Flip The Script
Publishing
Tupac's Timeless Legacy
Mario DeBlak Robinson
It’s time to head home after a short vacation and all I can think of is blasting “Check Out Time” by 2Pac. This has become a family tradition over the years. Not because I share a birthday with Tupac Shakur, nor to remember his legacy since his untimely passing, but because he made timeless music that still feels new every time it plays.
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When life is at it’s worst, listening to “Me Against the World” and “Keep Ya Head Up” gives me a place to go even if it's just sitting alone in my car listening with my eyes closed. I may have as many alter egos as he had, and it is true that there are phases when I only want to listen to Makaveli. When I’m feeling especially dark, “Hail Mary” takes me to a place that’s safe but still gritty and rough enough to hold all my depressions and
fears while I yell ‘Catch me father please, cause I’m falling!”
Ironically, he changed the same world that fought so hard to keep him under control. “Brenda’s Got a Baby” painted vivid pictures of ghetto life for the world to see in 1991. “Hit’em Up” and “Bomb First” elevated battle rap to a dangerous level but did introduce an aggression to street music that has not since declined.
He changed the industry consistently. I still listen to “California Love” ALL THE WAY THROUGH just to vibe to Roger Troutman sing through his infamous vocalizer at the end. Did he know that 15 years into the future 80% of popular urban music would use some form of a vocalizer?
The same guy with “Thug Life” tatted across his abdomen is the man that introduced the concept of a place for African Americans from the streets in heaven and I too “Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto”.
So, if you want to make timeless music, be 100% authentic and honest with who and what you are and when you F#*@ up, make songs about that too.
Mario DeBlak Robinson is a contributing writer. Check out his daily blog on 8 Robinsons and on IG @mariodeblakrobinson