"Changes" by Tupac

The song that I have chosen is called "Changes" by Tupac. "Changes" is about being trapped in a dangerous cycles of exhibiting illegal and harmful behaviors. More specifically, Tupac raps about blacks, their inequalities, stereotypes, and people lacking the compassion to help each other and partake in pro-active self betterment.

My favorite part of the song (in terms of lyrical content versus snazzy rhymes) is about how we should care for each other instead of fighting and killing. In this exerpt, Tupac stresses how positive relationships and bonding help to prevent violence. However, he wisely recognizes that as we grow older our problems increase with the decrease of our naivete. This example is as followed:

"We gotta start makin' changes
learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers
and that's how it's supposed to be
How can I ever take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that's the way it is"

I chose this song because it is unlike the majority of rap songs. Although I enjoy rap music, most of it romanticizes uncooth actions such as using and dealing drugs, solving problems through violence, and mysogynism. Unlike other rappers, Tupac distinguishes these issues as problems in our society and pushes for the necessary act of change through unity and practice.

"Changes" represents the blues genre due to the fact that it addresses problems that disrupt our lives and challenge us daily. Tupac expresses remorse and pain, creating a desperate but creative plee for help. In addition, despite our respective denominations, he makes this song appeal to everyone by suggesting solutions that we can all be a part of.

Thanks to Max (and his secret desire to be a super-model), I was able to take a picture that loosely represents a theme from this song. Although this photograph is only a "rough draft" I am hoping that it symbolizes troubled youth and a corrupted society. I created this image by asking Max (really nicely) to put on a "pouty face" and kneel by a barred barrier surrounding tables outside of Starbucks. YES!

The picture is supposed to represent a young man in jail, his once promising life in shambles due to poor decision making and the absence of positive influences and helpful resources. My ultimate goal for my final image is to play on the pathos appeal by showing what happens to our youth when we fail to take pro-active approaches to the problems that we conveniently ignore.

In my brainstorming process, I have decided to elaborate more on the negative actions that Tupac speaks of, in addition to the horrific results of such behaviors. For example, something that I have not previously mentioned in this blog but would like to touch on in my paper is how children from rough backgrounds are more likely to become troublesome and how this seemingly inevitable outcome can be prevented.

A new point that I would like to make about my topic that neither of these texts present is hopefulness. Although Tupac's song offers advice on how to solve some of the problems he mentioned, I believe that his tone remains depressing and some may even interperate this song as discouraging. In conclusion, I would like to put a positive spin on my topic by stressing change that is attainable instead of distant.