The iconic 90s hip-hop artist was known for his pained intensity. But Dear Mama, a tribute to his mother Afeni, showed off his softer side – and still brings listeners to tears.
"Not everyone is so lucky and gets to experience the love of a mother for a long time," explains DJ Master Tee, whose words are staggered due to deep emotion, before he starts to cry down the phone.
"A lot of people's mothers died way too early… and I think Tupac Shakur understood that well," the producer continues. "He didn't just want to make a song that celebrated the mothers who are here, but also the ones that passed away."
"Not everyone is so lucky and gets to experience the love of a mother for a long time," explains DJ Master Tee, whose words are staggered due to deep emotion, before he starts to cry down the phone.
"A lot of people's mothers died way too early… and I think Tupac Shakur understood that well," the producer continues. "He didn't just want to make a song that celebrated the mothers who are here, but also the ones that passed away."
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Even as a crack phene, momma / You always were a black queen, momma," he famously rapped.
This lyric alone represented a radical shift in rap storytelling in the way it represented victims of the so-called Crack Era, when use of the drug soared across the US during the 1980s and 90s.
Previously, rap artists had stripped away the humanity of crack addicts via slurs such as "basehead" and "zombie". But, Tee says, Tupac saw addicts "as victims of the state, who needed our support". And although Tupac expresses sadness over a childhood with little money – where he and his sister Sekyiwa observed the matriarch of their family descend into the hell of addiction – he leads with empathy for Afeni Shakur's struggle.
Even as a crack phene, momma / You always were a black queen, momma," he famously rapped.
This lyric alone represented a radical shift in rap storytelling in the way it represented victims of the so-called Crack Era, when use of the drug soared across the US during the 1980s and 90s.
Previously, rap artists had stripped away the humanity of crack addicts via slurs such as "basehead" and "zombie". But, Tee says, Tupac saw addicts "as victims of the state, who needed our support". And although Tupac expresses sadness over a childhood with little money – where he and his sister Sekyiwa observed the matriarch of their family descend into the hell of addiction – he leads with empathy for Afeni Shakur's struggle.
