GFUNK In Yo Trunk: 2Pac Must Be Rolling Over In His Grave...

I am going to try and stay as calm as possible when writing this entry. “Try” being the operative word, and right now, I do not think I’m going to succeed for long. As everyone knows, I am a self-professed Tupac whore. His brilliance and impact on society, music, and culture has long been documented by countless people, including some of the most brilliant minds of our times. Nikki Giovanni, multiple award winner, poet, professor, and icon has “Thug Life” tattooed on her forearm paying homage to him, just to serve as a single example. I taught school for three years and had a poster of Tupac hanging on the wall of my classroom the entire time, much to the dismay of my principals. My thinking was simple,: fuck y’all, he’s a genius (so, again, fuck y'all).

Tupac is the man who had a barbecue in LA where he invited rival gang leaders to discuss the violence and issues present in that community. They showed up, met, talked, and above all came up with a list of rules that would be put in place to continue their enterprises while simultaneously making the community safer for civilians. In the end, there are pictures that surfaced showing where some of these bangers even traded colors to signify their agreements. Do most fans know this story? Not in my experience. Was this a major news story? No. Did Tupac do this for the attention? No. It was just something he realized needed to happen, so he did it.

Beyond the albums and videos, beyond the repeated acts of violence that were unfortunately the downfall to this brilliant man, Tupac was simply a force to be reckoned with. I don’t think there is a single hip hop head that doesn’t have love for him. I don’t think there is a single person who can say they love the music but hate him. I just don’t understand how that could be in the realm of possibility. Tupac was the physical manifestation of hip hop’s soul. Everyone might not see that, but I do, and I know what the fuck I’m talking about.

With all that being said, I am now going to approach a subject that literally has my blood boiling. There is a song that has been released within the past month or so entitled “Tupac Back” by one Meek Mill and his boss, Ross. Reading the title made me just shake my head and wonder what in the fuck these fools are thinking. So, I purposely didn’t listen. In light of some other news to be discussed at a later date, I decided today to give it a listen. Needless to say, I am so irate at the sheer balls of these two idiots that I cannot contain myself. Meek Mill is a fucking joke. I watched a UStream of Wale in the studio and turned the damn thing off because he was in the camera spitting his garbage lyrics that a fucking toddler could have written in one of those big ass crayons. I know that every single time he started spitting his shit, the comments on the board would go from shout outs and love at Wale to people telling this man to get off the fucking camera, quit rapping, because he sucks. And now he has the gumption to have a track with Rick Ross (who we’ll discuss in greater depth in an upcoming post), where these two proclaim that THEY have people saying “Tupac Back” makes me wonder if these two assholes even understand who Tupac was.

I listened to maybe a minute of the song, MAYBE, and I know that the lyrical content of that bullshit was just saying “Tupac Back” and then adding the obligatory references to violence, prison, and booze, which is all these two seem to think Tupac represented. Not only is this detestable and an abomination, it is highly disrespectful to the memory of a great man. Between the Langston Hughes inspired “Dear Mama” and the social commentary regarding teen pregnancy in “Brenda’s Got A Baby” along with many, many others, Tupac proved himself to be more than what the media portrayed him as representing. Those individuals like Delores Tucker who campaigned against hip hop and cited hip hop lyrics as representing everything that these two individuals seem to think Tupac stood for. Meek Mill and Rick Ross have no concept of who Tupac was if all they can do is say “Tupac Back” 20 times in the first minute of the fucking garbage song they have created. I typically don’t attack artists here and attempt to just give my opinion on various things; however, if anyone knows Rick Ross or Meek Mill, tell them this, they are NOT fit to hold Tupac’s used condoms. Not only is their music shoddy at best, but this latest stunt they’ve pulled referring to themselves Tupac is dog shit. Rick Ross, keep finding artists like Wale who have the lyrical capacity to make your MMG label actually decent. Meek Mill, sorry to shit on your dreams, but hip hop just ain’t for you. Everyone’s not meant to be a rapper, and this most definitely includes you. Know your limits, and keep Tupac’s name out of that pitiful mouth you spit from.

There is another insult to Tupac’s memory and body of work that has recently surfaced. When I told The Brain about it, this was called blasphemy. Besides being a hip hop legend and activist, Tupac was also a phenomenal actor. I have heard a few “movie guys” who know the craft and art of movie production and acting say that the talent Tupac displayed led them to believe that had his life not been prematurely taken from us; he could have very easily won an Academy Award. This statement was based on his appearance in the movie Juice where he played Bishop. Tupac became Bishop so fully that I believe that it was one of the contributing factors to his demise. (Think of how Heath Ledger became the Joker and it eventually killed him.) Tupac embodied this character and made us love him and hate him. Most hip hop stars don’t act very well, Tupac was the exception.

So imagine my outrage when I heard that none other than Soulja Boy will be playing Bishop in the remake of Juice. This one hit wonder is going to attempt to fill the shoes Tupac left. Fucking outrageous. I know that there is some movie producer who is saying “we need another gangster rapper for the part of Bishop like that TooPack Shakker. My daughter likes this guy Soldier Boy, what about him.” Blasphemous. I don’t know what else I can say, I’m dumbfounded. There’s been a lot of head scratching and shrugging in my attempt to figure out how the fuck this happened. Truth is, I don’t have a clue. All I know is, that type of ignorance cannot be bliss.

To me, Tupac ranks up there with Martin, Malcom, Gandhi, and Jesus. Not everyone feels this way, I realize. However, everyone needs to at the very least respect him. Meek Mill, Rick Ross, and whatever dumbass put Soulja Boy as Bishop clearly do not respect the man because if they did there is no way they would completely piss all over his name by committing the aforementioned atrocities. Someone needs to get slapped for this shit.

Gahbage.

GFUNK