The original is known to have featured samples of Run DMCĪnd Ice Cube lyrics (which were replaced with Talent’s chorus) as well as a lot more profanity. Of the song that was eventually released in 1998 was a revision of the 1992 “Changes” was originally recorded in 1992. The version And indeed back in 1992, when it was originally recorded, such a political reality in America was borderline unfathomable. However, if 2Pac had survived just until 2008, he would have eventually borne witness to Barack Obama being sworn in as President of the United States. In fact the only “change” he has borne witness to is how he and his peers have lost the innocence of childhood. And that is what the chorus (sung by Talent) actually alludes to when it states that “things will never be the same”. That is to say Tupac has seen things change for the worst and doesn’t anticipate them getting better.īut in that regard not all of Tupac’s prophecies have come true. For instance, he states that “we ain’t ready to see a Black president” even though such may be “heaven-sent”, which may be the most-memorable line of this entire song. And as the chorus states, “that’s just the way it is”. What this means is that despite his hope for positive “changes”, he is not overly-confident that such will actually transpire. And why? Simply because “ that’s just the way it is”. Strangely enough, this is how he actually died in 1996. Indeed in terms of the aforementioned police brutality heĪnticipates one day having to shoot a cop himself in self-defense.Īnd regarding street violence, he predicts one day being shot by “some buck that (he) roughed up way back” coming for vengeance “after all these years”. Tupacĭepicts America as a country with many social ills, specifically in relation to On the African-American community with a somewhat pessimistic outlook. So overall we can conclude that this is a social commentary centered
For instance, he disses those who sell illegal substances to kids, stating that they made their money “in a sleazy way”. Or put differently, the fact that he grew up in poverty compelled him to do such things in order to make money. However, at the same time he is not trying to rationalize all of the criminal activities his peers are known to engage in. Indeed the rapper portrays himself as someone who has done illegal things in the past. However, in his own defense he states that he “ never did a crime (he) ain’t have to do”. And on a couple of occasions he alludes to the fact that African-American communities are flooded with drugs from external sources, which exacerbates criminal activity therein.Īnd that brings us to the second major theme of this track, which is crime. prisons) as being “ packed and… filled with Blacks”.
So whereas there is a myriad of topics discussed throughout the song, the two main issues it focuses on are racism and crime. As for racism, Tupac depicts African-Americans as the targets of an unjust law-enforcement system. Or as he puts it, “ cops give a damn about a ”, meaning that they don’t care about Black people and more specifically are quick to kill them and in the process become “a hero”. Moreover he refers to ‘penitentiaries’ (i.e.
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