
But for those of us that love Hip-Hop, and believe in the struggle and glory of Black people in this world, we must always remember and celebrate how important what our prince did (and the message he brought) was to this world.
Tupac was the window to the soul of the first post-Black Power/Civil Rights generation. He is indicative of that generation in so many tangible and intangible ways.
His name shows his ties to the African Diasporic tradition: Pac was named after the Tupac Amaru, the leader of Peru’s indigenous rebellion against the Spanish Empire’s conquest of the Inca people. His mother (Afeni Shakur) and stepfather (Mutulu Shakur) were Black Panthers, and instilled in him a Black consciousness that showed him the history and power of his people. He enjoyed the best that America had to offer: Pac had a childhood education that allowed him to read Shakespeare, study Theater, and participate in the arts; he was well read, as evident by his reading and studing of political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince leading him to name his last recorded album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. His music allowed him to reap the financial benefits our society offers.
Growing up without a father, raised by a mother battling a drug addiction, and living in Harlem, Baltimore, and Oakland, he also saw the dark side of his generation: Drugs, poverty, and broken homes.
Education. Success. Poverty. It’s indicative of the struggle; the gift and the curse.
This story, this complexity, came out in the way Pac lived his life and in the music he produced. He wrote about how much he loved his mother despite her addiction (Dear Mama). He was misogynistic, sexist, and vulgar. He displayed sophistication and militancy in his music (Rebel of the Underground), while expressing charisma and intellect in his interviews. He crafted stories of urban Black life that was resonating for the time (Brenda’s Got a Baby). He could uplift and inspire (Keep Ya Head Up). But most importantly, he wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable (So Many Tears, Pain); Pac wasn’t afraid to bear his soul as witness to the struggle and pride of being Black in America.
Author, educator, and artist Dax-Devlon Ross gives perhaps one of the most poignant testimonies to what Tupac meant in his book, “The Nightmare and the Dream: Nas, Jay-Z, and the History of Conflict in African-American Culture:”
“I was a 21 year-old college student the night ‘Pac died. I wasn’t a thug or a gangsta. I hadn’t grown up in poverty. My parents hadn’t marched with King. I’d never been to jail. I’d never been shot. I’d never sold drugs…Existentially, though, we were kindred spirits. He showed me that I didn’t have to be the most intelligent or gifted person to bear my soul on the page…He let me know that it was ok to be vulnerable.
More than any other artist, Tupac explored the tensions stemming from our generation’s desire, and in some senses demand, to ‘keep it real.’ Hip-hop was born and bred by those people and in those communities that were left behind; by the children and grandchildren of those who didn’t make it to college and couldn’t enter the middle class…For Tupac that cultural experience wasn’t embedded in a single community, but in the soul of every community that knew poverty and the chaos it wrought.”
It is all these things that endeared Tupac Shakur to a generation, to the public, and to people all over the world.
This is why the life of Tupac Shakur is so important.
Many of us know this; millions of people across the world know this. And that is exactly why we must continue to remember him, and never downplay his significant because he is that important to us…Until The End Of Time.
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Tags: 2pac, Makaveli, Tupac Shakur
September 20th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Wow that was real deep read every word…..tupac is important to hip-hop and to people period!
September 20th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
http://thisisscolla.com/cms/content/view/228/2/
MUST READ!
for anyone who ever doubted Pac….thats because they never understood him
September 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
C’MON. PAC NOT RELEVANT? HE WAS RELEVANT TO MORE THAN JUST BLACK PEOPLE. MOREL LIKE EVERYBODY. HIS ALBUMS STILL SELL TO THIS DAY, AND NOT ONLY THAT, AS A HUMAN BEING, HE INFLUENCED YOU WITH MORE THAN HIS MUSIC.
………MYSPACE.COM/MAJORFIGGAS101
September 20th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
its a shame this blog wont get as many comments as a beef blog. great post
September 20th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Tupac as any great musician is important. There wil lalways be fututre artists influenced by how prolific he was or emotional in his raps and also learn from his mistakes.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Pac was the greatest.
It’s a shame cuz I know there’s gonna be a whole bunch of comments saying he was overrated and he wasn’t lyrical and blah blah blah… but oh well..
September 20th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Fuck What They Say .Pac Was That Nigga!!!
September 20th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
2 Pac and Bob Marley both made timeless music and would very much be relevant toaday. Look how many people were influnced by them in some way, most of these rappers toaday was influnced by 2 Pac, 2 Pac set the trends for others to match. To see 2 Pac influnced look how many albums was released after his death with that said please no more 2 Pac albums ever let the man rest in peace.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
fuck blender n all 2pac haters. they mad cuz in 5yrs he diid shit no other rappers done. where u think ya fav rapper got they style from??
September 20th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
He is overrated though.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
NO this is wat ive been trying to get across for a while dude is so overated and meant nothing to me then and means nothing to black music/or music in general now HE SUCKS!!!!!!1
September 20th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
“Somebody told me that Tupac wasn’t one of the most globally known, or internationally recognized Black people ever. ”
*STATIC* THEY ARE UNINFORMED LOCAL NIGGAS,THE FURTHEST THEY’VE TRAVELED IS TO THEIR LOCAL BARBER SHOP,OVER *STATIC*
September 20th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I mean severely ovverated its scary..
September 20th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
lol haters. tupac is the man, can’t deny it. To each their own.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
TUPAC IS IN THE VANILLA ICE CATGEORY…IRRELAVNT….TRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVTRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATRILLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
September 20th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I’ve always been a big fan of Pac but I don’t know how important Tupac was or how much of an impact his music had. He did touch a lot of people but he’s no Bob Marley that’s for sure. Bob Marley is on another level.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
@ Superman – Hip Hop Fan and 199700352
Your bullshit negative comments are HIGHLY overrated.
Wonderful post!
September 20th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Great post! tupac is probably the most important rapper of all time and he’s not only part of black music history he’s a big part of music history PERIOD. But like someone else said “Bob Marley is on another level”.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
its been 12 yrs since PAC has left us and his music is STILL bumpin…and puttin down all that Bullshit that out there today…12 yrs and ppl can still relate!!! how can his work be deemed irrelevant? overrated? helll naaaaaw…u guys must b trippin out hard….pac was the best….he still has shit that hasnt been released yet….great article
September 20th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Tupac
To say Tupac was sociall unimportant is like saying hiphop is socially unimportant,since there is no other hiphop artist who is as socially and culturally important as Tupac Amaru Shakur.
It was written that Tupac “wasn’t as important to Black music as Bob Marley”
That is a most true, for no other reason that there is no artist as important to Black Music and culture as Bob Marley.
This may be hard for all you non Rastafari out there, but when you speak of Bob´s Music,you are speaking of God Works, and you cant get more important than that.
However,when it comes to personality and charisma,i would put Tupac and Marley on an equal footing.
Another thing to consider is that HipHop is full of flaws, some might say that this flaws only make us love hiphop more,and i might agree, on certain things.
HipHop is an predominantly America art form, an art form that even though created by poor people,it was created in the most richest capitalist society….and many of those flaws of HipHop stem from that…the paper chasing,the fast cars and women,the drugs,the gangster mentality,all those things.
And Tupac,as beautiful an angel as he was, was plagued by all this flaws. You hear all these things in his music.
For one “Dear Mama”, you have a “Hit em Up”
Meanwhile,ones like Bob Marley had no inclination to make that “shake yo ass” song, or that “im gangsta” song, or that “i got money” song.
Bob could put his whole soul into what God meant for him to do.
For this reason alone,Tupac will never be as important as Bob Marley.
But i cannot think of anyone else who comes closer to Marley´s importance than Tupac Amaru Shakur
September 20th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
We still miss you,Pac
September 20th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
It would take for a white magazine like blender to disrespect one of our black leaders and we all fallowed like GOOD NIGGERS like they wanted. It took your favorite rapper to 10 to15 years to do what he did in four. As for the Lil Wayne comment, Pac died at 25, he’s just now starting at 25! Now who’s the best!
September 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Don’t get me wrong I do like Pac but let’s face it, every artist that dies especially in his/her prime gets overrated. Tupac was a great artist but is he overrated? Yes he is. If he was still alive people wouldn’t talk about him and his music the same way they do now. Some people even think the brotha faked his death and is still alive. The amount of myths about his dead and his lifestyle and everything made him larger than life when he died. The same goes for artists like Elvis Presley, John Lennon..etc It’s not only artists it’s the same thing with actors, athletes leaders..etc The best thing that can happen for their legacy is to DIE and if you’re a popular person who leave this earth while you’re still in your prime…OH man then you’ll definitely become overrated by millions of people.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Pac i an icon, a legend… Every rapper got Pac’s name in his lyrics… you know it takes a lot to achive such a succes.. Pac is the greatest and will 4ever be… I’m from europe… and you know here wherever you go… young kids like 10 years old listening 2 2pac music and not 50cent or other mtv rappers. That just shows that pac is not the past he is also the future…. Thats sad for hiphop but true.. He was just on another level.. he could get to your heart in a sec… not a lot of rapper can do that nowadays… But pac is not overrated… Pac is loved.. Pac is 4ever… pac i the truth… Pac rep the pain every black brother feel tru the day… RIP PAC… WILL FOREVER BUMP YOUR SHIT… Was listening 2 krazy 2day… that song iz of the hook… 2pac 4EVER BITCHEZ!
September 20th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
First I would like to say this is an exceptional piece that should have been written a long time ago! But it’s sad that after all he’s said & done there are still idiots out there that missed what he tried to instill in his people!
95% of the rappers 2 day are 4 themselves period! Pac wanted to bring his people to the fore front so we could see the power strength & potential within ourselves. Regardless of what ghetto you were raised, that you can overcome adversity.
Pac wasn’t killed he was assassinated (do your research) because he had the knowledge, power & potential to wake his people up out of this disturbing state of self hate that has manifested its self within that’s causing us to kill one another over dumb shyit like the color of a rag!
If some of these people picked up a book sometimes instead of running off at the mouth they could find out the truth for themselves, but that’s too much like right.
Martin, Malcolm, & all the great leaders of our past sacrificed their lives to get their people on the right track but even they fell short because uninformed lazy a$$ people still doing pointless shyit like selling dope, sagging their pants, & gang banging!
Pac will always be important & relevant to Hip Hop, no matter what you weak & simple minded people think.. See how many other rappers have scholars writing books about them & what they stood for, how many college courses are started in honor & admiration of them.. Not a single solitary one!
Hov said it best “do u fools listen to music or do u just skim through it”! Wake up & open your eyes people KNOWLEDE IS POWER!!
September 20th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Tupac was and still his the best for me!!!
I miss that nigga on some real shit!
R.I.P 2pac
September 20th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
i been listen to old pac shit lately & mathafuckas must be crazy Pacs music was an all around fukn problem and he lived one of the craziest lives imaginable
i never get the same feelin listen to any other rapper that i get from Pac……
September 20th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
u can say pac was overated cool(opinion) to say he just all around sucked cool(opinion) to say u didnt like his music cool(opinion) but to say he was not releven tand still is u crazy now u going against facts wat rapper u know got classes taught on em thas on a whole nother level and how the fuck can u say he aint relvent when his name all in yo favorite rappers music(lil wayne jay-z) TUPAC IS A LEGEND A ICON AND HAD A BIG IMPACT ON MUSIC BLACK PPL AND THE WORLD (YOU LOCAL NIGGAS WOULDNT KNOW ABOUT THAT ) AND HE HAS INPIRED A GENERATION AND WAS THE VOICE OF A GENERATION ALL THE THINGS I JUST SAID ARE FACTS SO JUST MAKE SURE U SEPERATE FACTS FROM OPINIONS NIGGAS EVERYTHINHG I SAID IN THIS POST WERE FACTS SO NON NEED TO RESPOND HATERS U CANT AARGUE FACTS