Tupac was brought to life on June 16, 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was originally from Brooklyn, New York, but as he grew up, he moved from Harlem to Baltimore to Oakland. Continued movement leads Tupac to his new colony of people joining gangs, and his lengthy criminal record was developed before his productive appearance in music and films. He was imprisoned eight times before he turned twenty. Tupac's initial breakthrough came when he connected with the group Digital Underground as an artist. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During this period, Tupac spent much of his time formulating poems and lyrics to begin his career. In 1991 he signed with Interscope Records and a year later released his first album 2Pacalypse Now, which immediately vaulted him into "gangster" rap fame. Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Nearly all of the messages in Tupac's songs focused on inner-city brutality and poverty, racism, and other social issues. Several people in his family, including his parents, were affiliated with the Black Panther Party, whose values he imitated in his songs. Toward the end of his career, Shakur was a vocal member during the East Coast-West Coast hip hop battle, becoming embroiled in issues with other rappers, producers, and record label staffers, most notably The Notorious B.I.G. and his label, Bad Boy Records. Not only did he have a career in music, Shakur was also an actor, starring in six films and a TV show in the 1990s, including Poetic Justice (1993), Gang Related (1997), and Gridlock'd (1997). On October 7, 1996, Shakur was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, by Suge Knight; he died from his injuries six days later. "Dear Mama" is a single by American hip hop artist 2Pac, released on February 21, 1995, as the first hit single from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). This hit single is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. In this song, Tupac describes his adolescence and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine, but insists that his affection and deep respect for his mother supersede the bad flashbacks. The song topped the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart for five consecutive weeks and also reached the top. at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. By July 13, 1995, the single was certified platinum by the RIAA. "Dear Mama" has often been rated among the best of its genre, making its presence on various "greatest hits" lists. In 2010, the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry added this song to its collection, which deemed its artwork to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important and/or informs or reflects life in the United States." In a press release, the institution called the song "a moving and eloquent tribute both to the murdered rapper's mother and to all mothers who struggle to support a family despite addiction, poverty and social indifference." mother and in many methods for women and mothers growing up in difficult areas around the world. The refined harmonies, melodies and rhythmic preferences suggest the softer contact that Tupac is attempting to create in this, one of his lightest and most delicate works. The choice of a 70s blues/funk guitar and a digital organ speaks of a bygone time and the basic sound ofmelody that his mother would have listened to, perhaps this sound represents reminiscences of the songs of Tupac's youth and his mother's musical. influences on him. This is reinforced by the 70s sounding backing singers who fill the story of the chorus and the male light tenor voice featured in the chorus. These elements combine with Tupac's lyrics to create not only a tribute song to his mother, but also a song she should be proud of and feel comfortable listening to. The second introduction opens with delicate harmonic tones with an almost ghostly resonance that fades from the background as a digital organ plays a simple rhythmic melody. A spoken introduction by Tupac's mother comes to the top. She talks about being pregnant in the detention center and being released right before Tupac was born. We hear some hints of the beat via reverberated pops as he finishes his monologue, the melody crescendos as Tupac enters with the lyrics. A brilliant crash of the cymbals introduces the rhythm composed of not only the pops but also the cymbal, snare and bass in a stylish way. Accent pattern 2-4 with an eighth observation sample on the plates. The beat is barely wavered as it hangs near the end of the beat, however, it sounds very tight on the beat compared to the sense of syncopation and delay of Tupac's backbeat. At 23 seconds the introduction of a guitar to the melodic layers with a very blues/funk tone. This is an allusion to the "Sadie" music which is not only sampled in this track but is also in many ways the template for this piece. The guitar takes over the melodic core as the melody slowly develops. At about forty-three seconds the beat stops as Tupac comes to a poignant moment in the lyrics with “It was once hell/hugging on my momma from reformatory cell” and then at forty-five seconds the beat returns with a pop and drops. back into its familiar rhythm. This continues until about 1:20 when we enter the chorus for the first time and are added to the historical singers who sound as if they are electronically adjusted to pick up the Concord lines while a lone singer approaches the beginning with the melody line and sings the chorus as Tupac enters occasionally with spoken rhythmic interjections. At 1:38 we drop into the second verse after a break in the rhythm with a slight decrescendo across the board. This is accentuated by the elimination of the guitar vocals and a return to the soundscape we observed ourselves in at the beginning of the first verse. The guitar voice returns around 1:48 and the climbs come back to the fore as our predominant melodic voice. At 2:42 the beat stops once again as we get to the end of the second verse and returns as we get into the background singers and vocalists we know. At 4:00, as we approach the final chorus, the pace becomes extremely extra. distinct in that it occupies almost the intermediate phase. We finally get to hear the full beat of the background singers as we can hear the fluctuation of their voice naturally as an alternative to the electronic sampling we heard previously. The layers alternate in the middle phase and then fade away and occasionally fall away completely as we repeat the chorus countless times and the melody fades away. Tupac's experience with the classic "black" song in this tribute to his mother is more than evident with his approach and determination of the instruments, although he puts his own modern twist on it by sampling historical singers instead of having actual singers in the song. This fine attention to detail must have meant a lot to both Tupac and his mother as it is clear from the production value that this track required.
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