Tupac Amaru Shakur: A Good or Bad Influence?
“One thing we all adore is something worth fighting for.”
-Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996)
“Is Tupac a good or bad influence?” is a rather controversial question. Most people would say he is a bad influence; however, some would say he is a good influence. How could he be considered a good influence when he associated himself with drugs and violence? How could he be considered a bad influence when he was so intelligent? Which position should be taken?
To decide which position should be taken, we must, first know what defines a good and bad influence. A good influence, generally, is a person that strives to get what they want, shows respect to women, and is rather intelligent. A bad influence is, generally, one that associates himself/herself with drugs, gangs, or weapons, and usually disrespects women in one way or another. Most people are conclusively considered one or the other; however, Tupac is hard to be put in one of the two categories because of his lifestyle as well as the change in his life from the beginning to the end.
Tupac grew up without a father, and his mother had to, single-handedly, take care of him. He started out his career with Digital Underground, with the look of being the next “gangsta rapper”. He started out with songs that talked about violence, gangs, stealing, and selling drugs. Such songs include “Trapped” and “The Lunatic”. Slowly, as time went on, he started talking less about drugs and violence and went on to songs like “Me Against the World” and “Only God Can Judge Me”. These songs talked more about getting what you want on your own without worrying about what others thought/said. This shows the change he made with his life, starting out as a “thug” and going to a man that had an intelligent side who respected women.
How could Tupac be considered a bad influence when he is so intelligent? Well, everyone says to look at the tattoo on his chest. It spells out THUG LIFE. Most people just assumed that it meant he was a proud thug; however, it was actually a rather meaningful acronym, but no one ever really took the time to consider that it could be something meaningful. “But he associated himself with selling drugs,” is what everyone that believed he is a bad influence says. The only reason he did this was to make money so he could feed himself. “What about the guns?” they all say. Well, the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights gives us all the freedom to bear arms. Look at all of the people with the license to carry a concealed weapon. Most of those people got the license to protect themselves in the case of an emergency, and they’re not looked down upon. So, why should Tupac be? Maybe he was simply trying to do the exact same thing.
How could he be considered a good influence when he associated himself with drugs and violence? First off, let’s look at one of his many quotes. He said, “Let me say for the record, I am not a gangster and never have been. I’m not the thief who grabs your purse. I’m not the guy that jacks your car. I’m not down with the people who steal and hurt others. I’m just a brother that fights back.” Right there, he is confirming that he never meant for his image to get to what it did. He is simply saying he wasn’t afraid to rebel when he felt that a “rebellion” was needed. Well, the first reason is that he respected women. Look at the lyrics to the song “Keep Ya Head Up”. He tells women that if you’re being mistreated by a man, you should get rid of him; furthermore, he says men don’t have the right to mistreat women in any way. Secondly, he says you have to do stuff on your own and, no matter what happens, you have to push through it. One of his many quotes that supports this is, “I know it seems hard sometimes, but you’ve got to stick your chest out, keep your head up, and handle it.” Thirdly, Tupac was always promoting intelligence and using logic to outsmart people. An example of this is when he said, “You’ve got to make your mind strong.” Right there, he’s saying you have to be intelligent to do anything. He also wrote a poem titled In the Event of my Demise. In this poem, he is promoting using logic, telling you to die for a principle; don’t die for no reason. Another quote, if not his most famous, that promotes logic is, “If you can’t find something to live for, you’d BEST find something to die for.” This man was very intelligent and attempted to tell people that they need to be as well.
So, what is my opinion? Do I think Tupac is a good or bad influence? Tupac associated himself with drugs and violence. He associated himself with THUG LIFE. Both of these, generally, make someone a horrible influence; however, he was a very intelligent man. I believe this man was an excellent influence on the youth then and now. The rules of life are still the same, and he tried to explain them. The things he tried to get people to understand then still can be applied to life in today’s society. What things? Well, for one, the fact that you need to be intelligent to get anywhere in life. Another thing is you have to push yourself to get what you want. Yet another thing is the simple fact that you should do whatever it takes to obtain what you want, no matter what others say/do to try and stop you from getting it.
A commonly asked, very controversial question is, “Was Tupac Amaru Shakur a good or bad influence?” Most people would say he was one of the worst influences because of the picture of him that comes to their minds. They, generally, see him with all of his tattoos, with a gun in his waist, and with marijuana in his hand. They never see the intellectual side of him. They never see him with a book in his hand or with a diploma; they always see him with a gun or marijuana in his hand. Because that’s the picture that comes to their mind, they see him as a bad influence, but was he really a bad influence? Rather than being a bad influence, was he a good influence?
“During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams.”
-Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996)
