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Friday, June 25, 2010 | 4:53am
Library Of Congress Tells Late 2Pac ‘You Are Appreciated’
“Dear Momma” of 25 selected to be preserved by National Recording Registry
#dearmomma
You might remember late last year The Nation chopped it up about the Vatican selecting 2Pac‘s single “Changes” for its official iTunes Playlist, (which for some reason was a big deal.) Well this week, the late Tupac Shakur was issued yet another posthumous honor when his 1995 hit single “Dear Mama” was selected to be protected in the National Recording Registry by Library of Congress.
The honor which is clearly more prestigious than that bestowed by the Vatican, means that the track along with 25 other selections were be of significant cultural and historical importance that the Library of Congress will preserver it. Pac’s mother and the subject of the song, Afeni Shakur was emotional about the honor.
“I’m incredibly touched. It could have been any song, but I’m honored they chose ‘Dear Mama’ in particular,” Afeni said. “It is a song that spoke not just to me, but every mother that has been in that situation, and there have been millions of us. Tupac recognized our struggle, and he is still our hero.”
I think its a stretch to call him a “Hero” and “our” hero at that but its certainly an honor and especially in the Hip Hop context, the song’s importance ranks high in its annals of cultural significance. While I might be biased as I wasn’t the biggest 2Pac fan I find the song to be a big overrated in its importance however. Most forget the song was recorded just before he was locked up for his big at the Clinton Correctional Facility on a sexual assault charge. At the time the record’s release seemed inappropriate but history has proven, the passage of time has a tendency to blur the memory.
Likewise, I never was a big “Pac” fan but a few of his songs I did and still bump.”Dear Mama is one of the songs I didn’t like. When it came out that’s when he was looking at prison time and decided to come out with it. Me and my patna’s use to joke saying he wasn’t thinking about Dear Mama when he was talkin all that shit(before the rape allegations)so now you wanna talk to mama cuz you’re trouble.
No matter what you have to appreciate and respect his artistry and him as a young “Black” man that still had alot to offer and like Michael Jackson was taken from us too soon. This move by congress indeed is significant my opinion.
His contribution to music as a whole is solidified by this move. Outstanding Choice!
i think she meant black womens’ hero. he is probably the biggest rap star to show some support to black women even though he degraded them on other songs. but in a rap world of b…s and h…s that song was very uplifting. i wasnt a 2pac fan either but i do give credit where credit is due because im a hiphop fan first. with that being said i think dear momma in my opinion is probably one of the top 3 songs ever. dear momma, self destruction, and lifes a bitch in any order.
o wow top 3 of all time dewayne?
yeah champ top three and im a real hiphop head there are a bunch of songs that were great but wasnt really talkin about nothin. for example my top 5 favorite songs goes aint no half steppin, my philosophy, road to the riches, aint no joke, and take it in blood.
o ok…. everybody top list is different.. i’m not a big Nas fan, but the take it in blood track is the truth…
wow yeah that’s a strong statement. Top 3? I like Self Destruction though.
yeah u have to put it up there, but thats why i said my opinion because im one of those that relates to it. my mom was similar to afini.
although I like “Dear Mama” I have to say as a Tupac fan I’d rather have seen “Keep Your Head Up” be honored cause that song spoke to me then and I still will put it on when I’m having a bad day
keep ya head up is that joint. i listened to that now and get teary eyed.
Yes, Tupac is a hero for representing all those urban poor youths who never had a chance to reach their potential. Thanks again my ebony soldier!
why is NYC always hatin on Pac? yes you Juan!
Exactly! I’ve noticed that Juan never has anything positive to say about Pac. This is evident even in previous posts. I dont care about the negatives surrounding the man but Pac as an artist was a genius. Some of 2Pac’s songs including Dear Mama, inspired this South African boy from the townships(Ghetto) to study up until a Masters Degree…
Right! Pac is still my favorit artist (u cant even call him a rapper) of all times. I grew up wit my mamma on drugs 2 (she still is) and songs like this helped me threw it. Me and mom set and cried 2 Keep Ur Head Up on day. Songs he made did more than just bang in my trunk. But I guess when u dont come up in those situations u can’t relate. I dont know how none of yall came up but when u can relate, u can relate when a song makes u do more than dance around. When it makes u look at urself and how u livin’ like MJ’s Man In The Mirror.
& was any of BIG, Nas, Or Jay-Z songs selected????
amen – Why NYC +
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