Tupac Shakur is a titan of the rap genre; not only has his presence lingered decades after his death, but his continued influence remains profound, having a lasting impact on rap. There are numerous reasons why his influence remains so pervasive and why millions of his fans continue to share his message, many of whom weren’t even born when he met his fateful end in 1996.
Surfing the wave of the mainstream and critical acclaim
Since the early 1990s, several rap megastars have been able to combine the rare combination of mass appeal and widespread adulation from music critics, who are often the most difficult people to impress.
Now, that’s not to say that their opinion should be taken as gospel (far from it) but in the world of music, experts and their analysis are highly sought after and can be the badge of appeal that grants new rappers the ticket to megastardom.
It’s different in other areas of entertainment, such as casino gaming, where expert reviewers focus less on subjective artistry and more on tangible factors like licensing, user experience, and bonus fairness. In that realm, platforms offering trusted online casino reviews serve as gatekeepers for newcomers looking to engage safely and confidently with online gaming. These reviews help players identify secure sites, avoid scams, and understand the intricacies of games and offers, just as music fans turn to trusted critics to cut through the noise and discover true talent.
While music critiques hinge on personal taste, both industries rely on authoritative voices to guide audiences through saturated markets. Whether you’re browsing for a secure online casino or digging through discographies in search of lyrical greatness, the expert opinion often serves as a vital compass.
Due to the subjectivity of music, critics have a broader definition of artists they deem impactful. Even artists who sell millions of records can be lambasted by critics and ultimately relegated to the status of being overshadowed by the juggernauts of their movement.
Pac’s early albums, such as 2Pacalypse Now, and his later albums, including All Eyez on Me and Me Against the World, were critically acclaimed and achieved multi-platinum sales numbers. It’s rare for a rapper to achieve both, which is a key reason why his influence continues to shape music and culture.
They “Not Like Us”
As we approach the 30th anniversary of Tupac’s death, his influence and impact still reverberate around the industry as though he’s still living and breathing amongst us.
The recent feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake is perhaps the most obvious example of this, as despite Drake’s record sales and presence, his music has been criticized. He’s often accused of being unoriginal, and his beef with Kendrick (if it even qualifies as that) was arguably the most one-sided in the history of rap. Many people saw it as a traditional rapper in the ilk of Shakur taking on a pop star masquerading as a rapper.
Kendrick’s Not Like Us won five Grammy awards, took the roof off the Super Bowl, and became one of the biggest rap songs of the 21st century. This beef lifted the lid on pop star versus rap icon, with Kendrick mentioning Tupac twice in the track – “It’s all eyes on me and I’m a send it up to Pac,”- which is just one of many examples of how influential Tupac remains in rap music and broader culture.
An original icon of rap music
While it is fair to say that some elements of Tupac’s music and style played into the ongoing beef that had erupted between the East Coast and the West Coast by the mid-1990s, as a personality, he stood out as a clear, outspoken individual, even when challenged by the authorities that sought to silence him.
On several fronts, he spoke out against political injustices, using his platform to shed light on some of the more troubling elements that plagued America in the 1990s. He employed profound conscious hip-hop and lyrics, choosing to highlight the aspects of humanity that unite us rather than divide us.
Tupac operated at a time when rap was still finding its feet, it wasn’t considered the globally successful finished product it is today. But without original voices and titans of the genre like Tupac helping to lay the early foundations, there wouldn’t have been a market for all those rappers who came after him and cited him as a key influence.
Songs just as relevant today as in the 90s
Given the way his life ended, it is a bitter twist of irony that the messages of his more introspective music were not taken on board. While he did contribute to the negative lifestyle and imagery that rap music suffered from in the 1990s, songs like Changes have been able to transcend the rap genre and the confines of time. Many of his peers from around the same time who catered to their market created forgettable songs with no real message.
However, by pouring his heart and soul into his lyrics, particularly toward the end of his discography, many of Tupac’s lyrics remain as relevant now as they were 30 years ago. It’s this authenticity that has helped his presence remain constant in modern culture and music and continues to influence the rap movement as we see it today.
His Greatest Hits album, released two years after his death, is one of the longest charting albums in US history, so it’s a legacy that will continue for decades to come. The sheer size of the market that still exists for Tupac almost guarantees a fresh wave of rappers over the next couple of decades, whose discography will be inspired by his.
An artist who became bigger than rap
Artists like Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay-Z are considered pioneers who have transcended the realm of rap and become commodities in their own right. But what’s the one thing they all have in common? They cite Tupac as a profound influence. In Eminem’s case, Tupac was one of his biggest influences.
Having been named one of the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone, Tupac used his image as a springboard to explore acting, poetry, and other artistic fields, thereby expanding his artistic horizons beyond rap music.
It would’ve been incredible to see what he would’ve gone on to achieve if he hadn’t met his untimely end at the age of 25—many critics and observers believe that his best days were yet to come.
However, whether that is true or not, there’s still a massive demand for his music, fashion items that adorn his name, and several posthumous collaborations with some of the world’s most recognizable artists. All of this ensures that his legacy not only remains intact but also reshapes music and rap culture as we see it today.
