#ThrowbackThursday: Posthumous Tupac Picks
“Greatest Hits” Death Row/Amaru/Interscope Records by Sean Smith
On the night of September 7, 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur was shot in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had just left the MGM Grand where he watched his friend Mike Tyson defeat Bruce Seldon for the WBA Heavyweight championship, and he was on his way to celebrate at a local night club with Death Row Records head Suge Knight. As their vehicle was stopped at a red light at the corner of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, another vehicle approached with a number of men inside who opened fire on Shakur’s vehicle. He and Knight were both hit by bullets and taken to University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where Tupac Shakur would die from the injuries he sustained from the incident on September 13, 1996. The murder of Tupac Amura Shakur remains unsolved to this day.
The legacy of Tupac continues to cast a long shadow on the rap industry. He is still considered to be one of the greatest emcee’s of not just his era, but in the history of the genre. And as good of an emcee he was, he was just as talented a social commentator. in his music he spoke to such in depth issues as teen pregnancy, poverty, racial injustice, police brutality, inner-city violence, and domestic abuse to name a few. With all of the issues facing our society today, it is intriguing to think about what Tupac would have to say in his music if he were not taken from us 20 years ago. How would he have taken on the tragedies surrounding Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner, Freddie Gray, etc.? Would he address the seemingly endless “war on terror” the U.S. continues to wage around the world? What about the continued high rates of unemployment and violence occuring in our inner cities?
It may be hard to believe, but Tupac Shakur has released more music after his death than when he was alive. He released just four solo albums during his shortened life. There have been six posthumous solo albums released since his death, not including the many compilations also released featuring the late rapper. Many of these posthumous releases have included songs that have dealt with social issues. Issues that are sadly just as relevant today as they were when Tupac recorded the material. With that in mind, this week we are going to take a quick dive into three of my personal favorite socially aware posthumous singles released by Tupac Shakur.
“Unconditional Love“
This was the second posthumous single to be released, and was from his Greatest Hits compilation album. The most interesting fact about this song is that Tupac did not originally write this song for himself. He instead wrote it as a gift to his good friend MC Hammer. The only reason we have the Tupac version of the song is because he recorded a demo of it to give to Hammer who had signed to Death Row Records in 1995. While MC Hammer never released “Unconditional Love” on his own while on the Death Row label, he did record his own version of the Tupac written track on his 1998 album Family Affair on EMI Records. The song delves into a number of social topics such as poverty and violence.
Tupac Shakur
“Unconditional Love“
From: Greatest Hits
Death Row/Amaru/Interscope Records
“Ghetto Gospel”
This track was released off of his 2004 posthumous album Loyal To The Game. It was produced by Eminem and it uses a sample from the 1971 song “Indian Sunset” by Elton John. Tupac originally recorded four verses for the song, of which Eminem uses two, and takes parts of the two remaining verses for the intro and outro lyrics. The song mainly tackles the issues of children growing up in poverty and violence.
Tupac Shakur
“Ghetto Gospel”
Loyal To The Game
Amaru/Interscope Records
“Changes”
The song “Changes” is another single from his Greatest Hits compilation. Tupac originally recorded the song in 1992 while still on Interscope Records. The song features a sample of the 1986 song “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Some of the song’s lyrics borrow lines from other songs that Tupac had written, but had not yet released. The most well known song he borrowed lines from was “I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto,” which would later become the first posthumous Tupac song to be officially released. “Changes” tackles a number of issues in its lyrics, such as police brutality, the war on drugs, and poverty.
Tupac Shakur Featuring Talent
“Changes”
From: Greatest Hits
Death Row/Amaru/Interscope Records
