Ten Years ago today, on September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur died in a Las Vegas hospital after he was gunned down six days earlier. Some argue to have lost someone of the magnitude of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X - they claim Tupac Shakur would have metamorphosed into one of the most powerful black men to ever walk the face of the earth.
Whatever would have happened to Tupac had he still been alive, with over 70 million albums sold worldwide he is the most successful rap star ever. Would Eminem, Ja Rule, The Game and 50 Cent have become as big as they are today without the groundbreaking work of Tupac? Unlikely so. Their mythology of transgression, anger and running with the law would not have been possible without Tupac’s example.
Tupac was the embodiment of black rebellion against a hostile consumer society, a figurehead of gangsta rap, a poet, an artist, an actor, a political agitator and a hellraiser. Many of his fans still refuse to believe that he is really dead. The impact of Tupac on the urban youth worldwide bears resemblance to that of Bob Marley, an icon for different generations. The music of Tupac Shakur is as popular with 12 year old urban youth as it is with the 40-plus generation. He sold more albums after his death, than before. Five of his eight number one records in the U.S. were posthumous. His 1996 song ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ was recently listened as one of the top 10 songs that U.S. soldiers listen to in Iraq.
In recent years Tupac has attracted the attention of academics and cultural critics, who see in him a symbol of his times and a phenomenon who revolutionised popular culture, for both black and white young people, and straddled the boundary of gangsta fantasy and real-life crime in startling and unforgettable ways.
The influence of Tupac Shakur on today’s urban culture is huge, making his legacy extremely relevant for all those in the marketing and communications busines who wish to pursue Urban Marketing strategies.
Sources: various, including Andrew Gumber (The Independent)
Tupac Shakur, October 25, 1994:
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