{"id":33846,"date":"2023-05-14T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=33846"},"modified":"2023-05-14T21:23:21","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T21:23:21","slug":"tupacs-dear-mama-endures-as-rap-artists-detail-complex-relationships-with-their-mothers-street-life-and-the-pursuit-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/tupacs-dear-mama-endures-as-rap-artists-detail-complex-relationships-with-their-mothers-street-life-and-the-pursuit-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Tupac\u2019s \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 endures as rap artists detail complex relationships with their mothers, street life and the pursuit of\u00a0success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A.D. Carson<\/a>, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In hip-hop music, it sometimes seems as if songs to and about mothers are common enough that audiences might take them for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who studies hip-hop<\/a> and how it shapes and is shaped by society and culture, I don\u2019t believe rap has ever abandoned the idea that a song for your mother or mother figure is expected of any artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past few years have seen many notable contributions to this genre. Two of my favorites are 7xvethegenius\u2019s 2019 song \u201cBlack Soul<\/a>,\u201d on which she talks about the death of her grandmother and not wanting to let her mother down, and Tierra Whack\u2019s 2021 \u201cCutting Onions<\/a>,\u201d which is about mourning the loss of her grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the long list of lyrical tributes to mothers that rap artists have recorded over the past 50 years, perhaps none has had as an enduring impact as Tupac Shakur\u2019s \u201cDear Mama<\/a>.\u201d The song peaked at No. 9 on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 in 1995<\/a> and has since generated more than 257 million streams<\/a> on Spotify. For comparison, Kanye West\u2019s \u201cHey Mama\u201d had only a fraction of that at 85 million streams<\/a> on Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popularity of the \u201cDear Mama\u201d song will undoubtedly continue to grow now that it shares the same title as an FX docuseries<\/a> about Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, directed by Allen Hughes<\/a>, the co-director of \u201cMenace II Society\u201d and \u201cDead Presidents\u201d with his twin brother, Albert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director also had a violent history with the rapper, which resulted in Tupac serving 15 days in jail for assault in 1994<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contentious relationships may be a hallmark of Tupac\u2019s brief and prolific career. \u201cDear Mama,\u201d the documentary series, narrates the ins and outs of the relationship he had with his mother. The docuseries deals with, among other things, Afeni\u2019s radical politics<\/a>, her involvement with the Black Panther Party and the influence her politics had on Tupac\u2019s life and his music. \u201cDear Mama,\u201d the song, was released in 1995, the year before the rapper was murdered in Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds across generations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If the song has intergenerational appeal, that is easily understood by the fact that in it, Tupac raps over a sample of Joe Sample\u2019s 1978 \u201cIn All My Wildest Dreams.\u201d<\/a> And for the song\u2019s hook, singers borrow from the 1974 song dedicated to mothers, \u201cSadie,<\/a>\u201d by The Spinners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tupac\u2019s autobiographic ode to his mother showcases the rapper\u2019s storytelling ability with vivid and vulnerable details of their shared struggles and battles. His family\u2019s poverty, his mother\u2019s struggles with drug addiction<\/a>, his defiance of authority and the love they shared through it all are the foundational lyrical elements, delivered with the signature punchy grit of Tupac\u2019s singsong cadence. He intones to his \u201cBlack Queen, Mama,\u201d and offers variations of \u201cThere\u2019s no way I can pay you back \/ but my plan is to show you that I understand. \/ You are appreciated.\u201d to punctuate each verse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are some of my other favorite rap songs with lyrics devoted to mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other mother figures who raised the artists through the struggles they faced. Some feature the artist addressing their mothers directly in the style of \u201cDear Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because my academic and artistic work is about \u201cdope,\u201d and hip-hop music as one of its forms<\/a>, it\u2019s worth pointing out how, in many of these harrowing tales, the men rapping offer similar reasons for their involvement in the alternate economies of America\u2019s illicit drug sales. In most cases, they narrate their activities as a way to achieve a version of the American Dream, which in many cases includes securing a better standard of living for their mothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tupac himself did this in \u201cDear Mama\u201d when he wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t guilty, \u2018cause even though I sell rocks \/ it feels good putting money in your mailbox. \/ I love payin\u2019 rent when the rent is due. \/ I hope you got the diamond necklace that I sent to you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Above the Law\u2019s \u201cBlack Superman,<\/a>\u201d which predates \u201cDear Mama,\u201d the group struck a similar chord:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got my mama up outta there. \/ Because y\u2019all motherf\u2014ers just don\u2019t care. \/ Uh, you really wanna know why I sold scum. \/ Because my mama, to me, comes number one. \/ Now you sucker motherf\u2014ers don\u2019t understand, \/ but to my mama, I\u2019m her real Black Superman.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tupac is far from the only rapper who wrote lyrics about using proceeds from selling illicit drugs to shower his mother with material gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rapper
Rapper Jay-Z poses with his mother, Gloria Carter, at an event hosted by the Shawn Carter Foundation in 2011 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cI Made It,\u201d Jay-Z, who was featured in a 2021 article titled \u201cHow Jay-Z went from teen drug dealer to the world\u2019s richest musician,<\/a>\u201d wrote about how he couldn\u2019t believe he went from his \u201cearlier stages to bein\u2019 on stages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow your lil misfit \/ make sure every day is Christmas. \/ Write out your wish list. \/ Sixes, wrist is \/ glistening. \/ You don\u2019t even like jewels. \/ But you could get missing anywhere you like to.\u201d<\/em> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dzf8YhM4K5w?wmode=transparent&start=0 Jay Z\u2019s \u201cI Made It\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along similar lines, and using a similar title, Benny the Butcher created a 2020 song titled \u201cThank God I Made It<\/a>.\u201d In it, he raps about navigating racism and how it affected his life choices, but still being indebted to his mother for dealing with all the stress he caused as a troublesome boy \u2013 in many ways echoing how Tupac spoke of how he would \u201creminisce on the stress\u201d he caused his mother and how \u201cit was hell huggin\u2019 on my mama from a jail cell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was raised by a woman, so shout out to single mothers \/ who had to teach their teenage boys to use rubbers. \/ Getting calls home from school, then wondering, why she bugging. \/ \u2018Cause that\u2019s just more stress to add on top of struggling. \/ Few things I wanna show you, cause I feel like I owe you. \/ You made me the man I am today. I never told you. \/ Dressed me in hand-me-downs cause you couldn\u2019t afford Polo. \/ How it feel to see your two oldest boys\u2019 names on logos?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some artists offer a candid look at the nuanced interactions between mother and son and their respective vices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cLife of the Party<\/a>,\u201d a 2021 song by Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and Andre 3000, Andre 3000 prayerfully addresses Ye\u2019s mother, Donda West, who passed away in 2007, with hopes that both mothers can meet and still offer motherly advice from the afterlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiss Donda, you see my mama, tell her I\u2019m lost. \/ You see, she\u2019d always light a cigarette. We\u2019d talk. I would cough. \/ Exaggerating a little bit so she\u2019d get the point \/ Trying to get her to stop smoking. I would leave and fire up a joint.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many artists have devoted lyrics to describing the complex relationships they have with their mothers, others have offered more mundane yet vivid descriptions of the everyday lives their matriarchs lead at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cThe Weather,<\/a>\u201d a 2023 song by Black Thought & El Michels Affair, Black Thought raps about his grandmother:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMinnie be grinning knowing I done spent a day of penny pinching and sinning. \/ See her in the kitchen cooking fish or chicken depending \/ on what day it is. \/ If I\u2019m staying there, then yeah, that\u2019s just the way it is. \/ If she say it is. \/ In Minnie crib, the time froze. \/ After sundown, you keep them curtains and the blinds closed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.D. Carson<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A.D. Carson, University of Virginia In hip-hop music, it sometimes seems as if songs to and about mothers are common enough that audiences might take them for granted. As someone who studies hip-hop and how it shapes and is shaped by society and culture, I don\u2019t believe rap has ever abandoned the idea that a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":33847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,8025],"tags":[198,14038,1711,1427,1459,1176,3563,4323,2545,12808,3974,14037,14036,14039],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33848,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33846\/revisions\/33848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}