"Damn, take a ride, to my block
My block, that's right! Heh
F'real on my **** block
They got a ****
Shedding tears, reminiscing on my past fears
Cause **** was hectic for me last year
It appears that I've been marked for death, my heartless breath
The underlying cause of my arrest, my life is stressed
And no rest forever weary, my eyes stay teary
for all the brothers that are buried in the cemetery
**** is scary, how black on black crime legendary
But at times unnecessary, I'm getting worried
Teardrops and closed caskets, the three strikes law is drastic
And certain death for us ghetto ****
What can we do when we're arrested, but open fire
Life in the pen ain't for me, cause I'd rather die
But don't cry through your despair
I wonder if the Lord still cares, for us **** on welfare
And who cares if we survive
The only time they notice a **** is when he's clutching on a four-five
My neighborhood ain't the same
Cause all these little babies going crazy and they suffering in the game
And I swear it's like a trap
But I ain't given up on the hood, it's all good when I go back
**** show me love, **** give me props
Forever hop cause it don't stop... on my block"
Tupac Shakur was much more than just a rapper.
He was a word poet. A word smith.
He had the magical ability to make you see what he saw. Turn off the TV, close your eyes and listen to a song or 2.
I did on Sunday as I listened to "My Block" and I could see what he intended for us to see. It was like I was watching a documentary in my head as he spoke of friends dead far too young, a mothers pain of losing a child, black on black violence in the hood, drugs, welfare, gangs.
Most importantly in this song he didnt once mention ****, rims or money. Tupac (and Biggie another hip hop and rap icon) is a voice that is sorely lacking and missed in today's hip hop and rap scene.
Sure Nas, Ice Cube and even Jay Z are still around but Tupac and Biggie were and ARE what rap music is all about.
Nowadays these up and coming rappers think if you can mix some beats and sounds around dropping rims, bling, **** you are a rapper. It makes you wonder if they are just trying to cash in or really want to continue a legacy that Tupac and Big started.
The duo must surely be turning over in their graves.
I have no doubt Tupac and Biggie would still be on top of the rap industry today. They would be a couple of aging OG's kind of like Ice Cube when he dropped his "Laugh Now, Cry Later" album.
Cube had been getting knocked for a while and heavily criticized for "selling out" for doing Disney movies and such instead of rapping. When all he was doing was making money.
Thugs come and go.
But a true gangster stays true to making money.
When Ice Cube dropped that album people mocked it and said he lost his touch before even listening to it. Thinking he was just trying to make some money and milk his name. But he in fact showed he was still a force to be reckoned with rapping about Katrina, President Bush and all the political stuff that mayed him the Godfather of Gangsta Rap back in the day.
Yes, Tupac would surely be disappointed at these up and coming rappers that keep spitting the same tired lyrics over and over.
Making it all that much sadder that he isnt here.
"Lookin for these better days
Better days, heyyy! Better days
Got me thinkin bout better days
Better days! Better days, better days
Heyyy! Better days
Got me thinkin bout better days
[Verse One]
Time to question our lifestyle, look how we live
Smokin weed like it ain't no thang, so even kids
wanna try now, they lie down and get ran through
Nobody watched 'em clockin the evil man do
Faced with the demons, addicted to hearin victims screamin
Guess we was evil since birth, product of cursed semens
Cause even our birthdays is cursed days
A born thug in the first place, the worst ways
I'd love to see the block in peace
With no more dealers and crooked cops, the only way to stop the beast
And only we can change
It's up to us to clean up the streets, it ain't the same
Too many murders, too many funerals and too many tears
Just seen another brother buried plus I knew him for years
Passed by his family, but what could I say?
Keep yo' head up and try to keep the faith
And pray for better days"
Jarah Mariano
Kayla Oberg
Sled Hockey
Heisman Moments: Closest Finishes
Comments (13) Add A Comment
Real talk. Especially a true gangster stays true to making money. I always felt that way about Biggie. Puff might have been taking him down that "shiny suit" road, but I think at the end of the day as long as B.I.G. saw them $$$, I think he would have been all right with trying to keep some of that Brooklyn edge tucked inside a shiny Versace suit.
As someone who admittedly didn't get into Pac until he died, honestly I was a Brooklyn teenager who unfortunately bought into the East-West feud and didn't see Pac's genius until I hit about 20 or so, My Block is very much the visual narrative into the hood's of America as Pac wanted it to be and as you described it as.
Good blog, DJ. Keep them coming.
J. HOVA: BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (18072)
I agree with you 100% on this. Rap music now is dead. Noone will ever fill the void that was left when Biggie & Tupac died. Tupac was especially gifted because there was no subject he would come across that he could not rip the hell out of and create the best rhymes possible. They are truly missed.
sKeEhOLLa...sWaGGa''
Total Comments (737)
Thanks, Hova.
That song took me to places I aint been in a while.
djroxalot: Go…
South Central Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (19384)
Agreed. He was versatile thats for sure.
djroxalot: Go…
South Central Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (19384)
I would have to agree rap died with Tupac and Biggie. Now we are left with Kindagarten rhymes from Ludacris and others.
PieEyedPiper
Manhattan, KS
Total Comments (1149)
Actually Luda is good albeit a bit commercialized.
djroxalot: Go…
South Central Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (19384)
If Luda is a kindergarten rhymer than he must have came out the gifted class. I'm not going to tell you how to feel but Luda is pretty tight. He might have a comical edge to him, but he can really go hard.
J. HOVA: BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (18072)
Agree, Hova. Luda has some real good rhymes.
djroxalot: Go…
South Central Los Angeles, CA
Total Comments (19384)
I know it's only one track but I got one good Luda track for everybody: War With God. It may or may not be for T.I. (personally I think it is) but whoever he was going at got a verbal shot right in the head.
It's not even the one track, his whole albums contain some lyrical edge.
Damn, I am starting to feel the need to do a Luda blog. I need the challenge.
J. HOVA: BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (18072)
Biggie cannot be put in the same class as 2Pac.
Kool Moe Dub
Total Comments (12282)
true,
I still have hope for hip-hop, although most of the mainstream ish is pork there are still emcee's, lyricist and rappers who value the art more than the benefit of what comes from rhyming. One of the things that has helped the decay in my opinion is the way hip-hop became a billion dollar industry and anytime you have an industry you have industry giants, and from that you get copycats and imitations. One artist sells huge, now 10 other record labels have to have their version of that same artist to capitolize on his popularity. I may start ramblin but, who cares, right? I said that to say this I guess:
I remember the first time I heard Illmatic, The Low End Theory, Enter the 36 Chambers,
DoggyStyle, The Chronic, Amerikkka's Most Wanted, Hard to Earn, Daily Operation, Midnight Marauders, Strictly for my ****.S., Paid In Full, Sex, Drugs, and Violence, The Formula....and so on. Those were albums that helped make my life soundtrack, I not only listened to the albums but there were songs on each lp *yall probably haven't seen lp used in a while* that grabbed me, and captured a moment. Today it's far more commercial, I look at my son and wonder what artists will he think fondly of when he's my age? Soldier Boy?
Gucci Mane?
My father used to say "rap was a fad" and that it's just noise, but there was and still is artistry to it, if you don't believe me listen to Paid In Full, then listen to everything after it. I don't know man, i get sentimental talking about hip-hop.
polkathug
Total Comments (80)
Well done.
dynamic
Total Comments (3731)
Great blog, I agree, people like Soulja Boy and Flo Rida dominate the industry today.
ahung: The Last…
Santa Clara , CA
Total Comments (2775)
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