Only God Can Judge Him

He is the most popular rap icon in the history of the culture, a hero to misunderstood youths, a scapegoat for conservative parents, and the face gangster rap. Tupac Shakur, one of the most successful rappers in the rap industry, somehow draws the attention of many people. Wheither it's his physical appearance or his political statements, there is always a crowd eyeing his every move. But why Tupac? Why not Rakim, Nas, or Biggie Smalls? There is one quality that Tupac posses that no other rapper can emulate. It's the power to express emotion.
Tupac is not a great lyricist. By most hardcore hip hop critics, his are lyrics are often described to be somewhat basic and straightforward while other emcees such as Nas and KRS-ONE recieve acclaim for their deep poetical writing styles. But why does Tupac's albums continue to sell millions and millions of albums? The answer is emotion.
Since the beginning, I never listened Tupac. Just his hardcore image alone can cause me to judge him to be an unintellegent human being. Also, I dispised the fact the most a lot of people claim he is the best rapper, when is actually just a basic lyricisit. If I wanted original gangster rap, I would listen to rappers such as Eazy E or Ice Cube but not Tupac. For some funky reason, just recently I decided to give Tupac a shot. I watched the movie "Tupac Ressurection," and bought the compilation cd " 2pac's Greatest Hits," and my mind was blown away. My judgement is true about the lyricisim, but Tupac's emotional factor caught me off guard. I was totally drawn in by his emotional songs about his mother, dead comrades, and political turmoil. Just the song Dear Mama can cause me love Tupac. Listening to the song made me apprieciate my mother a lot more than I ever had in my whole life. Why listening to the song, I was able to remenisce about most of the significant things my mom did for me. It truly was a great song. It was the basic lyrics for easy listening, the mellow beat sample, and the emotional delievery that caused me to love this song. By listening Tupac's emotional songs, I was able withdraw all of the negative comments I made in the past. Sadly, Tupac died September 13, 1996 due to gunshots in the chest, and now lives in our memories and the unreleased songs he recorded before his death.
So before you judged Tupac to be some idiotic gangster with no morals, I suggest you listen to songs such as Dear Mama, Keep Ya Head Up, Life Goes On, and Changes. Maybe then you can change your feelings toward him like I have. It is his emotions that has caused his albums to continue sell after all these years.