Sydal said:
Actually, the THUG came out in him a few years prior to All Eyez On Me. Know your history before you speak on it, because now you do sound like a kid. Remember THUG LIFE? Wasn't that released in 1994? AEOM was released in 1996. So, the THUG LIFE image was there before he was this huge Death Row Records super star.
What else happened before he signed to Death Row? Oh shit, he shot a couple off-duty cops in Atlanta! He beat up the Hughes brothers and bragged about it on national television...that's not exactly a fabricated image, is it? That's not including the countless other cases he had for god knows what. 2Pac didn't fabricate his image...he personified the shit that most people were afraid to. Oh yea, then he got shot after stompin' Orlando Anderson in the middle of a huge Las Vegas Casino! But you're right, he wasn't down for his shit...it was all make believe.
2Pac didn't change who he was for anybody, he said what he was thinking at all times. "There's a ghetto up in heaven and it's ours/BLACK POWER"...he was yellin' that line on AEOM...it wasn't all thug shit, but you wouldn't know that 'cause you weren't paying attention. Have you ever knocked MAKAVELI from start to finish? Or did you only hear TO LIVE & DIE IN LA and TOSS IT UP?? That album was just emotional, period! Real deep shit that most folks like you don't know about because you think he sold out. "WHITE MAN'S WORLD"..."KRAZY"..."BLASPHEMY"..."JUST LIKE DADDY"....go knock those...
I Couldn't have said it better.
To add to what you said, Thug Life is a direct derivative from his Black Panthers/ Me Against the World mentality. Jesse can you explain to me what part of his persona was fabricated? Pac's perspective of "Thug Life" was not in the criminal sense but rather it was in the perspective of the underdog in society, and that came from his own mouth. Can you see how this resembles his Black Panthers mentality? How is this aspect fabricated? Are you saying Tupac did not experience hardship and discrimination during his life? Or is it that you're saying his "gangster" image is fabricated?
Keep in mind that EVERYONE changes over time, we are ALL made to grow, and that transition in his music from Me Against the World to All Eyez on Me is only a product of his growth in life.
What could have sparked this change in passion, work ethic, and perspective?
well MAYBE it could have been that the man just went through being shot with 5 BULLETS 2 grazing his head, just barely escaping the grasp of death. Not to mention the national media attention and rumors that surrounded the incident. I would think that this incident accompanied with his SODOMY Courtcase all within a months span of time would naturally make a man to CHANGE.
Maybe you still think everything he says after Me Against The World is fabricated but I dont give a fuck what you think, just trying to spread a little knowledge for the people who seek it on here.