Talk:Tupac Shakur

''"We can have peace someday, G. ... Life's a mess, don't stress.  Test, I'm giving, but be thankful that you're livin', Bless." ''

Holla if Ya Hear Me - 2pacalypse Now

it's because of (death) that we (LEARN) to live again........

Merge info
Tupac Amaru means "Shining serpent" - Afeni Shakur

I have merged quotes listed in Shakur, Tupac with this article. Here is the other article's edit history, to provide appropriate editing credits: — Jeff Q (talk) 05:21, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
 * (cur) (last) 05:15, 27 July 2005 (UTC) Jeffq (Merged with Tupac Shakur.)
 * (cur) (last) 05:51, 15 June 2005 (UTC) Jni (merge notice, rm. duplicate material)
 * (cur) (last) 21:42, 14 June 2005 (UTC) 172.203.227.74
 * (cur) (last) 18:08, 9 May 2005 (UTC) 130.76.64.14
 * (cur) (last) 21:45, 5 February 2005 (UTC) 68.192.220.129
 * (cur) (last) 21:45, 5 February 2005 (UTC) 68.192.220.129
 * (cur) (last) 03:49, 26 January 2005 (UTC) RoboAction (page already exists...delete)
 * (cur) (last) 04:51, 17 November 2004 (UTC) 135.214.66.241

VFD cleanup
If anyone wishes to restore some of the deleted material, please note that is acceptable practice to include excerpts of poems and lyrics, but it is a copyright violation to include entire works. Thank you for your cooperation.

I've also done some format tweaking, but there is still a lot of variation in the article, like inconsistent punctuation use. Since I don't know anything of Tupac's works, I can't tell if any of it is for artistic effect, or just errors on the part of transcribers. I invite folks more familiar with his works to comb out any remaining problems. Thank you. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 14:45, 9 August 2005 (UTC)


 * This article was preserved after a vote for its deletion. See its archived VfD entry for details. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 19:37, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

I've done alittle bit of cleaning on the article. I removed these qoutes who are directly from songs:


 * cops give a damn about a negro… pull the trigga kill a nigga he's a hero
 * Changes
 * … because too many things for you to deal with… dyin inside but outside you lookin fearless
 * for we were born without a silver spoon… a broken down tv… show cartoons in the livin room
 * … if you got it better flaunt it, let the liquor help you get up on it…
 * … something we all adore, something worth dying for, nuthing but pain, stuck in the game, searchin for fortune and fame…
 * They got money for wars but they can't feed the poor.
 * Tell me, whats a black life worth? A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts!
 * Through every dark night, there is a bright day afterwards!

Here are some thoughts from the REALEST:


 * "Pump, PUMP! If you're pissed! To the sell-outs livin' it up, one way or another you be givin' it up!" --Hola if Ya Hear Me


 * "My memories of a corpse, mind full of sick thoughts, and I ain't going back to court, so fuck what you thought.. ..so much pain." --Pain


 * "Dont wanna die, tell me why, cause the stress getting major. ...Everyday is just a struggle,steady thuggin' on these streets." --Pain


 * "Lord knows, ain't no love for us ghetto children, so we cold." --It Ain't Easy

scar'd up,but still flowing. Energized and still going.. ...Deathrow baby, don't be alarmed" -In the Heartz of Men
 * "I died and came back, I hustle with these lyrics as if it's a game of crack, Thugin' is in my spirit, I'm lost and not knowing

Tupac is a founding father of the idea of Thug Life. The basic principal is that street justice is less corrupt, more effective, and necessary for those above the law (i.e. those who aren't afraid of police or jail time). While widely misunderstood, he is an inspiration to those who are down and out--especially those oppressed by the law.

"Keep you head up, and try to keep the faith." -- Better Days

"The only crime I been convicted of is fighting, hitting somebody's face with my fist" - Until the end of time

"West side is not a part of the map. I'm not some dumb motherfucker and I don't bang for the colour and I don't bang for the land. I bang for the principles and I bang for the pride" - United ghetto interview

These however, I were more unsure of wether I should remove them or not, so I leaved em for the time being:

Sounds like 2pac, but I've never seen it before neither. Fixed some grammar mistakes in it, don't now if it should be wrong or not but considering it's 2pac I suspect it was just sloppy written by the one who added it.
 * I'm not saying I'm gonna rule the world but if I keep talking about how dirty it is, someone will have to clean it up.

From a piece of poetry, also a lyrics in a song. Delete if if it shouldn't be there, I'm not familiar with the rules of qouting poetry.
 * What is fame? Everybody knows your name: never again are you alone.

I've never read,seen nor heard this qoute... But I left it for someone more sure of it to delete or leave alone.
 * If it don't make dollars it don't make cents.
 * You must remember that tomorrow comes after the dark......(unconditional love)
 * Expect me like you expecting God to come back expect me nigga I'm coming.
 * I was a thug ever since my mamma gave me birth.(Hannesy)

Tupac Songs and Poetry
Tupac Shakur IS KNOWN for his rap music. He uses the media to speak toward the greater audience. Removing his poem and song lyrics is like removing his chance to speak and make a difference in the world. That is what we have to acknowledge and keep. Therefore, the addition of his lyrics is what he is trying to meaningfully say in a clever rhythmic way. One may hear his songs as good music, but inside, the music has a direct message of everyday struggles and lifestyles toward the audience. He may be not with us today, but he is still alive through his voice -- what he has spoken, what he has meant though literature from music. It only seems that the quotes are a lot; he has a lot of important messages to say!

You have to go listen to Tupac's greatest tracks!
How can you edit Tupac without first listening to him? How can you edit the influencial things he had said without actually learning the roots of where he has come from? These are my questions. They are the basis of editing a person's quotes. You have to be on the same level of Tupac to understand what he had said and how he felt when he said it.00

Spell check please
The spelling on this page is terrible. Not talking about the slang, though some spelling uniformity there would be appreciated too.

More quotes than necessary
A lot of the quotes listed are redundant, don't really say anything or are simply uninteresting (in a general sense), and there are so many of them! Pare this too-long list down by 50%. Get rid of the flab.50.54.234.50

Unsourced
—Interview (1994) i love tupac bruhh' ! - KTW WAS HERE !
 * When I speak, I want my words to mean something. I want my words to make people shiver.

—'two weeks before his death (1996)
 * Can't nobody touch me right now. Maybe next month all of this will be over, but this month I'm takin' every moving target out.

—'two weeks before his death (1996)
 * See? I'm all for positivity. I'm all for change. But I'm not for niggas masquerading.

—'two weeks before his death (1996)
 * I didn't call Versace, Versace called me.

—'on The Notorious B.I.G. stealing his rap style (1996)
 * I'm the one who used to buy him champagne. All that shit he talkin', that was me buying him that! He talk about my lifestyle on his records because when he was doing his album, he was broke, nigga! I was making money, that shit he talkin' about was my life! Thug life!

-'on The Notorious B.I.G. (1996)
 * I possess his soul, him and Puffy. They know that I was the truest nigga involved with Biggie's success. I was the biggest help, I was the truest nigga, I wrote his rhymes so he know how much he borrowed from me. He knows how I used to stop my shows and let him touch the show. Let him blow up and do his whole show in the middle of my show. How I used to buy him shit and never ask for it back. How I used to share, I used to share my experiences, and the lessons and the roles and the knowledge in the game with him. You know what I mean? He owe me more. He owed me more than to turn his head and act like he didn't know some niggaz was about to blow my fuckin' head off. He knew.

—Interview (1996)
 * It's not about East Coast or West Coast. What it's really about is just two rappers.

—'in prison, 1995, on who shot him up
 * Everybody that was involved knows what happened [...] and everything is there. [...] Just read everything over, and read my reply, read their reply, read what people say, watch people, cuz you can fake for a long time but one day you gonna show yourself to be a phony [...] think back, think of all the people that you've seen me put on stage, think of all the people I've put on, that I got into this game, that I show how to do this, and think about what they're saying now. That's not keeping it real.


 * I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven.


 * I feel like our future is our confidence and self-esteem..


 * I swear, if they hadn't tried to ruin me, I never would have ended up being a rapper. I probably would have been a preacher or something.

(Tupac Ressurrection)
 * I think the old should go through school again. I think that rich people should live like poor people, and poor people should live like rich people, and change every week.

(Tupac Ressurection)
 * I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.


 * I'm one-hundred percent original, and that's what got me here. My rap music is more understandable, slower. It tells a story. You can write a book on each of my thoughts.


 * If I could patent "being real", I think I could own that.


 * If it don't make dollars it don't make sense.


 * In my death, people will understand what I was talking about.

(Cradle to the Grave, Thug Life Album)
 * June 16, 1971, mama gave birth to a Hell raising heavenly son.

(Cradle to the Grave, Thug Life Album)
 * My first words was thug for life and papa pass the mack.

(Some 2 Die 4, Stricly 4 my N.I.G.G.A.Z)
 * My Mama used to tell me if you can't find something to live for, you best find something to die for.


 * Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.


 * The only thing that comes to a sleeping man is dreams.


 * The reason why I could get into acting was because it takes nothing to get out of who I am and go into somebody else.

(Tupac Ressurection)
 * We look at death from the selfish side, like: "That guy died. Oh, it's so sad." Why is it sad? He's away from all of this bad stuff that's here on Earth. I mean, at the worst, he's just somewhere quiet, no nothing. At best, he's an angel… or he's a spirit somewhere. What is so bad about that?


 * We talk a lot about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., but it's time to be like them, as strong as them. They were mortal men like us and everyone of us can be like them. I don't want to be a role model. I just want to be someone who says, this is who I am, this is what I do. I say what's on my mind.

(The Rose that grew from the Concrete book)
 * What is fame? Everybody knows your name: never again are you alone.


 * Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal.


 * The only crime I been convicted of is fighting; getting into a fight with my fears.


 * Dont get it twisted this is not my real life, this is not how my real life is suppose to be.


 * Look, I am selling records. This is what I do for a living. I am selling records. I never thought it was going to be a matter of life and death.


 * I'm not saying I'm gonna rule the world but if I keep talking about how dirty it is, someone will have to clean it up.


 * I live the life of a thug, Live it and Die for it!


 * But my nigga from the other side of the globe knows all my theories, i dedicate all this drama to you (Oumar Camara a.k.a Paparesta)


 * T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E stands for The Hate U Give Lil Infants Fucks Everybody

(Words of Wisdom, 2pacalypse Now!)
 * N.I.G.G.A stands for Never Ignorant about Getting Goals Accomplished or No Ignorance Got Goals Accomplished


 * During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams.


 * Everybody against me. Why? Why me? I have not brought violence to you. I have not brought Thug Life to America. I didn't create Thug Life. I diagnosed it.


 * I think I'm a natural-born leader. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect.


 * I don’t see myself being special; I just see myself having more responsibilities than the next man. People look to me to do things for them, to have answers.


 * I know what good morals are, but you're supposed to disregard good morals when you're living in a crazy, bad world. If you're in hell, how can you live like an angel? You're surrounded by devils,trying to be an angel? That's like suicide.


 * It seems like every time you come up something happens to bring you back down.


 * No matter what these people say about me, my music doesn't glorify any image. My music is spiritual when you listen to it. It's all about emotion, I tell my innermost, darkest secrets.


 * All I’m trying to do is survive and make good out of the dirty, nasty, unbelievable lifestyle that they gave me.


 * Out of anger comes controversy, out of controversy comes conversation, out of conversation comes action.


 * Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.


 * You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.