Analysis on 2 Pac and Biggie

Tupac and Biggie will always be remembered as legends in Hip Hop. Their music and legacy inspired Hip Hop’s culture and an entire musical generation. Shattuck(2011) states that in VH1’s Planet Rock documentary, “hip-hop artists tell the story of crack cocaine’s effect on their culture — from the Fair Sentencing Act and the drug policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations to the origins of gangsta rap and the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.”(p. 10) This documentary brings up the theory that Crack Cocaine took a part in the emergence of the Hip Hop culture. As an avid follower of Hip Hop I was intrigued by this theory, as it gives us an idea of the true concept of Hip Hop from its origins.

To understand my analysis on the subject matter I must reflect on my own experience and opinion with Hip Hop. It wasn’t until my Freshman year of High School that I started to develop a taste for Hip Hop. I had been censored from it for a long time,  due to my mother. But it was only a matter of time that I would discover it for myself as I grew older. It was a thrill to listen to my Hip Hop station in my room secretly, I was captivated with the music because it reflected myself and my friends as it correlated with the “High School Persona” you create and take in as your own at that age.

However, my interest in Hip Hop weren’t the same as my friends. It wasn’t the heavy bass or the bad boy thuggish attitudes in the songs. Instead it was the lyrical content that was spoken to me that caught my attention. Learning and understanding the struggle and hardship many of these artists went through as like listening to a story of a whole generation. Against all odds, they were able to make out of poverty and become successful with hard work ambition and perseverance. That was what I wanted to have, the amount of work ethic and determination that many of the rappers I listened to had.

Many people do not feel the same way about Hip Hop. They believe it’s all about degrading women, promoting violence, drugs and luxury items that comes with being rich. I on the other hand see it a different way. It’s true that many of the songs do focus on those type of subject matters. However, I feel one must appreciate the background and understand the culture that comes with it, there are many other artists out there who focuses on more important subject matters. Ice T stated in VH1’s Planet Rock (2011) that the, “music reflected what was coming from the streets”. I’ve always considered Rap artists like Tupac and Biggie more as story tellers. In a way, a medium to the world that shares what happens in a community that  don’t have a voice because it’s impoverished, in other words the ghetto.

I believe The Planet Rock documentary makes a good point. Hip Hop emerged with the creation of the “hustler” many MC’s first began as drug dealers looking to make it. If they weren’t dealers they were associated with them is some way or another.  Rapper Too Short in his Planet Rock interview said, “it was a crack dealer that funded my music deals, if it wasn’t for crack dealers there will be no Too Short”.

Frost, A. (2007), In the mid 80’s under President Reagan initiated what we call the “War on Drugs.” (p. 1)after the turn of the crack epidemic and the death of  the NBA’s top prospect Len Bias. Stricter laws  imposing mandatory minimum sentences for drug offender called for  these were harsh drug policies that filled jails to capacity. This again was said to change the culture of Hip Hop as you start to  see more of the music’s popularity expanding from inside the prison cells. Rap lyrics would include the despair of prisoners locked up for in jail for selling crack cocaine. Movies like Paid in Full like Holden(2002) mentioned that the 80’s crack epidemic exploits inspired countless rap songs”(p. 27) Mediums like the movie Paid in Full paved the way to the glamour of the crack money in Hip Hop as it was being implemented in  the rap songs and Music videos.