Exploring Tupac Shakurs Dear Mama

By Sean Hanel

 Song written to his mother, Afeni Shakur,

as a way of forgiving her for the pain she
caused through her addiction.

Writes it to show that he understands all

that his mother has done for him. Tupac
knows that it was not easy for Afeni to
raise two kids with no support (You are
Appreciated)

Why is this important to our HEL Class???

 Toni Morrison Explains,

First of all, theyre changing the language, although
nobody admits it, but thats where the energy comes
fromIt is the necessity for young people to talk to one
another in language that is not the fake language of the
press.

Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at University of

Pennsylvania and author of over 10 books,
including Holla if you Hear Me : searching for
Tupac Shakur, has this to say about HipHop/Rap:
Given its universal popularity and its troubling effects,
hip-hop is a vital cultural language that we had all better
learn. To ignore its genius, to romanticize its deficits, or
to bash it with undiscerning generalities is to risk the
opportunity to engage our children about perhaps the
most important cultural force in their lives.

The Word Mama

Comes from Zulu umama and Xhosa
umama mother
The OED gives such definitions as,
A respectful title for a woman, preceding
a name
Ex. The first lady of jazz, Mama Ella

A respectful or familiar form of address

to:
Any adult woman (Nice and easy, mama)
Ones Own Mother (as used by Tupac in Dear
Mama)

A mother; a middle-aged black woman.

Outside there are several aged mamas selling
the same wares from the old-style stalls.

Other Connotations of Mama

According to the OED,
The status of the word mama was always the same as
that of Papa. In the 18th century, mamma was used
by the higher classes, and among them to have been
freely used not only by children but by adults of
both sexes. Today, it has become archaic in
Britain, although it is used by children. It has
now found widespread use in America.

Other common uses are:

Slang. A wife, a girlfriend; a sexually attractive
woman; a promiscuous woman.
Ex. Black Eyed Peas song, Hey Mama

Slang. A feminine partner in a homosexual

relationship.
Mama, a lesbian of the feminine type, especially one
living or consorting with a papa or daddy.

BeefIts whats for dinner

The flesh of an ox, bull, or cow, used as food. Often
preceded by words indicating the exact part of the animal,
e.g. sirloin, ribs of beef, etc.

Oh, we got Beef? Master P

The OED does not address the
slang use of the word beef,
however it is commonly used to
indicate a problem between two
people or groups.
The most infamous beef in rap was
between the East and West coast rap
scenes. This stemmed from an
incident in which Tupac was shot 5
times in a New York recording studio
(Bad Boy Records). This incident
started a beef between Tupac and
such rappers as Notorious BIG, Sean
Puffy Combs (founder of Bad Boy
Records), and Jay-Z

Here is a picture of a
DVD entitled
BEEF. Apparently
it Narrates the East
Coast/West Coast
rap feud that took
place in the late
1990s

K
C
A
CR
VS

The Definition of Crack

OED says,
An imitation of the sharp sound caused
by the sudden breaking of anything hard
A sudden sharp and loud noise as of
something breaking or bursting; e.g. the crack
of a rifle, a whip, of breaking ice, bones, etc.
Ex. Work 'til we break our back and you hear
the crack of the bone Rapper Talib Kweli in
his song Get By

A break in which the parts still remain in

contact; a partial fracture.
An opening between floor-boards or in a
floor

The other kind of Crack

Here we find the 20th definition of crack, the last one

hidden at the bottom of the OED page,
A potent, crystalline form of cocaine made by heating a mixture
of it with baking powder and water until it is hard, and breaking it
into small pieces which are inhaled or smoked for their
stimulating effect. (slang origin).
The cocaine freebase, the purest and most dangerous form of
coke, goes by a number of street names crack, rock, pasta, basa
and is smoked in a pipe rather than snorted. San Francisco
Chronicle, December 6, 1985.

Brother
Results from the OED,
The word applied to a male being to express his
relationship to others (male or female) as the child of
the same parent or parents.
The son of the same parents. But often extended to include
one who has either parent in common with another

Said affectionately of one regarded or treated as a

brother; one who fills the place of a brother.
Man to man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that
Burns, 1795

Tha Otha Brotha

slang (orig. U.S.). Chiefly in AfricanAmerican use: a (fellow) black man. Also in
extended use: a fellow non-white man
(used esp. as an expression of solidarity).
Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you.
2pac in his song Changes

Rufus, Brint, and Meekus were like

brothers to me. And when I say brother, I
don't mean, like, an actual brother, but I
mean it like the way black people use it.
Which is more meaningful I think. Derek
Zoolander in the film, Zoolander

 The word Thuggee is a North Indian word. A British

General named Sleeman made it his mission to
eradicate thugs in India. The word most likely traveled to
the US through his popular nonfiction account of India.
Originally referred to band of disciples of the goddess
Kali who would attach themselves to merchant
caravans, claiming some talent like cooking. They
would then drug the merchants, and then strangle
them with a handkerchief called a rumal and steal all
of their goods.

 Today, Thug has a specific resonance in Black Culture.

It sounds perfect in musical terms, it is better than gangster,
which puts you too much in the lineage of the Mafia. This is
an alternative kind of thug; its our kind of thug. Its a unique
word; it is known and not known a the same time. It has flavor
to it. Vijay Prashad, a cultural critic
Tupac gave the words THUG LIFE his own meaning by
assigning it the acronym, The Hate U Gave Little Infants F#cks
Everyone. Tupac believes that the negative way children are
raised and treated, will eventually come back to society in that
negative way.

Finally, Tupac explains Thug Life in an Interview for MTV,

Its not thugging like Im robbing people, cause thats not
what Im doing, I mean like Im not scared to say how I feel.
Part of being [a thug] is to stand up for your responsibilities
and say this is what I do even though I know people are going
to hate meI want to be real with myself

Now Sit and Listen