Changes Tupac Analysis

946 Words4 Pages
Changes Hip-Hop has been a controversial genre since its birth in 1970’s. It is viewed by many as being violent, offensive, sexist, and trashy. Though some songs may have those attributes, many have a positive message or a cautionary tale for listeners who might be in a similar situation. Very rarely are those positive songs given their recognition; it may be due to how the artists’ are viewed by the media, or it may be how the media views the genre as a whole. Either way, Hip-Hop will continue to be one of the most popular genres worldwide. In the song Changes by Tupac Shakur, he expressed his views on various political subjects such as police brutality, the war on drugs and violence, black unity, and Black on Black violence. Police…show more content…
Both black and white people do drugs, and Shakur felt that it is wrong to place the drug stereotype mainly on blacks. In his belief, removing the evil in people will make them honorable citizens and more caring towards one another. Shakur also goes on to say that it is time for black people to stop killing each other, and it is time to start healing each other. Tupac Shakur felt that a black president would have been a heaven sent miracle for the black people; in his opinion black people as a whole were not ready to have a black president. I believe he felt this way because he did not approve of the behavior of many black people; he also felt that the percentage of black people in jail was too high. Moreover Shakur felt that a lot of youth do not want to listen when people try to show them a way out of the ghetto, which does not involve street life. Shakur feels that the youth did not want to listen because, in his opinion, the government made it easier for black youth to pick up a gun and drugs, and made it more difficult for them to go to school, work, and do good things in…show more content…
You see, the old way wasn’t workin’, so it’s on us to do what we gotta do, to survive.” I believe the third verse explains what Shakur meant by this statement. Shakur believed that the government was more concerned with the war that was being fought in the Middle East, and the war on drugs in the black neighborhoods, than they were with the wellbeing of black people. He felt that the government was wasting time arresting the drug dealers and addicts; instead Shakur felt that the government should have waged a war on poverty. Shakur stated that every crime he committed was necessary, in order for him to survive. Additionally Shakur also stated that people should not let the police treat them unjustly Shakur believed that the police did not like to see Black People with nice material things; he felt it made them jealous and angry. He also believed that people should fight back against the police, even if it meant killing them. That was one reason he always had a firearm in his possession. Another reason Shakur carried a firearm is revenge; Shakur verbally elaborates about his fear of a past enemy seeing him in public and trying to kill him. As a final point, Shakur ended the song with the words “That’s the way it
Open Document