Denmark Vesey: THE TUPAC HYPOCRISY

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

THE TUPAC HYPOCRISY

Casper said...

Notice the difference...

Tupac They Dont Give A Fuc about us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAJi7aOg4QQ&mode=related&search=
paul said...: Love that pac youtube video above. Imagine the affect THAT would have if they played THAT on BET/MTV. They are too scared to play/approve a video like that. It's not destructive to the Black community...it's revolutionary to the Black community.; DV said, "He has latched onto the rather droll idea that Hip Hop is the pathogen causing societal illness in the black community and Rappers are the pied pipers of of dysfunction"

It's not the pathogen, but it damn near is adding fuel to the already raging fire.

LOL. That's cute. It never ceases to crack me up, how the current crop of Rap Haters bend over backwards in praise of Tupac while blaming everything from gun violence to tooth decay on today's rap icons.

15 years ago Tupac appeared on MTV ... high ... with a clearly visible .9mm Glock tucked into the waistband of his pants, right below the "ThugLife" tattoo.

Could you imagine if Fiddy or Jay or Nas did that today?

In 1993 Tupac shot two off-duty Atlanta Cops ... in the ass ... and beat the charges.

Could you imagine if Fiddy or Jay or Nas did that today?

Tupac raps included lyrics referencing money bitches and ho's and guns and gangs and killing and cops and drugs. Sure there was Dear Momma and Brenda's Got A Baby.

However, the deconstructed lyrical content from today's power house rappers really is not much different. In fact ... it is an extension of what Tupac was doing. Just as what Tupac rapped about was an extension of the outlaw / revolutionary / pimp / hustler black icons of the 60's and 70's.

Yet the naive HYPOCRISY of today's rap haters blinds them to the logical extension of Tupac to Nas to Fiddy to Whomever is next. It also blinds them to the forces that feared Tupac also fear 50 and Jay.

Today's Rap icons must navigate a different world and a different time than what Tupac had to navigate. The music is probably 15% of what they do. It's time for the manipulated Rap Haters to stop acting like a pack of jealous hyenas ... step back ... and view the big picture.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...: I agree wholeheartedly on the "2pacrisy"! I was just listening to Pac in the car recently. I chuckled as I listened and thought about some of the people in the Blogosphere. I wont name names....J. (We still cool though, I see it as an internal battle LOL).; May 22, 2007, 3:57:00 PM
Anonymous said...: If it makes you two feel better about your argument to suggest that Fiddy and Tupac are on the same planet than go right ahead. It speaks volumes of your knowledge of the genre and the difference in the collective messages delivered by each artist.

When was the last time Fiddy create a video with black political activist. No he is busy selling bottled water... While licking Iovines lolipop in the candy shop.

Intellects???; May 22, 2007, 4:15:00 PM
Denmark Vesey said...: LOL. I'm sorry Casper, what you say? I couldn't hear you over Tupac blasting in the background.

"So I FUCKED YOUR BITCH
You fat MOTHERFUCKA {Take Money}
West Side
Bad Boy Killers {Take Money}
You know who the realist is
NIGGAS we bring it to you {Take Money}
(ha ha, that's alright)

First off, FUCK your BITCH
And the click you claim
West side when we ride
Come equipped with game
You claim to be a playa
But, I FUCKED your wife
We BUST on Bad Boys
NIGGAS FUCKED for Life"

Tupac Shakur; May 22, 2007, 4:40:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Casper, I wont be sucked in to the debate but I will say this.

If you are too blind to see that 2Pac is guilty of the same "sins" that you take 50 CENT, et al. to task for, than plainly, YOURE AN FUCKING IDIOT, and there's no sense in any further exchange.

What's worse, now that I think of it, your an INCONSISTENT IDIOT. That's simply unbearable.; May 22, 2007, 4:40:00 PM
Anonymous said...: 50 Cent
"I remember hearing [Rakim's] music way back — Paid in Full. I mean, Rakim was way ahead of his time when he came out. To me, him and KRS-One were the best rappers. He was able to stay street-orientated while maintaining being intelligent. He was a Five Percenter [a member of the Five Percent Nation, a black religious and social group founded in the late 1960s], he would add that to his music. The music just sounded really intelligent, with some of the terminology that they used. They studied their lessons so they speak a certain way, and they were able to put it into his music and make him appear a lot more intelligent than the other artists that were out there just rappin'. Everything about [Rakim], his whole swagger — he gave birth to Nas, damn near. Nas is dope, [too]."

http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index15.jhtml; May 22, 2007, 4:41:00 PM
Anonymous said...: DV, I couldnt hear for the Makaveli playin' over here. LOL.

Shoot first, look at they head burst bleedin
Don't want to hear no shit this evenin, believe me
We, bomb first when we ride
Please, reconsider 'fo you die
G's, and thug niggaz on the rise
Plan-plot-strategize, and bomb first
We, bomb first when we ride
Please, reconsider 'fo you die
G's, and thug niggaz on the rise
Plan-plot-strategize, and bomb first

Let us pray my nigga
cause we definetly have sinned; May 22, 2007, 4:46:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Robyn,
The argument has never been what I think is good for mature adults. Although DV attempts to implicate some of us as hating rap. You have never read anyone state that. Have you?? Right so he continues to attempt to negate our opinions with Fox News tactics. The real debate is whether certain individuals (single parent teengage black youth maybe) of our community can discern the meaning/serious nature of their role models lyrics. Now Tupac unfortunately is no longer with us so he is not included in the debate of gansta lyrics today. Since his death the gansta play in the streets of Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, L.A. are off the charts. But I think that you would agree that Tupac displayed more social conscious ability in his distributed lyrics during his life than Fiddy or Snoop have in their careers thus far. That's all Paul and I were saying before Mr. Bill twisted it, once again. If you see the video... You will get our point.

BTW.I thought you were tired of this topic ;); May 22, 2007, 4:56:00 PM
Anonymous said...: ha ha....jealous hyenas? I guess you inferred the hyena part from the fact that what you said was real funny. I don't know where you got the jealous part because I'm far from a rap hater. I grew up on rap. 75% of what I listen to TODAY is rap. It's not a personal attack on 50. I'm happy for any brother that can turn a negative (getting locked up for selling drugs) into a positive (successful business owner). He broke the cycle of poverty. Hell, his mother was a drug dealer and was murdered. That's not the way we need to go. I'm proud of my brothers: 50, Jay-Z, TI, Biggie, Snoop, Young Jeezy and Young Buck. All were former drug dealers and are now making legal money. That's a few less brothers we have to worry about loosing to legal slavery being caged like an animal for the love and need of a quick buck. I applaud that.

I just want more diversity in rap MSM. Unfortunately and sadly rap MSM is helping to influence an entire generation of young Black males and it's having a negative affect. DV, you amaze me by praising how powerful rap is but failing to realize the powerful negative impact it's having on our youth. I love my community and I don't like the direction it's headed. You say all the present leaders are plantation negroes loving massa. I just think it would be great (considering how powerful rap is) to have a present day Black leader/rapper who was not a plantation negro. Say what you want about Pac, but you can't say he was a plantation negro. Pac was becoming a revolutionary leader. Pac was just starting to see the light when he was assassinated at the young age of 25. Pac was playing chess to get the masses of people to listen to him. His message was just to starting to get out there.

DV said Tupac shot off-duty Atlanta cops....Hell yea!!!! he was packing (which is our constitutional right) and was sick of the police brutality and harassment that has plagued young Blacks. He "beat the charges" because he was defending an innocent motorist against two drunk crooked cops who were armed with stolen guns from an evidence locker.

DV said "15 years ago Tupac appeared on MTV ... high." Who cares? I think it's BS that alcohol and cigs are legal but not marijuana. It's political. We all know the gov't doesn't give a shit about our health. I'm all for legalizing marijuana. Robyn check this pic out...ha ha

http://thumbsnap.com/v/kdeowprL.jpg

Before you judge and humorously try to compare Pac with 50 and label me a hypocrite, study and analyze Pac's movement called "Thug Life."

"Thug Life became a calling card for how Shakur viewed his influence on society. He had people from all walks of life -- criminals in jail and poor black kids in the ghetto -- wanting to know how they could be a part of his movement. Shakur admitted this sudden power he had over people frightened him. But he used the idea of Thug Life to transform the desires of these people into something he viewed as positive, a way to reach out to the poor, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed."

Wow...he was just starting to realize the power Hip Hop gave him! Sorry, 50 is no Pac.; May 22, 2007, 8:01:00 PM
Michael Fisher said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; May 22, 2007, 8:44:00 PM
Michael Fisher said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; May 22, 2007, 8:46:00 PM
Michael Fisher said...: Oh Lawd.

None of you understand why Tupac was marketed as "TUPAC".

I can't blame ya, but here is the real story.

It is the early nineties. "Conscious", militant Hip Hop still reigns. And while Gangsta in the form of NWA has finally made some major inroads, it has, by far, not yet won the day.

In order to make Gangsta palatable to the legions of Hip Hop fans who grew up on conscious,militant, Hip Hop one the one hand, and party Hip Hop on the other Gangsta had to be packaged as "revolutionary".

The first move that was made in this direction was the recording of Ice Cube's debut album.

PE's bomb squad were engaged as producers and the album was named "Amerikkka's Most Wanted"

The association with "revlutionary" Hip Hop, that is PE, gave "Gangsta" immedediate credibility as "black rebell" music. Which, of course, it was not.

They took the whole thing a step further with Tupac. Given his mom Afeni's Panther background they could erect legend as a kind of black radical James Dean around Tupac and, via he "revolutionary" trimmings introduce the Thug aspect as a "genuine" aspect of black revolutionary culture.

Of course, once again, that was bullshit.

Chuck D wrote Tupac a letter while he was waiting for Pac to join a tour "Amerikkka's Most Wanted" which yours truly conceived, produced and executed.

In the letter he warned Tupac about what they were doing with him and how they were using him. Pac answered the letter but never sent it of. It was published after his death.

Pac knew what they were doing and how they were using him to introduce Gangsta into the mainstream. He made the conscious decison to take the money.

I spoke with Pac at length about the possibility of that happening while he was on trial in NYC on the rape charges.

He knew. But he wanted that paper.

He got a little bit of that and more.

C'est la vie, c'est la morte.; May 22, 2007, 8:48:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Mike, I've been laying in the cut trying to digest your posts. After many weeks, unfortunately, I'm still at name dropping mixed with a few instances of patting one's self on the back. Perhaps I'm missing something, indeed I felt this was initially. But now, not so much.; May 22, 2007, 8:54:00 PM
Anonymous said...: ...indeed I felt this "way" initially.....; May 22, 2007, 8:56:00 PM
Michael Fisher said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; May 22, 2007, 9:12:00 PM
Michael Fisher said...: Robyn.

Let me explain this once more. This is not about "name dropping", it's about authenticity.

"name dropping" would suggest that I am looking for some kind of respect or acknowledgment from some folks who basically are avatars.

It also suggests that I write my blog for some esoteric narcissistic reason.

If you look at my very first post and read it, you'll understand that I am doing this for a very specific reasons.

Now it is very hard to get folks who have no idea of what they are talking about to understand certain things unless you let hem know that one does know what one is talking about.

That's especially the case in the entertainment industry which is built as a mind-screwing machine.

Remember, that's all the music, movie, and tv industry is: a dream factory.

Thus I put certain things in the context of real events.

Now, these folks like Tupac, Chuck, Russell, etc. are folks I worked with on a daily. The fact that I did so, certainly does not impress my peers, nor would they consider it name-dropping.

It's just a fact of life and work.

Either you want to hear what really went on, or you want to continue to live this manufactured fantasy.

If you wanna hear what really happened, you gonna have to hear the "names dropping".; May 22, 2007, 9:14:00 PM
achali said...: i don't see too much difference in everyone's comments. i do see defensiveness though.

tupac was both. he sold a part of himself no question. in that sense he is very much like 50 cent, jay, et al.

but he had a very honest part of himself that he seemed to articulate whenever possible and that's why we love him and put him "on high" above the current crop.

he wasn't as clear as chuck or KRS, albeit he wasn't as lost as 50 and Jay.

one last point we must always differentiate "hip hop" and its history and evolution from "the hip hop industry" and its history and evolution. they cross paths and intermingle but are not the same things.

check out www.liberatormagazine.com; May 30, 2007, 2:33:00 PM