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I See No Changes: 6 Tupac Lyrics That Are Still Painstakingly Relevant Today

byJocelyn J
September 13, 2016
20 years ago today, in a Las Vegas, Nevada hospital, rapper Tupac Shakur took his last breath.

20 years later, his legacy still lives on and his lyrics still resonate with millions of people. Tupac was a legend and a staple in the 90’s rap game. Tupac was not only a rapper, but an activist, often rapping about the black struggle including issues such as police brutality, racism and government corruption. Seeing that his songs were recorded over two decades ago, one would assume that the lyrics would be outdated and no longer relatable. But as you listen to his music, you’ll find yourself wondering if he could see 20 years into the future, as his lyrics are eerily relevant today. Though he has hundreds of songs, here are 6 Tupac lyrics that still carry weight and relevancy in 2016:

  1. “And since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman, and our game from a woman…I wonder why we take from our women why we rape our women do we hate our women?” – Keep Ya Head Up

          

Probably Pac’s most well-known song and also one of his most compassionate, Keep Ya Head Up is a sweet rap dedicated to women (more specifically, black women). Though the whole song is still relevant, this particular line cuts deep. Rape is still a great issue in society, with one in five women experiencing sexual assault in their lifetime, and rape being the single most unreported crime. Though sexual assault has definitely been on a decline since the 1992 (the year this song was recorded), it’s an issue enough to where where many women in today’s society can unfortunately resonate with this line in a song that was made almost 24 years ago.

 

     2. “Here on earth, tell me what’s a black life worth? A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts.” – I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto
 
 Though this is a Pac song that many people haven’t heard before, these lyrics are some that may give many people goosebumps upon first listen. Though this was written in the early 1990’s about the death of Latasha Harlins, a 15 year old African American girl who was shot by a store owner in Los Angeles, a situation that ended up being the catalyst of the L.A Riots, many people may hear this line and think about the 2012 Trayvon Martin case. Trayvon Martin was a teenage boy who was shot walking home with a bottle of Arizona Juice and a packet of skittles, and coincidentally (or maybe not so much so), this incident was the catalyst of what we know as the Black Lives Matter movement.

  1.  And why the hell am I locked in jail? They let them white boys free, we be shocked as hell.” – God Bless The Dead

 
     A few days ago, it was revealed that Brock Turner was released from jail 3 months early. He was convicted of sexual assault, yet was only given 6 months, and was released after 3. A few days ago, popular rapper Desiigner was arrested for drug possession and alleged weapon possession. If his charges weren’t dropped, he would have faced 15 years. This dynamic of white men being given leniency when it comes to sentencing has been around for over two decades. As a man who spent time in jail, Pac himself witnessed this dynamic and blatant racism first hand, and we can now see that not much has changed.

  1. “The American Dream wasn’t meant for me, cause Lady Liberty is a hypocrite and she lied to me.” – Panther Power

 
Possibly one of Tupac’s most political songs, Panther Power is chock full of political statements and clearly reveals Pac’s attitudes towards America. Though his attitude is harsher than most people’s, many people view black people as hating America when we do things they find offensive — such has not standing for the pledge. This is something that football player Colin Kaepernick is dealing with right now, in his choosing not to stand for the pledge, he’s offended many people. But the truth of the matter is, like Tupac said 20 years ago, the American Dream is not for black people. For us, this is not the land of the free, and we refuse to sing the hypocritical anthem until it holds true for all people.

  1. It ain’t a secret don’t conceal the fact, the penitentary’s packed, and it’s filled with blacks…there’s a war on drugs so the police can bother me”– Changes

 
I see no changes. A song about wanting change, I’m sure Pac would be dissapointed to see that many of the things he rapped about in this song have not changed at all. Of the 2.3 million people in the prison system, African American’s make up 1 million of them and are six times more likely to be incarcerated than whites. And for the war on drugs…that still hasn’t changed. Though white people are more likely to do drugs than black people, black people are incarcerated at higher rates for drugs.

  1. They got me trapped, can barely walk tha city streets without a cop harassing me, searching me. Then asking my identity. Hands up, throw me up against the wall, didn’t do a thing at all… – Trapped

 Pac was a victim of police brutality, and often spoke out about the way he was treated by the police. This line is relatable, considering all of the black men and women who have died by the hands of police brutality in the past year alone. This line particularly may remind some  of the Michael Brown Ferguson case, where a teenage boy was shot with his hands up. It’s sad how nothing has changed in terms of police brutality in all these years.
 History repeats itself is more than just a saying. These lyrics make it clear that not much has changed in the 20 years that Pac has been gone. One would like to think that some improvement has been made, but that’s simply not true. But I believe that if Tupac were still alive, he would want us to keep fighting, keeping going, and keep our heads up.
 After all, he himself said, “the power is in the people and the politics we address.”
 R.I.P. to Tupac Shakur. Gone but never forgotten.
Author
Jocelyn J
Jocelyn J is a psychology student, trying to change the world any way she can. You can find her roaming the streets of NYC, probably eating a vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles. If that's too hard, you can just check her Twitter, @terrordomes.

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