Unabridged Audiobook
I’ve watched every movie and documentary about Tupac but never bothered to read any of the many books about his life or death. Listening to Sway Calloway; however, (from Sirius XM channel 45, the Sway in the Morning Show), Sway and team interviewed author Jeff Pearlman about his book and something about the writing just “felt” different. Being a Native of Oakland, CA, I trust the opinion and thoughts of my fellow Oaklander, and so, if Sway was cosigning the book, it had to be worthwhile; after all, everyone knows where they were when they heard Tupac was shot, and then, when he passed. WoW!! It is my [unprofessional] opinion that this book is most likely the truest representation of what Tupac’s life was like. And unfortunately, with it being the truest, it is also the saddest. It gives you an unobstructed look into a young boy-turned-man’s desire, no - hunger for love, affection and acceptance. First by family, then friends, then by women [any women!] and finally…wherever he could grasp it, however he could grasp it. Tupac blindly overlooked the sincerity in which this “attention” was fed to him. He basked in it - repercussions be damned. He is a Gemini after all, and there are two sides to the sign. Unlike the Zodiac Gemini; however, there proved to be multiple sides to Tupac. In some ways, he was a shapeshifter, becoming what he needed to, in order to survive his upbringing, get himself out from under the streets and poverty and become the “greatest” at his craft. He also transposed himself to fit into whatever ‘box’ he felt he needed to fit into, to get ahead, and be accepted. There is no doubt [to me] that Tupac Amaru Shakur is to date the most innovative, influential, most prolific Black Artist of the 20th and 21st Centuries; despite, or perhaps in spite of his antics. There was no limit to the heights he could have soared and the achievements he could have obtained, but his compulsion for acceptance and success, and the philistines who provided it, proved to be his greatest downfall. We will never know the extent of Tupac’s greatness or the impact he would have eventually had on the world. One thing I will say with 100% certainty, is that he inspired [his] people and he will forever be loved, missed and remembered with so much appreciation and adoration.
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