2pac.

if you take a look at my cd collection - you'd see a lot of rock. you'd see some bluesy, jazzy stuff. now you'd even see some chillout music, a little dance here and there, some trance-cy stuff even. some heavy metal scattered around.

but the one genre that would be scarce is rap or even r&b for that matter. while i like dancing to the stuff - it all starts sounding the same to me. in terms of beats and tune. i know it is essentially different - i just don't appreciate it as much as rock riffs from the classic guys like aerosmith and the older bon jovi you know? so the only way a rap and r&b song would affect me is through the lyrics.

"The Rose That Grew From Concrete"
Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet.

Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.

for more, click here:- http://www.ewsonline.com/2pac/poetry.html



Tupac Amaru Shakur. (1971 - 1996)
some people regard this man as a poet. i wouldn't take that away from him. i'll give the guy that much. if today's generation can't get what the old poets like Keats, Shakespeare, Neruda and etc were trying say through their words - Tupac certainly spoke to the generation of today.

Tupac was born Lesane Parish Crooks and his Mum changed his name when he was a small child. Tupac Amaru was an Incan Indian Revolutionary and the name basically translated to 'Shining Serpent' whilst Shakur means 'thankful to God' - just like Syukur in Malay ( i think ).

for more of his bio, click here:- http://www.tupacfans.com/bio.php

although - don't get me wrong - he got caught up with all that gangsta' rap shit back in the 90's. back at that time, people like Will Smith and Black Eye Peas were nowhere to be seen. they did shit the right way. to them, it was about the music and the message they wanted to send out to the people. at that time, gangsta' rap was all about being a gangsta' - livin' the life. violence, sex and money. unfortunately, i think it was more about violence.

but listen to his lyrics. he wasn't propogatin' the bullshit. if you listen properly, you'll see, he's just a guy who got caught up with the wrong shit. and he couldn't get out. and he let his true self out in his songs and his lyrics. then he put up some bad mutha' facade to survive in his world.

i was just 14 years old when i was introduced to Makaveli (one of his aliases). it was 1996 - and i started listening to him right after all the hype from his murder was starting to die down. so i didn't get caught up with the fact that he was dead - then hop on the band wagon just cause everybody else was doin' it you know?

and man - his laugh ... you gotta listen to his laugh in his songs ... hahahahaha.

he made me a fan for life solely based on his songs and lyrics.

some samples i fell in love with:-
Dear Mama, So Many Tears, Brenda's Got a Baby, Soulja's Story, Life Goes On, Only God Can Judge Me, I Ain't Mad at cha', Picture Me Rollin', Unconditional Love, Hit 'em Up, Changes, Thugz Mansion, Broken Wings, Who Do You Believe In?... aih - there are so many!

but if i had to choose from the above. my top 3 would be:- I ain't Mad at cha', Picture me Rollin' and Thugz Mansion. lyrics wise and music. but if you ask me, all of his songs are at the top of my list!

so - this a small little insignificant tribute to the man. i hope that there is a thugz mansion up there for guys like him. a guy who made a small little impact on my life.

keepin' it real. muahahahahaha...

signing off, the commonjack.