NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
What if you knew what you were exactly placed on this earth to do? For some, that’s the feeling we get when you think about Tupac Shakur. The man had a tireless work ethic that would force people to believe he knew how much time he had on this earth and he damn sure made the most of it.
Pac died at the tender at of 25 but looking over his body of work, you would think he lived well into his 50s. The man was a machine. Pac completed 5 solo albums (while alive), shot 6 movies he starred in, hit a few TV shows, and did this all before his 25th birthday. At an age when most of us are still trying to figure out our direction in life, this man was blazing a trail no other rapper will ever match.
Back then, what he was doing was unheard of. Dropping that many albums in a short period is what rappers do today. That’s how far ahead of everyone Pac was. Think about Biggie in his brief Hip Hop run, he dropped just 2 albums. While one was a double CD, Pac also dropped a double CD.
That’s right, name another rapper who can mirror Tupac. But what if? What if he never went to that Vegas fight? What if the shooters missed? Where would Tupac be right now? It’s hard to pinpoint his career path but in a sense, we sorta knew exactly where he was going.
Was/Is Tupac Bigger Than Hip Hop
As far as music, Pac would have grown like no other rapper before or after him. What made him so appealing to the masses was his ability to change like a Chameleon. The once backup dancer for Digital Underground dropped thought-proving music with “Brenda’s Got A Baby.” Hit you with laughter with “I Get Around”, then showed his dark side with “Hit ‘Em Up.”
Say whatever you will regarding his pen game but hell, how many rappers will ever compare to Biggie Smalls when it comes to skills? Pac was different. There was no one to compare him to. He was easily in a lane of his own.
If he kept going, would he have become the biggest-selling artist ever? Hell yes. Pac fans came out in droves. As big as Jay is on the business side of things, Pac would have been right there with him. Even with his subject matter and personality probably as a roadblock, he also had the “it” factor that could not only pull people in but bring people together on one common goal.
And the man was only 25 years old. He didn’t live long enough to learn the game or the system that he was constantly fighting. Pac did things his way and on his terms.
Here’s what’s funny regarding the East vs West beef. The West had his back all the way. Biggie was not allowed there. However, Pac was still beloved in the East. He had that charisma you just couldn’t deny for too long. Eventually, he would win you over. 25, that’s it, he was still a kid.
Tupac was shooting movies before it became a thing of the norm for Hollywood to accept rappers into their world. And not just any rapper, he was the rapper they did not want their kids listening to. He was the one America was afraid of. He had the drive to change things. The man came from a Black Panther background.
There are rappers who when you think of them, instantly click with Hip Hop. Rakim, Jay Z, Run, Big Daddy Kane, and more. But Pac, was bigger than Hip Hop. That’s because we knew him but did not know him at the same time. Hip Hop was going wherever he took it. He had that large of a persona. Think of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. The Nation was already huge but Malcolm came in and made it bigger. Almost too big. He outgrew it. Pac was the same way. Hip Hop was here before him but somehow, he surpassed it.
Whether he died because he decided to stay in the role of Bishop should not matter. There are college courses named after him. Nowadays, the amount of money you have adds to the intrigue of a rapper. But for Pac, it wasn’t about the money, it was the man. Tupac was indeed a legend.
