In light of 2pac’s 35th Birthday(June 16th, 2006), I wonder what Makaveli would say in the year two-thousand and six. It has been a second since we poured out a little liquor for our own thug angel. In fact it is a nose hair short of a decade, September 13th will earmark the 10th Anniversary of this tearfully tragic day. There is no doubt that a myriad of magazines, websites and opportunists alike will try to stake their claim in this momumental event. Fortunately, this article will not take such a shameful and exploitative approach. Instead we’ll come to the mic with a more imaginative twist. Please, suspend your disbelief and do remember to turn off your cell phones.

1996 was one in a series of years where hip hop lost its rawness and began to pander to profuse pimp and party fantasies. It’s hard to tell if 2pac was instrumental in bringing this about, or if he was caught up in the popularity of the times. In the present moment, we are clearly in the hyper-ignorant, hyper-sexual, hyper-hedonistic era. This is an accelerated version of the era of pac’s last days. I think that if pac was alive, this era would have died a while ago. What do you think?

It seems Biggie,Puffy, Jay-Z and 2pac were primarily responsible for the “thug-club” era and its beginnings. Looking at Makaveli’s career, he did not make a ton of music that resembled All Eyes on Me until he got stranded on Death Row. A label which played “puppet master” with the very vulnerable Tupac Amaru Shakur. Once Makaveli came out, his music was more political, more revelevant, embracing issues people need to hear more often on record. It was food for thought, wine for the mind and a meal for the soul. Based on this notion, as well as the sentiments expressed in all the Makaveli bootlegs, Tupac would have kept the pulse of the streets pumpin’. I could imagine Nas and 2pac collaborating on a song called “When Thugs Cry (2pac released a rough bootleg version of this song).” Is it conceivable that pac’s spirit was embraced by Nasir Jones?

In 2006 it is questionable if 2pac would still be releasing albums. It’s very possible that he, like Jay-Z, might have retired and let the Outlaws take over. Which I’m glad didn’t happen. One things for sure, he didn’t retire and hide in Cuba for the last ten years, or come back precisely 7 years after his untimely death.

What I wonder is if the feud that Biggie had with pac would have ever evaporated. I could imagine it getting squashed because that would make for a historic moment. The press could have turned it into a high profile media event. Big poppa and pac could have settled it at WWF’s “Summer Slam.” Let me stop. The spirit of songs like “I Ain’t Mad at cha,” and even “Hold ya Head,” 2pac showed love for his brothers that could have been used to mend his relationship with Christopher Wallace. It’s just a matter of if 2pac separated himself from the antagonistic antics of Death Row. Its clear on the symbolic tip, that when you get signed to “Death Row” records your looking at a foul future.

Like many other artists it’s apparent that 2pac would have become Tupac Shakur and his thugisms on the mic would have transmuted themselves to a thug thespian purview. At some point his acting would have become more relevant than his music, especially since he made nearly three songs or more a day in the studio. It’s probable that he would have taken a break to have a kit kat bar. The possibilities are endless, Tupac Shakur was a mega multi-talented man, but you already knew this.

In the end, we’ll never really know, we can only use our imaginations and exchange educated guesses. A matter of this magnitude reminds us of our human limits, because we cannot conceive past the heavens, or past the present. However, there is a profound power in the present we must acknowledge and be conscious of. One should not be too idealistic about the past or future, unless he/she has a positive outlook on their present state. In many ways 2pac embodied this principle and many others that stressed an everyday exercise of elevated human values. When we as a people understand 2pac’s plan and make true and profound “changes,” then we will deserve our rightful ascendance to that “Thug Mansion” that awaits us.

Thursday says: “Happy Birthday ‘pac, I celebrate and salute you, you’ll forever remain alive in our collective spirit.”

2 Responses to “Imagine 2pac in 2006”

1. GRIME-WORLD Says:
   July 22nd, 2006 at 5:15 pm

   CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE I GOT PROOF THAT 2PAC IS ALIVE. LEAVE A COMMENT AN SAY WAT U THINK.

2. Navid Says:
   July 25th, 2006 at 1:29 pm

   Interesting perspective. Their (pac and biggie) spirits are more alive than ever.

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