Blogspot for March 3rd Hip-Hop Artist

The hip-hop artist I selected is Tupac Shakur. Tupac was born in New York City and primarily grew up in Harlem. In 1988 he moved to Oakland, California where he demographically dominated. Thus the song “California Love” Following this move, in 1991 his first breakthrough music came as he was a member of Digital Underground. That same year he also started getting individual recognition for his album “2Pacalypse Now.” Tupac was exposed to the typical hard upbringing including violence and racism. He also had a personal experience with his mother being a member of the Black Panther Party. This experience is part of his credibility in his music. During his career he also experienced more racism and prison life. Keeping it real means a rapper or artist must be able to relate to his lyrics through personal experience. This also gives them their credibility. The audience is then who determines whether or not he is real. Tupac expressed his realness through lyrics and his infamous tattoo “Thug Life” on his stomach, that he received during time he served. I do believe Tupac is creditable because of his roughly influenced past and his experiences throughout his career. He also earned authenticity and realness through his death. In one quote I read from Tupac he states that he may have grew up to be a preacher or something, instead of a rapper, if they (society) hadn’t tried to ruin him. This quote gives him more authenticity and realness of the effect his past experiences and earlier events in history affected him.