Vaughn+Moore-+Tupac

__//**Changes by Tupac**//__

"Changes" is a hip hop song by the late Tupac Shakur, the song was originally recorded during his tenure at Interscope records in 1992 and was produced by Shock G. Changes was later remixed during 1997-1998. The song re-uses lines from "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto" which was recorded during the same year. The song samples the 1986 hit "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. 2Pac at times re-used lines from other unreleased songs because he would try to make an updated version. However, since his death many of the unreleased and unmastered songs are being officially released. The song makes references to the Black Panther Party. This song is about the racial issues on the streets, and how everyone knows that it will never change; there will always be poverty and homeless people and violence on the streets hence the line, "Some things will never change." This is based on Bruce Hornsby's 1986 song "The Way It Is" which also deals with race relations. When Tupac was shot to death in 1996, he left behind a great deal of unreleased material. This is one of many songs that surfaced after his death. The song is pieced together from several other songs. The "Huey" referred to in this song is Huey P. Newton, the co-founder and leader of the Black Panther Party. The most important theme of most of Tupac's songs are the experiences that Tupac has had in terms of dealing with poverty and living in sub-human conditions.One of the main reasons that Tupac is so famous is his promotion of non-violence, in an era in which violence and hating everybody was extremely popular. Tupac's feelings are strongly conveyed in this song and even in the second line, Tupac is challenging everybody to make changes with "I see no changes." However, Tupac knows how hard is can be to try and make changes to something that is engrained in your brain and he shows that he understands how hopeless it can seem with the line "Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?" Another theme that is significant in this song is the strong feelings of racisim towards blacks in this era because of the lines, "I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black" and several lines farther down with the line "Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero."


 * "Changes" by Tupac (first 25 lines)**

//[1]// Come on come on I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself, "Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?" I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black. My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch. Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare. First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers. Give 'em guns, step back, and watch 'em kill each other. "It's time to fight back", that's what Huey said. 2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead. I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes. Learn to see me as a brother 'stead of 2 distant strangers. And that's how it's supposed to be. How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me? I'd love to go back to when we played as kids but things changed, and that's the way it is

//[Bridge w/ changing ad libs]// Come on come on That's just the way it is Things'll never be the same That's just the way it is aww yeah //[Repeat]//

I see no changes. All I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace for races we under.

Video of **Changes by Tupac:** [|www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Y9-JlSRXw]

__//**Keep Ya Head Up by Tupac**//__

"Keep Ya Head Up" is a late 1993 hit by Tupac Shakur. #11 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs, with "Dear Mama" voted #4. It was first released in Shakur's 1993 album //Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.//, later appearing after his death in 1996 in his //Greatest Hits// compilation. A "sequel" to the song, Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II) was released in 2Pac's posthumous album //Still I Rise// in 1999. The beat is sampled from Zapp & Roger's "Be Alright" and the chorus is sampled from The Five Stairsteps' "O-o-h Child", but originally it was sampled from Big Daddy Kane's "Prince of Darkness". The song peaked at #2 on the U.S. Rap chart, #7 on the Hip Hop/R&B chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It features Dave Hollister and is dedicated to Latasha Harlins. The video opens up with the words "Dedicated to the memory of Latasha Harlins, it's still on", in reference to the L.A. Riots. The video has a basic format with Shakur rapping in the middle of a circle surrounded by a crowd of people and in some scenes seen holding a young child. At times the video shows scenes of what Shakur is rapping about. The music video also features Shakur's childhood friend Jada Pinkett Smith. This particular song is an anthem for women and children around the world who do not have an easy life. Tupac knows how this feels exactly because of his childhood and all of the struggles that he had to go through in order to be known throughout the entire world. Tupac grew up in a neighborhood filled with violence and drugs, which he talks about trying to change in "Changes" mentioned above. However, he decides to take a different approach to the issue regarding the impact it has on "sisters on welfare" mentioned in the third line. Tupac recognizes the indifference to women and how hard they must work sometimes when there is no father figure around. "When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy" is a direct line regarding this situation because Tupac is fed up with it. It is ironic though, that Tupac in a lot of his music refers to women as objects and often regarding them as "hoes", and now he is talking about "Time to heal women" as stated in the 19th line. It seems a bit odd that he now is re-directing his approach, or maybe he has learned a life lesson in regards to the fact that "we all came from a woman". I am impressed by his attitude in this song, especially because of the experiences that he has had as a child in regards to the fact that he saw women degraded constantly and now he is trying to rise above that attitude.

//[1]// Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sisters on welfare Tupac cares, if don't nobody else care And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot When you come around the block brothas clown a lot But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up And when he tells you you ain't nuttin don't believe him And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him Cause sista you don't need him And I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em You know it makes me unhappy (what's that) When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up
 * "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac (first 25 lines)**

Video of **Keep Ya Head Up by Tupac:** [|www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXwmDGJAB8]

__//**I Ain't Mad at Cha by Tupac**//__ "**I Ain't Mad at Cha**" is the name of a song by Tupac released as the sixth single from his album //All Eyez on Me//. Although the album was released exactly 7 months before his death, the single was released shortly after his death. The song is a heartfelt tribute, possibly to his friend Napoleon who had converted to Islam. The song features contemporary soul singer Danny Boy who provided the vocals for the song's hook. The song did well in the United Kingdom, reaching the number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It was not released as a single in the United States, thus making it ineligible to chart on the //Billboard// singles charts (due to chart rules at the time), but reached numbers 18 and 58 in the R&B and Pop Airplay charts. "I Ain't Mad at Cha" was the first song to interpolate the core melody of the song "A Dream" an album track by DeBarge, written and performed by Bunny, and taken from their 1983 album //In a Special Way//. This makes the instrumentals very identical. This is most apparent in the piano usage which is almost identical to the original song. The main difference is "A Dream" uses a keyboard for its notes, while "I Ain't Mad at Cha" uses more of a classical piano. Daz's main job as producer of the song was changing this piano instrument, as most other aspects of the song were the same. The tempo of the original song was also sped up, which matches with 2Pac's pace of rapping. Another minor difference is the accompanying beat uses different sounds to project the same repetition. The day 2Pac was released from prison, he went to the studio and recorded I Ain't Mad at Cha and Ambitionz Az a Ridah. When 2Pac entered the studio the beat was already complete, and 2Pac wrote the lyrics and recorded the song all in a few hours. Shortly thereafter, BLACKstreet released "Don't Leave Me" to radio, which also interpolates the melody of "A Dream". According to Dave Aron 2Pac had a lot of energy going into the studio. Kurupt was in the studio at the time of recording and said when 2Pac heard the beat he "flipped out" from excitement. He wanted to finish the song quickly and was cursing at the engineers for moving too slow. This song has a slower pace than most of Tupac's songs because of the reflective nature of the song. Tupac feels betrayed and lost because his friend has completely changed since he got out of prison. Tupac has found that his old friend no longer wants to do the things that they use to like to "chase tail" (10). Tupac puts a negative connotations of being Muslim because he is sarcastic when he talks about "no sinnin is the game plan" (12) along with the fact that his friend is also not congratulating Tupac on his success and telling him "it's trouble" (14). Tupac's feelings are strong and the listener understands Tupac's frustration through his use of cussing during the last part like in line 16 and also in line 20. Tupac was known for his ability to ryhme with hardly any vulgur langue, however it seems that he cannot help himself because of the betrayal that he has felt by his old friend.

Now we was once two niggaz of the same kind Quick to holla at a hoochie with the same line You was just a little smaller but you still roller Got stretched to Y.A. and hit the hood swoll Member when you had a jheri curl didn't quite learn On the block, witcha glock, trippin off sherm Collect calls to the till, sayin how ya changed Oh you a Muslim now, no more dope game Heard you might be comin home, just got bail Wanna go to the Mosque, don't wanna chase tail I seems I lost my little homie he's a changed man Hit the pen and now no sinnin is the game plan When I talk about money all you see is the struggle When I tell you I'm livin large you tell me it's trouble Congratulation on the weddin, I hope your wife know She got a playa for life, and that's no bullsh*' I know we grew apart, you probably don't remember I used to fiend for your sister, but never went up in her And I can see us after school, we'd BOMB on the first motherf* with the wrong sh **on** Got a big money scheme, and you ain't even with it Hmm, knew in my heart you was the same motherf* bad Go toe to toe when it's time for roll you got a brother's back And I can't even trip, cause I'm just laughin at cha You tryin hard to maintain, then go head cause I ain't mad at cha
 * "I Ain't Mad at Cha" Lyrics**
 * Now the whole sh**'s changed, and we don't even kick it


 * "I Ain't Mad at Cha" Video**: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ELnDPmI8w

__//**"Dear Mama" by Tupac**//__ It is considered by many to be 2Pac's most emotional and most respected song, and is praised by many artists (Eminem mentions it as his favorite song), even by many artists who are not involved in the hip-hop business. It was selected as one of many songs you must hear and download in the musical reference book, //1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download//. In 1998, the song appeared on //2Pac's Greatest Hits//. The official remix is produced by Nitty and features Anthony Hamilton on the 2006 release //Pac's Life//. Snoop Dogg said in an interview that this song displayed an introspective side of 2Pac, which made him different from other rappers, because "he went inside", something other rappers were hesitant or unable to do.
 * Dear Mama**" is a hip hop song by Tupac. The track was produced by Tony Pizarro for 2Pac's third solo album, //Me Against the World//, which was released in 1995. The song was written by 2Pac as an ode to his own mother, Afeni Shakur. "Dear Mama" was released on February 21, 1995 as the first single for the album. The single was the most successful of all the singles released from the album. The song is considered by critics, fans, and purists as one of the greatest hip hop songs of all-time, and one of 2Pac's best songs in particular, being ranked number four on About.com's "Top 100 Rap Songs" list. It was announced on June 23, 2010, that the Library of Congress was preserving Dear Mama, along with 24 other songs, in the National Recording Registry for their cultural significance. "Dear Mama" samples the songs "Sadie" (1974) by The Spinners, and "In All My Wildest Dreams" (1978) by Joe Sample.

When I was young me and my mama had beef Seventeen years old kicked out on the streets Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her face Ain't a woman alive that could take my mama's place Suspended from school; and scared to go home, I was a fool with the big boys, breakin all the rules I shed tears with my baby sister Over the years we was poorer than the other little kids And even though we had different daddy's, the same drama When things went wrong we'd blame mama I reminice on the stress I caused, it was hell Huggin on my mama from a jail cell And who'd think in elementary? Heeey! I see the penitentiary, one day And runnin from the police, that's right Mama catch me, put a whoopin to my backside And even as a crack fiend, mama You always was a black queen, mama I finally understand for a woman it ain't easy tryin to raise a man You always was committed A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it There's no way I can pay you back But the plan is to show you that I understand You are appreciated
 * Dear Mama Lyrics (first 25 lines)**


 * Dear Mama Video:** www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb1ZvUDvLDY