2008 Woodie Awards
Tupac continues playing the 'game' after death
Joachim Borha
Issue date: 2/18/05 Section: Tempo
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"This is not a game, this is a love. One should be played, the other cherished." Tupac's words, taken from his poetry book entitled "A Rose That Grew From Concrete," are timelessly relevant to hip-hop.
Pac, still seen as undoubtedly the best rapper of all-time through the eyes of mainstream hip-hop culture, possesses an image that can never be tainted. It was never pure to begin with. Because of the careful balance he took between the full-fledged "gangsta" image and conscious cultural rapper image, his death endowed upon him the title of "greatest of all time."
The more albums Tupac drops posthumously still prove the point that he is an average lyricist but a great rapper. His words do not have power when they stand alone but his rapping ability and his ferocious and passionate delivery with a penance for emotion, gives power to those words.
Tupac's legend continues to grow in the hip-hop society with the Dec. 14, 2004 release of Loyal To The Game (Amaru/Interscope Records). The Eminem-produced album features 13 new recordings based on dozens of hours of tape Tupac left behind after his shooting death in September 1996. Co-executive produced by Pac's mother Afeni Shakur, she feels that "Tupac channeled through Eminem and Eminem unselfishly allowed him to do so in producing this album. Together, they have created a masterpiece."
The album is not quite the masterpiece that Afeni Shakur describes but this album does have its good qualities along with its poor. With the exception of Jadakiss, Tupac outshined every featured rapper on the album. Despite only being outshined once, the guest spots on the album were horrid at best.
On "N***a (Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished)," Jada drops his signature cocky flow with the typical gangsta punchlines. "My dimes make the fiends go to sleep/So they call 'em bedrocks." But even Jadakiss, arguably one of the most prolific among punch-line rappers, had only two good lines out of his entire verse. This speaks to the content of the rest of the album.
Pac, still seen as undoubtedly the best rapper of all-time through the eyes of mainstream hip-hop culture, possesses an image that can never be tainted. It was never pure to begin with. Because of the careful balance he took between the full-fledged "gangsta" image and conscious cultural rapper image, his death endowed upon him the title of "greatest of all time."
The more albums Tupac drops posthumously still prove the point that he is an average lyricist but a great rapper. His words do not have power when they stand alone but his rapping ability and his ferocious and passionate delivery with a penance for emotion, gives power to those words.
Tupac's legend continues to grow in the hip-hop society with the Dec. 14, 2004 release of Loyal To The Game (Amaru/Interscope Records). The Eminem-produced album features 13 new recordings based on dozens of hours of tape Tupac left behind after his shooting death in September 1996. Co-executive produced by Pac's mother Afeni Shakur, she feels that "Tupac channeled through Eminem and Eminem unselfishly allowed him to do so in producing this album. Together, they have created a masterpiece."
The album is not quite the masterpiece that Afeni Shakur describes but this album does have its good qualities along with its poor. With the exception of Jadakiss, Tupac outshined every featured rapper on the album. Despite only being outshined once, the guest spots on the album were horrid at best.
On "N***a (Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished)," Jada drops his signature cocky flow with the typical gangsta punchlines. "My dimes make the fiends go to sleep/So they call 'em bedrocks." But even Jadakiss, arguably one of the most prolific among punch-line rappers, had only two good lines out of his entire verse. This speaks to the content of the rest of the album.
