Tupac's Changes and Dear Momma: A lesson in social Rhetoric

There are many however that emphasize the negative virtues of his music. Aisha K. Finch for example asks,

“If young Black America is going to be a cultural trendsetter on a global scale, why not use this to our advantage? Can you imagine what our influence could be if more groups like The Fugees or Tribe Called Quest created music and lyrics to inspire a new wave in Pan-African thinking? If hip-hop is destined to rule youth culture around the world, wouldn't you rather it be a reign that will unite and empower Black people everywhere (

Tupac spoke of the need for change also. The song Changes acts as a social critique of life as a young man in the ghetto and the need for change. The need for the stop of Black on Black crime, police brutality and human unity are addressed in this song that reached the number one slot on the billboard top 100. Little to nothing has been written on this song. People keep up the criticism of Tupacs music while ignoring the positive messages that he sent to the millions of people that listened to his music. Tupac’s Dear Momma and Changes were accounts and appraisals of societies need for change towards a positive world that didn’t focus on violence.

By focusing on the problems of the inner city, Tupac is showing us the inhumanity of living in the ghetto. He also speaks of government conspiracies in the inner city. Tupac addresses the death of Huey P Long, originator of the Black Panther Party. He also claims that guns are given to people in the inner city by the government and then turned on fellow residents. These claims could give discredit to the song, but with these claims in the text, it makes the strength increase by showing that the possibility of governmental corruption is there. He then speaks of the heroism of police when they brutalize residents of the hood. “Pull a trigger, kill a Ni**er, he’s a hero.” Words like this are weapons and Tupac is pulling out his lyrical guns. Using such statements bring emotion out in the listener. Finally, he speaks of the hunger in the stomachs of young ghetto children that leads them to crime. This according to Tupac, is the straw that breaks the camels back.

I will address these issues through a close textual analysis of these songs. By addressing the text and tying the two songs together we will show how the text has bared an imprint onto society. The imprint is the importance of family ties in inner city culture and the need for a change towards a more opportunistic, optimistic and united society for those coming out of the inner city. Although Tupac was labeled as a gangster rapper and one who condoned and encouraged hostility, these songs laid a blueprint of his true meaning. Changes and Dear Momma were accounts and appraisals of society’s need for change towards this positive world that does not focus on violence, race and oppression. They focus on family and the power of change.

Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, put it best when she said, “It doesn't make sense to suggest that rap's violent lyrics are to blame for society's ills. If that were the case, she said, gospel music would have saved the world(2).” She understood that her son’s music, while often condoning violence and urban destitution, was music that people could empathize with and relate to.

Tupac has been constantly criticized for glorifying street culture. However, critics have ignored the positive messages that he sent to millions of people that listened to his music. Changes and Dear Momma are strong examples of his outlook of change and the need for optimism in the Ghetto. Scholarly work on Tupac thus far has focused on pointing the finger of blame onto the rapper. What have been missed on the critiques are the lyrical contexts of these two very important songs by Tupac.

Tupac brings the song to an end with his third verse. He tells her, the person he wrote the song for and those that are listening that he remembers all the good times that she gave him. He makes her out to be the good mom. She was there for him when he was sick and would visit him when he was locked up. She has turned from the neglecting mother to the stereotypical mother that would give her all for her family. This is the picture that Tupac wants us to have of his mother and that all children should have of their mothers. Tupac wrote this as a personal account in order that those that have had bad lives do not blame it on their mothers that work hard to make them succ

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