Preview

"Changes" by Tupac Shakur.

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
275 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
"Changes" by Tupac Shakur.
In the song titled "Changes" By Tupac Shakur social stresses of the black race in America is discussed and brought to the attention of the masses. Tupac explains how the situation of blacks in America has become bleak and why it is so difficult to change the situation

African Americans today living in the inner city, live in re-occurring violence and have endured this type of lifestyle for decades. This societal problem affected Tupac through out his life in a negative way. Because of this, he feels the need to express his frustrations and make others aware of the struggle that many blacks endure.

There are many uses of imagery throughout the song, mostly pertaining to life growing up in the ghetto; "We gotta start makin' changes, learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers." It is also apparent that Tupac feels animosity towards the police; "Cops give a damn about a negro, pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero. Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares, one less hungry mouth on the welfare." This is more than likely the due to negative experiences with law enforcement.

Tupac gives the impression that changes need to be made, but he is only one man and can not carry the entire black community to change. These changes need to be made as a whole. This song was written in the late 90's while Tupac Shakur was at the peak of his music career. Soon after he was assasinated in a gang shoot out in California. This song has grown in popularity since Tupacs death, as much of his other works

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tupac amaru shukur expresses his feeling, thoughts and ideas by talking about what he's recently seen in society which is more or less about discrimination, poverty and prejudices. He also talks about how much he hates life that's why he uses a rhetorical question at the start which makes the listener want to join in. In the songs he implies he doesn't like being black because he thinks that black people get a lot of grief from society or that because they black they stand out and that people keep perving on them.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tupac Rhetorical Analysis

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The controlling message in Tupac’s rhymes was the strength of the black man and the inability of his will to be broken. Tupac having been involved in gangs and drug pedaling as a young man knew the temptations of such actions and hated that his race was subjected to…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Prior to examining Tupac Shakur’s developmental factors and major conflicts in his personality, there was first an investigation of his historical background. According to Makaveli.com, Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996) was a highly influential, best-selling American hip hop artist, considered by many to be one of the greatest and most legendary rappers of all time. The themes in Tupac’s music concerned growing up around violence, hardships in ghettos, racial inequality, and sometimes his feuds with fellow rappers in the United States. MTV’s 22 Greatest MCs countdown also listed Tupac as their number 1 MC, as voted by the viewers.” Understanding the origin someone’s of names and how they got…

    • 3110 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hip hop culture in general has nurtured a dualism within messages sent by lyrics. Nowhere was this duality more evident than the music of Tupac Shakur. As music reflected his reality and at times he’d reference women with derogatory terms, however he showed a level of responsibility with songs such as “Dear Mama” and “Brenda’s got a baby”. The lack of respect was noticed by many. Stress and the need to make a hit increased, he became a sex symbol along with a flock of “haters” trying to kill him. The flirtation with the materialistic trappings that the RAP game has to offer. “Forced laughter”(Shock-G), it was that Tupac was unhappy and this was speaks through his…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article, “Tupac and My Non –Thug Life the author of this article Jenee Desmonc-Harris writes about how a young California girl was so affected by Tupac’s death. She remembers rushing home from school crying about Tupac’s death. She was so influence by him she really loved him and was a huge fan. She knew him on a personal level which may have been way she was influenced. Listening to Tupac made the girl so proud of African American culture. She and her friend were valued Tupac’s music so much, after his death they tattooed a song lyric of his. They mourned Tupac’s death. She felt strongly grateful about his music, as she even mentioned, “his music represents the years when I was both forced and privileged to confront what it meant to be black.”…

    • 427 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Was Tupac A Hero

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tupac’s music plays a big role in pop culture. His music was heard by millions of people, and have moved many. The music he wrote and the things he would rap about was the real things. He never “sugar coated” his life growing up. In his music he talks about…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some of the things that motivate people to change are Equality. To me that means people not wanted to be treated like second class citizen. Inclusion, in this case it's the black community they don’t want to be left out they want to have the same opportunities that we have in this countrie. Oppression, this means people to be treated unfairly for unjust reason that they can’t control.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    But that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted.” (Krishnamurthy.) This is not the only song that makes a person over think, the song “I Wonder If Heaven Has a Ghetto” entire four minutes has your head spinning not understanding whether a scene is a hidden message. Example, in the beginning of the music video you hear gunshots and he wakes up six days later inside of a resort infirmary. The video goes on and an old looking man comes to pick him up, on the radio it starts to blast, “breaking news on Tupac’s shooting” and then immediately shut down. Many people are shocked to see him, but there is also people who he runs into and they are not surprised and act natural, especially a young female that appeared to look like his wife was just glad he came…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many rap songs in the 1990’s were influenced by the brutal attack on a man named Rodney King and the riots that followed the verdict of not guilty of the police officers that were the attackers. In one article they said, “Rap acquired considerable power as a voice of resistance.” (Bohlman) People listened to this music to resist. The rappers made this music so people would understand what was happening in “their” world. One song by Digital Underground f/ Biz Markie called The Odd Couple, for instance, mentioned King in the song by saying, “But look what they did to that man Rodney King, they beat him, and stomped him, like a bunch of grapes/When I seen him, he looked like the Planet of the Apes.” In that lyric they mentioned the fact that King…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sociology

    • 3041 Words
    • 13 Pages

    > Initially intended for the lower class Black communities, his songs were appreciated by members of all races and classes. In the essay I will try to explain the concepts of authority, sub-culture, roles, social-class and class-consciousness; I will then apply these concepts to the lyrics of My Block.…

    • 3041 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    New racism has brought an increase in global economy. Wealth and poverty continue to be racialized with people of color disproportionally poor. The local government, regional, and national government don’t have the option to shape racial policies. Although racial segregation practices have not been in practice yet people of color are sill at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Ideology of the new racism is greatly influenced through mass media. Being a colored person, it is already expected that majority of colored people are to be ghetto and living in poverty. Many of the mainstream music are artist who are black rapping about being brought up in the ghettos and rapping about what challenges they faced as a colored person, for example, Tupac Shakur quoted “I got nothin’ to lose-it’s me just me…

    • 326 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tupac Amuru Shakur or better known by his stage name 2Pac was an American rapper and actor who came to fame in the 80’s-90’s era. Both Tupac’s mother and father were active members of the “Black Panthers”. Shakur’s parents were very outspoken and tenacious individuals, although they divorced during Tupac’s younger years both of their qualities can be seen through Tupac’s words and actions. From an early age Shakur was surrounded by struggle and relatives who were imprisoned, this plays a big role in his works or literature. Tupac can be seen as one of the pioneers of “controversial rap”. Most of his works shed light on current events in the African American community. He mostly spoke of the wrong doings of young African American’s and also the mistreating of young African American’s by society during this time (80’s-90’s).…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bibliography: Forman, Murray. “Conscious Hip Hop, and the Obama Era”. American Studies Journal 54 (2010): n. pag. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.…

    • 3445 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    In verse two he uses rain as reference to his current situation. ‘You know it's funny when it rains it pours”(2pac). Meaning when bad things happen other more difficult situations seem to occur at the same time. Another figurative language that he uses are Idioms. He doesn't have that much , but he is trying to make it the best way he can. “I'm trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cent” (2pac). One of most interesting part of this song is when he talks about blaming his mother for turning his brother into a crack baby. “We ain't meant to survive , cause it's a setup” (2pac). Which goes in to explain that the government want the black community to…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music Lyrics being NON-VIOLENT Rap music can be considered a style of art, and a way for the artists to express feelings through their words on paper. However, there are quite a few rap artists that get criticized for their lyrics. In my essay, I want to discuss why rappers use certain lyrics in their music and why people shouldn’t believe that it causes violence among the younger generations. People shouldn’t censor the music just because of violent, vulgar and abusive messages it promotes to the world. I believe in my own mind, that there is a reason for these types of lyrics that rap artists use and I will simply explain those reasons in this essay. Rap has been called one of the most important music forces to emerge in two decades. It’s pounding beats and staccato rhymes exploded on the streets of the urban America in the early 1980s and since have become the theme music and lyrical heart of the vibrant youth culture called hip-hop ( SIRS 1993). There are many different types of rap artist. There are some that talk about money, some talk about righteousness, and the list goes on and on. Every rap artist had their own way of expressing themselves. There are those that talk about sex, drugs, and violence who receive the negative attention( SIRS 1993). People, think this so- called gangster rap is a bad influence on children in the world and that it promotes violence and that it also is abusive to women. Delores Tucker, head of national congress of black women has been among those pressuring different record companies to stop distributing gangster rap music. There were other significant names that participated in this action. Names like Senate Majority leader Bob dole, and former education Secretary William J. Bennett(Surveys, pg. 1). There are some rap artists that have been openly criticized for their lyrics. Rappers like Lil Kim, Too Short, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and a member from “Too Live Crew,” named Luke Skywalker. These rap artists in the past have been…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays