Death and Dying in Tupac's Music (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 1,3, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Anglistik & Amerikanistik), course: Death & Dying in the United States, language: English, abstract: Past analyses of violence in rap music mostly focused on quantitative surveys of certain semantic references, or tried to answer the question to which extent listener's musical preferences influence their relationship with violence. While approaches of this kind may have its merits in detecting general trends, they often miss to address differences in the quality of these references because they largely ignore the context in which they are made, thus, diminishing their explanatory value for cultural characteristics. The objective of this paper is three-fold: Firstly, it aims to reveal the broad spectrum of death depictions in Tupac's music. Secondly, it intends to create appreciation for the frequent thoughtful depiction he shows, as well as to raise sympathy even for seemingly careless expressions of death by trying to explain the subconscious rational behind it. This will be especially useful for readers not familiar with rap in its original cultural context. Thirdly, it will place these depictions in the broader context of American culture, thereby, revealing a continuity with political, social and cultural developments in American society at large, and African-American culture in particular. The argument will be made that rather than being an example of a counter-culture that is breaking with society's values, Tupac's gangsta raps can also be considered a direct product of mainstream culture.

After the historical background that shaped the environment Tupac grew up in is explored in chapter two, the third chapter will introduce three categories which can be used to systematize references of death in his songs. In chapter 4, notable examples of his lyrics are categorized and their context is explained with special focus being put on trends in American culture and how they influenced Tupac's biography in order to explain them. The concluding section will then discuss the possibilities an approach like this presents and identify what can be learned about culture by examining a this society's cultural products. The goal is not to solve contradictions prevalent in rap music but rather to emphasize their correlation with societies contradictions which manifest in its institutions and the cultural practices of its members