I believe the year was 1991; I was sitting on the floor in my mom’s living room watching the Arsenio Hall Show when my big brother ran in and told me to turn up the volume. “My homeboy Tupac is going on and he’s about the blow.” I sat there and watched as Pac strolled out and ripped his verse from the Digital Underground hit “Same Song”. Of course at the time no one realized what he would become and what influence he would have on music, people, our generation and society. I had the pleasure of meeting Tupac on several occasions, and each time, although brief, I felt overwhelmed by his aura and personality. These meetings occurred years before before the Deathrow days, when I was heavily influenced by my brothers’ taste in music and revolutionary rappers like Chuck D, KRS-1 and Ice cube wore out my old tape deck. Tupac was in that class, a passionate artist who tackled issues of poverty, the crack epidemic, racism, police brutality, history and the uplifting of black people across the world.

Tupac is always remembered as a polarizing figure; people talk about how he contradicted himself and how he was a typical Gemini with a split personality. They quote song titles from completely different albums that were years apart and say he’s a hypocrite. Music snobs question how could he go from “Brenda’s Got a Baby” to “Toss it Up”? These claims are outrageous, especially when you consider that 95% of rappers contradict themselves. But with that being said,  Tupac really doesn’t really fall in that category, he’s human. He made songs talking about all different aspects in the life of a young male celebrity in addition to the struggles endured by himself and those around him. That’s much more real than rappers who try to play the 100% positive role and end up being complete sell outs. The man was far from perfect and unfortunately there were many negative aspects of his life that were adopted by young people who didn’t know what he was really about. I took the good from Pac, I recognized what he really meant to be an “Outlaw”, to be to be an outcast, ignored, and used by a society that claims you’re inferior. I’ve seen speeches by Pac, he screamed with overwhelming passion and fury that left grown men in tears. I remember his attempts to put together a true code of the streets, a code that attempted to eliminate the loss of innocent life and to stop the selling of drugs in schools and in poor communities.

Tupac was and always will be the best to ever do it. No other MC in history was able to captivate people from all over the planet with his persona and influence. I’ve been told by a 76 year old white woman that she often listens to Tupac and the messages in his music. That’s the Tupac that I remember and honor on his birthday, that’s the Tupac that motivates me every time I hear his music, that’s the Tupac whose words and intensity still shake my soul to this day. Happy Birthday Pac, every time anyone across the world listens to your music or reads your poetry, you are resurrected.