Tupac: Resurrection Page #6

---

and we starving?

Walk about five different houses,

there ain't a man in either one

of them motherfuckers.

How we gonna be African-Americans

if we all need a gun?

We thugs and niggas

until we set this sh*t right.

Trust me when I tell you that sh*t.

Young black males identify with

Thug Life, but I couldn't handle it.

I could handle it, but not right away.

- Mr. Shakur, can we get a comment?

- Hell, no. Thug Life.

- Pardon me?

- Thug Life. That's my comment.

What's that mean? I don't understand.

- What did happen?

- Thug Life.

Imagine you have 14,000 people

ready to do whatever you want.

You have, all over the country, people

waiting to hear what you wanna do.

I got people in the penitentiary,

bigtime OG criminals, calling me,

telling me they want me

to lead their movement.

I mean, I'm gonna have a problem.

So they told me to watch my language.

F*** that.

I'm gonna have a small identity crisis.

I felt like, "I got every man in America

"who wants to take orders from me,

who wants to know what I wanna do."

Holler if you hear me

Pump, pump if you're pissed

Wants to know my plan for young

black males. That makes me scared.

My homeys in the back streets

The black streets

They fear me when they rolling

In they phat jeeps

This ain't just a rap song

A black song

Telling my brothers, get they strap on

And look for me in the struggle

Hustling to the other brother's bubble

Holler if you hear me

And I'm 22.

I was having concerts sold out,

white boys, Mexicans, blacks,

and they would do what I say.

I could tell them to turn in a circle,

and they would do it.

I was having love,

like, undeniable love,

and I was scared.

Holler if you hear me

I was scared, but so was America,

so was somebody else.

- I'm a liberal Democrat.

- I'm a conservative Republican,

but we both worry about

the society our children live in.

But that makes me want

to rise to the occasion.

It makes me want

to give my whole life to it.

And I will give my whole life to

this plan that I have for Thug Life.

That's my new posse,

my new way of thinking.

That's how we rolling in the nine-three,

Thug Life.

By "thug", I mean, not criminal,

someone that beats you.

I mean, the underdog.

The person that had nothing

and succeeds is a thug

because he overcame all obstacles.

It has nothing to do

with the dictionary's version.

To me, thug is my pride, not being

someone that goes against the law,

not being someone that takes,

but being someone that has nothing,

and even though I have nothing and

no home to go to, my head is up high.

My chest is out. I walk tall.

I talk loud. I'm being strong.

I'm against racial, ethnic entitlements.

I think they are un-American.

I don't understand why America

doesn't get Thug Life.

America is Thug Life.

How is me saying,

"I don't give a f***,"

different than Patrick Henry saying,

"Give me liberty or give me death"?

What makes my freedom

less worth fighting for than Bosnians

or whoever they wanna

fight for this year?

They should give money to the ghetto.

Even gangs can be positive.

It just has to be organized.

It has to steer away from being self-

destructive to being self-productive.

I organized the OGs on the East

and West Coasts in penitentiaries

to come up with

codes of ethics for criminals.

It's called the Code of Thug Life.

It's a code, putting order

to the violence on the streets.

In Watts, Compton,

Chicago, wherever.

People all over the country say,

"We go by this code.

"We're against attacks on people

not involved with the street gang,

"the drug trade

or the illegal business at all.

"All that kidnapping and shooting

drive-bys, we against that."

Thug Life ain't just a bunch

of niggas going crazy.

We wanna patrol our streets.

So all we saying is,

if every motherf***er out here

right now gave up one dollar

to this Thug Life fund,

the money don't go to me,

it go to somebody

from y'all neighborhood,

and we do this sh*t every month.

I'll bring new rappers,

I'll bring Snoop,

whoever y'all want.

I'll go snatch them niggas.

For that sh*t to happen,

we can't have violence,

and everybody gotta be down

for that sh*t.

We gonna start slowly but surely

taking our communities back.

Regulate our community. Organize.

Start taking care of our own.

We gotta start somewhere, and I don't

know about anything but this.

- What is the message, though?

- All the people you threw away,

the dope dealers, criminals, they

will be legit next to you in first class,

thanks to your boy.

You know those

little things for mice,

where they go through

and there's little blocks?

Well, society is like that.

They'll let you go as far as you want,

but when you ask too many questions

and you're ready to change,

boom, that block'll come.

There is no reason

for a record like this

to be published

by a responsible corporation.

Never before has there been

such a will to use music

to advertise self-destructive violence.

It glorifies violence. It's creating

a culture of guns and rape.

Adding insult to injury, she says,

is rapper Tupac Shakur

being nominated

for an NAACP lmage Award.

I got the whole world fearing me,

and I ain't even started.

I don't have my plan,

and they're trying to stop me.

I challenge the view that those

who revel in violence and depravity,

on the screen or in the song,

bear no responsibility

when that spirit spreads

into our culture.

No disrespect to Bob Dole.

He don't know what he talking about.

He's just talking. Some card somebody

gave him, he's just reading off a card.

But he's cute, you know?

He's my grandfather.

- Right.

- He's an old dude, talking mess.

You don't have to use

vile and ugly language.

WPGC in Washington, D.C.

dropped violent or demeaning lyrics.

KACE in Los Angeles followed suit.

You're yelling, "Shoot!" in a community

that is crowded with guns.

I'm not looking for approval from the

black community. We are a part of it.

I'm a thug, and I rap about

the oppressed fighting back.

Yes, my raps are filled with rage.

You have to be logical. You know?

If I know that in this hotel room

You have to be logical. You know?

If I know that in this hotel room

they have food every day, and I'm

knocking on the door every day to eat,

and they open the door,

let me see the party,

let me see them

throwing salami all over,

I mean, just throwing food around,

but they're telling me there's no food.

Every day, I'm standing outside

trying to sing my way in.

We are hungry, please let us in

We are hungry, please let us in

After about a week that song

is gonna change to:

We hungry, we need some food

After two, three weeks, it's like:

Give me the food

Or I'm breaking down the door

After a year you're just like:

I'm picking the lock

Coming through the door blasting

It's like, you hungry,

you reached your level.

We asked ten years ago.

We was asking with the Panthers.

We was asking with them, the Civil

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes