Garrido 1

Garrido, Ladd Anthony

English 103
Professor Malvin
December 8, 2015
Still No Changes
There are many forms of art that exist in the world today, and music may be one of the
most creative and influential of those art forms. Music is unique in every culture around the
world. In the US, many different genres make up the vast ocean that defines music, such as rock
and roll, country, pop, techno, and so on and so forth. One of the most versatile forms of music in
today's generation is hip hop. Just like other types of music, hip hop has many sub-genres that
have developed since its birth in the early 1980s in the US, from mainstream hip hop,
underground hip hop, alternative hip hop, east coast rap, west coast rap, etc. Throughout the
1990s, gangster rap was one of the most influential and misunderstood forms of hip hop that
was played on the radio airwaves and television. There were many artists and groups that were
famous for this style of hip hop, but the most well known artist of gangster rap, even to this day,
was Tupac Shakur.
With songs like 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted, Hit Em Up and California Love,
Tupac Shakur was considered the face of gangster rap in the early to mid-90s, up until his death
in 1996. Beneath the surface of his thug image and mainstream fame, however, Tupac Shakur
was a very intelligent man who spoke truth behind his lyrics. The song Changes is an excellent
example of how Shakur made people sit back and contemplate about the issues that affect both
the lower class and black lives in America. Through a socioeconomic lens, Shakurs opinions of
race, class and politics in the song Changes are still a reflection of todays issues, which

Garrido 2
contributes to Tupacs idea that things will never change.
Shakur reflects on issues of race throughout the song Changes that still exist in this
current generation. One of the first lines in the song is I'm tired of being poor, and even worse,
I'm black, my stomach hurts so I'm looking for a purse to snatch. Karl Marx, a famous German
philosopher and sociologist, once stated that life is not determined by consciousness, but
consciousness by life (Marx). In Tupacs own view, not only are the poor looked down upon in
American society, but African Americans also suffer the same fate because of racism. Having to
deal with being a poor black person in America meant that they were considered to be near the
very bottom tier of society. In Shakurs view, being both poor and black forced people in the
African American community to do whatever it took to survive, which could resort to stealing
from others just to put some food on the table.
Another line in this song that reflects on the issue of race involves the relationship
between the police and African Americans. Cops give a damn about a negro, pull a trigger, kill
a nigga, hes a hero; the song Changes was written by Shakur in 1992, a year after the
Rodney King incident occurred in which a black taxi driver (King) was brutally beaten by police
officers following a high speed chase. Although King was not killed, the officers that were
involved with this incident were not convicted of any form of excessive force, which sparked
outrage throughout country, especially among the African American community. Tupac reflected
on the idea that authorities can seemingly get away with anything when it comes to incidents
involving African Americans, which perpetuates the idea that the police do not care about the
lives of the black community. A recent incident involving a young man named Michael Brown
back in 2014, in which he was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, relates to
what Shakur is talking about between the police and African Americans. The officer, Darren

Garrido 3
Wilson, was ultimately not indicted on charges of murdering Brown, resulting in an ongoing
movement of distrust towards police and other forms of authority throughout America.
Issues of class are also brought to light in the song Changes, which are still a problem
to this day. Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right, cause both black and white are
smoking crack tonight; crack cocaine became an epidemic back in the mid 1980s and early
1990s and devastated many urban communities in all but four states in America (Drug-Free
World). Institutional racism around this time caused society to associate crack cocaine with the
African American community. According to Shakur, crack cocaine not only affected poor black
communities, but poor white communities as well. Regardless of race, drugs bring out the worst
in people, and Tupac preaches the message that eliminating the problem of drugs is a step
towards keeping communities of poverty from self destructing. Drugs are still a problem to this
day, however, and are associated and prevalent in many areas of poverty throughout the US. In
2008, over 12 percent of more than 14 million arrests were for drug violations, which is the most
common arrest crime category (Justice).
Tupac also expresses his view of political issues that are relatable to those of today's
generation: It's a war on the streets and a war in the Middle Eastinstead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. Tupac references the Gulf War, which
involved Iraq and Kuwait and occurred a year after writing Changes. In his view, America
would rather focus on matters overseas instead of dealing with problems that plague this country.
Tupac also references the war on drugs, which was a term coined by Richard Nixon in the 1970s
and was further pushed by Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush into the 80s and 90s
respectively. Shakur believed that the government would rather arrest drug dealers and users and
overcrowd prisons across the country instead of dealing with the issue of poverty, where drug use

Garrido 4
is most prevalent in the first place. Tupacs view can still be shared by many people in todays
society. America had gone to war in Middle East throughout the 2000s and spent billions of
dollars funding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of focusing on the problems that exist in
our country. The current situation in Syria and the fight against the new threat of the Islamic
militant organization ISIS is another example of how America is focusing their efforts on foreign
affairs rather than fighting problems such as homelessness and occurrences of mass shootings
throughout the United States.
Tupac Shakurs message in the song Changes still holds true to this day. Race is still a
factor in many problems that exist in our country, such as relations with police and the
association of poverty with the African American community. Drug use is still prevalent in areas
of poverty throughout the country and remains associated with lower class society. To many
groups of people in America, it also seems that the government would rather deal with matters
outside of the US instead dealing with issues that affect the country internally. Unfortunately,
recent events of mass shootings have occurred that have affected both the United States and
overseas. The public perception, however, is that the government is still not doing anything to
help fix problems that are plaguing the country and would rather deal with matters in the Middle
East.
Shakur put it best toward the end of his song: Its time for us as a people to start making
changes.the way we eat, live, and treat each other..its on us to do what we gotta do to
survive. Change can be a difficult process to go through, but it is necessary if one intends to
grow as a person. If society ever decides to follow the words of Tupac Shakur, things would
finally change for the better in this country.

Garrido 5
Works Cited
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The German Ideology. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1974.
Print.
"Impact of Drugs on Society." National Drug Threat Assessment. Department of Justice, 1 Feb.
2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs38/38661/drugImpact.htm
Crack Cocaine: A Short History. Foundation for a Drug-Free World. January 2015. Web. 7
Dec. 2015. http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crackcocaine/the-truth-about
drugs.html