Why Tupac still reigns in hip hop 20 years after his death, and why his legacy is at risk
From hologram performances at Coachella to seven posthumous albums, rapper Tupac Shakur has stayed relevant. But the death of his mother – who controlled the Tupac brand – may change everything
Two of the most awaited (and most acclaimed) recent hip hop albums came from Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean. On the final tracks, each album hit a familiar note – the rappers invoked Tupac Shakur.
When rapper Khaled M. visited his ancestral Libya after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, he was startled to see likenesses of Tupac and another late music legend, Bob Marley – plastered on the walls in a country far removed from English-language pop culture.
Twenty years after his death, Tupac still reigns. Other rappers have eclipsed his stardom, and the promotion of Tupac has been haphazard, but the artist, who died at age 25 on September 13, 1996, maintains a hold that is among the most enduring in recent times.
“He represented, more than anything, just that angst for people who felt oppression and poverty or who felt marginalised,” says Khaled M., the US-raised son of Libyan dissidents who has gone on to a rap career. “He was the voice of the voiceless. Up until this day, I don’t think we have a hip hop artist being able to replicate all of his voice, or his depth and passion.”
His emotional directness and range – from prophetic warnings of his violent death to making maternal affection acceptable for a gangsta rapper – helped Tupac’s music transcend borders.
Global artists who have cited his influence include DAM, the pioneering political Palestinian hip-hop group, and rappers in Iran, sub-Saharan Africa and eastern Europe. His influence was not always a positive one; during the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone, West Africa, guerillas donned Tupac T-shirts as fatigues and took his aggressive Hit ’Em Up as an anthem.