"Keep You Head Up!!!"

Its been 10 years since Pac's death and next to Elvis I have not seen/heard anyone dead still making so many moves. I thought Puff was grindin' put Pac got this game on lock. Clothing lines, music releasing every year with enough material to release a few more, poetry, etc. Today I heard on radio, based on the book Tupac Shakur Legacy, Pac intended to develop a camp for children and a Restuarant alongside his career as a musician/actor. (WOW!!)

When it comes to Tupac I am a bit of a fair-weather fan. I liked his verse in "Same Ole Song" by Digital Underground but I didn't think his career would amount to anything based on the first single, "Trapped". (boy was I wrong!) "Trapped" didn't move me as "Brenda Got a Baby". Of course, I only knew of that song by watching it repeatedly on "The Box", a pay-per-view channel for music video in early 1990s.

Pac rode the thin line between gangster and conscious rap. One could never predict this man. Not too far away was trouble, tailing him at every town he entered.

In my opinion, his career made a huge turn for the better after the release of my favorite film, "Juice". Bishop will forever be that crazy @$$ Nuh that you don't want in your circle. The images of Pac as Bishop were dark and demented quite similar but less covert as his role as Bird in "Above the Rim". Very good portrayal for the first time actor. Pac went on to do a few more films i.e. "Poetic Justice" and "Gang Related".

As a hip-hop artist, "I Get Around" was fun to listen. "Get Yours" by MC Breed and 2Pac was fierce. He was a beast of a writer from songs to poetry and even stories. I could only imagine the countless sheets of paper that must have had been in his cell after being imprisonmed for "rape" or the number of tapes used after each daily recording ritual.

The fued with Biggie was intense enough to get escalate the East vs. West beef. "Hit 'em up" is the hardest dis track more so than Nas' "Ether". Pac's passion was evident in his tunes like Bone Thugs n' Harmony's "Thug Luv" (sick!!) His verse on Scarface's "Smile" was spooky. I always wondered why would anyone do videos or write songs about afterlife, i.e. "Not Mad at You".

"Thugs Mansion", "Letter to My Unborn Child", "Dear Momma", "Baby Don't Cry", "A N_ggaz Nature", "Ambition az a Ridah", "Changes", "Keep Ya Head Up", "Against All Odds", "Me And MY Girlfriend" and "Pain" were all my favorites. You may think I like I lot of songs than how am I a fair-weather fan? Well, I say Quality vs. Quantity. This dude has written over 150 songs and I liked only a few. A small percentage of top quality material. Also folks put him in their top 5 list only to mention some west coast artist. (BTW he was born on the east and dismissed the entire coast based on the "betrayal" of his people after his shooting as result of a robbery and the lack of support when imprissoned for the "rape" charge.) Don't get me wrong he could spit but there is something that is missing that would not place him on my top 10 or 20 for that matter. I know too many subpar cats that would toast him in 3 rounds. He did have one-liners that were ferocious.

He shared all his pain: abandoned as a child, his mom was a former drug addict and Black Panther member, raised by the streets, and the stressful life as a celebrity/artist. He expressed his pain in his tats. Thug Life written across the belly.

"I live the thug life baby I'm hopeless smoking on that endo trying to keep my focus."

The impression he made on fans are remarkable. His material still sells and resonates. Pac was the blueprint for artists like Zane, Drama, Ja Rule, DMX, and 50 Cent. His death is still a mystery and very unnecessary. He was very young and at the peak of his career. It was said he was an example of art imitating life and life imitating art. Pac said it himself, before he wrote "Trapped" he never was never arrested but afterwards it was routine for him to be harassed by other thugs, police and obseessed fans. As the fame grew so did the drama.

RIP Tupac Amaru Shakur.
"True to the game till they bury me."