Tupac died on September 13, 1996, six days after being shot in Las Vegas. PHOTO: FILE
Twenty years after his death, Tupac still maintains a hold that is among the most enduring in recent times.
“He represented, more than anything, just that angst for people who felt oppression and poverty or felt marginalised,” said rap artist Khaled M. “He was the voice of the voiceless. Up until this day, I don’t think we have a hip-hop artist being able to replicate all of his voice, or his depth and passion.”
His emotional directness and range, from prophetically warning of his violent death to making maternal affection acceptable for a gangsta rapper, helped transcend borders.
Tupac was shot on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas, dying of his injuries six days later. His murder officially remains unsolved. Although born in New York and raised in Baltimore, he became one of the most identifiable figures in the West Coast.
He had repeated brushes with violence and went to prison in 1995 on sexual assault charges, with his Me Against the World becoming the first number one US album by a serving inmate.
Yet Tupac’s identification as a gangsta rapper came late in life. The icon entered the hip-hop world not as a tough guy but as a cheery back-up dancer and, despite the assault allegations, was a rare rapper to condemn violence against women.
Michael Jeffries, an associate professor of American Studies at Wellesley College, said Tupac possessed a dramatic flair and emotional energy like few other rappers in history. “You don’t have to speak the language fluently to understand the narrative,” he said. “He becomes a true crossover celebrity precisely at the time that money is flowing into the [hip-hop] business.”
Yet despite his global persona, few formal tributes exist for Tupac, whose mother said she spread his ashes on her North Carolina farm.
“One thing that is ironic about Tupac 20 years after his death is that you can go to a Starbucks coffee shop and hear Tupac playing on the speakers,” said Cornell University Africana Studies assistant professor Travis Gosa.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2016.
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