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Avg. Rating: 4
I must confess that I am only half way through the book
and so it may be unfair for me to give an opinion but sense i am a book worm, the kind that prides myself on reading a book in one day, I feel that I am experienced enough to pick up a certain sense of the author by the first chapter.
Now, in saying that, so far, from what I've read, I feel the authoer (Mr. Dyson) is trying to appeal to people outside of hip hop because it is as if he's saying that Tupac was more than a thug, or there was something very dynamic about his thug formula at the same time tragic (to say the least).
There's no doubt in my man that Tupac (r.i.p.) was an intelligent person to some level because of how he articulated his words and I knew he had some grass root flavor because the brother was straight up real in what he was saying (interviews, appearences) outside of his music. But I feel that Mr. Dyson is trying to tell the world (white world?) that Tupac was a very soulful and artistic person who was gotten trapped inside of his art that lead to a very tragic ending; that he (tupac had more to offer the world) before his early death.
I feel that who ever Mr. Dyson was trying to reach with his semi-autobiography of the slain star is very least insulting towards the average person's intelligence because history dictates that once a person is stuck with interest by a person, place or thing, that person will go out on their own to find out more information about the object of their attention (be it elderly white rock n' roll types, blues people, whoever) and in saying that, perhaps, this type of mindset is who Mr. Dyson was aiming at.
Another thing that bothers me about hip hop journalism in general is that in general, I don't know who were the true ideal reader that these books are meant for: are they for the true hip hopper or is it the true hippor and a more broader reading base (with high literary skills?) because whenever I read this types of books (3 so far) I need a thesaurus next to me. And I figure hip hop isn't about using big words, and so if one wants to write about the art form, they have to also think like the fan and not like themselves to make a core impact. Not that I'm saying this book hasn't made a good impact (look at the other reviews) but when one makes a comparison (and you should), I like Chuck D's book, "Fight the Power" because it's simple, down to earth, and honest. Infact, I was surprised how Chuck D honest approach throughout the whole book because he was humble and not egotistical or biased.
Anyway, read the book, like I'm continuing to do so and judge for yourself.
The metaphysic of Tupac Shakur
Here is an overview of some of the issues and ideas expressed by the Reverend Professor Dyson in this book about Tupac Shakur.
Tupac's mother was a Black Panther, who had served as her own lawyer to acquit herself out of a COINTELPRO frameup. For the most part, it seems from the mid-70's onward, her involvement with the Panthers, had blacklisted her from the mainstream. By the early 80's, she had developed a severe addiction to crack cocaine. But she nonetheless managed to cultivate in Tupac a precocious intellect. He became a very literate young fellow, interested in political issues, art, literature and the theater. Tupac's family moved to Baltimore in 1986 and there he entered a School of Arts where he excelled. According to Dyson, he organized Stop the Violence and AIDS awareness campaigns as a student. However his mother was getting more crazy and kicked Tupac out on the street. He ended up in Marin City CA outside of Oakland in the home of the wife of the then wrongfully imprisoned Geronimo Pratt. The Pratt home was apparently very broken. According to Dyson, Tupac had a great difficult fitting in upon arriving in Marin City. He didn't know how to play basketball, wrote poetry, dressed like a hippy, and was a target of gangs. According to the taped interview of Tupac at age 17, that Dyson quotes extensively from, Tupac complained that he was rejected by a girl on the ground that he was "too nice." Tupac in the tape declares that he will keep treating the girls right and maybe they won't fall for the bad boys anymore and turn to sensitive, decent fellows like him. Tupac fled the Pratt house, and ended up in an abandoned apartment with some of his friends. He got a job at a pizza parlor. He started selling drugs but apparently some street people dissuaded him from it. He had just turned seventeen, when he met Leila Steinberg, a lovely young white woman with an admixture of Jewish and Chicano ancestry. Steinberg conducted workshops in the inner city high schools in the area that allowed youth to engage in various artistic forms. Tupac moved in with her and her then husband, a black rap promoter and children. He became her assistant.
By the early 90's Tupac with Steinberg as reading partner, was consuming religious tracts of all the religions, such novelists as Alice Walker, Herman Meliville and William Styron, the poetry of Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou, books of investigative journalism, Nietzsche,W.E.B. Dubois. He read Eurocentric works and tried to discredit them. He also read Sigmund Freud to discredit him, according to Steinberg; he held the opinion that Freud was "a frustrated homosexual who never fully formulated his opinions."
Beyond the great intellect, Dyson writes, Tupac struggled with some mighty demons. His relationship with his mother had really wrecked havoc with him psychologically. Like a lot of ghetto youth, he had identity problems. He came of age in an era of the "white blacklash" and "white flight",of the deregulation that allowed the fleeing of working class manufacturing jobs to poor countries, of declining government subsidies. Meanwhile, more and more blacks were hoarded into prison on such principles of justice that places harsh justice on the consumer of crack but relatively light sentences on the predominantly wealthy white users of powder cocaine.
According to Dyson, Tupac defined thuggery in terms of someone who is trying to survive and be a man in a society that shuns and oppress them. Tupac made an acronym of thug life-"the hate you give little infants f-ks everyone." Dyson quotes Vijay Prashad on the interesting roots of the word "thug." It apparently is rooted in the Indian subcontinent and referred to brigands who robbed bullion cargos being looted by the British imperialists.
The thug life gives ghetto youth self-esteem and fellowship with other males. Tupac had similar motivations according to Dyson for entering the gangsta rap world with his second album. He tried to live that life to the fullest, getting drunk and high a lot. He lived life very recklessly, challenging god to bring death on him. In this flirting with death, Tupac expressed the psychological state of all too many ghetto residents, including chiliastic impulses, a deep down severe pain with life on this earth.
Dyson writes that most folks don't really consider Tupac really guilty of the offense for which he spent eleven months in prison. The woman claimed that Tupac had participated in a gang rape of her. He was only convicted of "forcibly" touching her buttocks. The prison experience damaged him. He might have been raped there. Dyson discusses sexism in the black community. He writes that the Million Man March sponsored by Farrakhan was an example of black men getting together to affirm that they going to live constructive lives.
Tupac's embrace of thuggery seems pretty silly to say the least. No doubt he was trying to make some money by cultivating the image, as the Notorious B.I.G. later claimed Tupac told him.
Dyson at times writes clearly and simply, even musically; much of the rest of the time, he writes in a rambling, gnarled, bookish style. There are times particularly in the last chapter, when he is almost unreadable. Nonetheless, he paints of moving picture of Tupac, who, in the true style of the poet, could evoke profound emotion with simple words and his vocal skills in his songs.
I Aint Mad At Cha
Dr. Dyson does it again with his piece on Tupac Shakur. In this book, you will find plenty of insight from people who knew him well. Jada Pinkett Smith, Leila Steinberg, Warren G, and plenty others give their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on this multidimensional man. One part that caught me was the amount of reading 'Pac did. His detractors constantly talk about all the negativity but rarely discuss the many things he did which were positive, and Dyson does his part to bring that to everyone who reads this book. Some of the information you will already know due to the fact that there is so much of Pac to go around, but there are some things which can be gained from the book. 'Pac was a representative of EVERY young black man in America in some sort of fashion, not EXACTLY the same, but there was a lil bit of all of us in him. Whether brothers confess to that is up to them. The trials, tribulations, ups, and the downs of this man are things we all have went through or are currently going through as of this moment. A very solid piece of work by Dr. Dyson.
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