Lexicon

The Tupac
glossary

45 entries to get inside Tupac's language: the slang of the songs, the people, the places, the concepts. Each entry points back to the songs where the word does its work.

The slang of the repertoire

G: An abbreviation of gangsta, though in everyday use it works as a title of respect between peers, almost a rank. Being a G means having proven yourself in the street and earning the standing that comes with it. Tupac often plays on the word's solemnity, going so far as to make it an epitaph. Bury Me a G · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 How Long Will They Mourn Me? · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994
Homie: Short for homeboy: the friend from the block, the one you have known forever. The word runs all through Tupac's catalog, often shaded with grief, since the homie is as much the one you stand by as the one you mourn. One of his earliest classics even turns it into a promise of unconditional loyalty. If My Homie Calls · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 How Long Will They Mourn Me? · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 Life Goes On · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Hustler: The one who makes a living by any means available, legal or not, because the system leaves him no others. Tupac describes the hustle without naive glorification: it is an exhausting race that ends in wealth, prison or death. The word carries the ambition and the trap in equal measure. Str8 Ballin' · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 Skandalouz · All Eyez on Me, 1996
M.O.B.: A double-edged acronym Tupac wore tattooed on his arm. The most common reading is Money Over B****es, money before women, a creed of distrust more than of open misogyny, though the debate remains unsettled. A second reading, Member Of Bloods, circulates in Los Angeles gang culture; Tupac was never affiliated, but his Death Row circle gravitated toward the Bloods, hence the ambiguity he was happy to keep alive. The spirit of the initials runs through the pack tracks he recorded with the Outlawz. When We Ride · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Tradin War Stories · All Eyez on Me, 1996
OG: Original Gangster: the elder who survived long enough to pass something on. The OG embodies experience and commands the respect of the young, a hierarchy Tupac acknowledges even as he upends it, having become a legend before turning thirty. His nostalgia for the pioneers of New York hip-hop springs from the same reverence. Old School · Me Against the World, 1995 Str8 Ballin' · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994
One time / 5-0: Two nicknames for the police in 1990s California slang, the second borrowed from the TV series Hawaii Five-O. In Tupac's songs the patrol car is never mere scenery: it is the recurring antagonist, the force that stops, humiliates and sometimes kills. His early albums turn it into an obsessive motif, fed by his own run-ins with the Oakland police. Read the article. Trapped · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 Holler If Ya Hear Me · Strictly 4 My…, 1993 Point the Finga · Strictly 4 My…, 1993
Outlaw: The figure Tupac raised to the level of an identity after his 1995 imprisonment. To be an outlaw is to accept living outside the rules of a society he saw as rigged. The word would name his group, the Outlawz, and it haunts his final two years. Read the article. Outlaw · Me Against the World, 1995 Life of an Outlaw · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Ridah / rider: The one who rides with his own and backs down from nothing, loyal to the end, ready to answer any provocation. In Tupac's world the ridah grows into a near mythological figure of armed loyalty, especially during the Death Row years. The opening track of All Eyez on Me turns it into a program for living. Read the article. Ambitionz Az a Ridah · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Picture Me Rollin' · All Eyez on Me, 1996 When We Ride · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Soulja / soldier: The soldier, spelled soulja the way the street writes it. Military metaphor structures all of early Tupac: the young Black American lives in a war zone, so he needs a fighter's code. Two twin tracks, one album apart, tell the story of this ghetto soldier and his revenge. Soulja's Story · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 Souljah's Revenge · Strictly 4 My…, 1993
Thug Life: Far more than the tattoo across Tupac's abdomen, this is his core philosophy. The phrase works as an acronym, The Hate U Give Little Infants F***s Everybody: the hatred society inflicts on its children eventually comes back to haunt everyone. The word thug is reclaimed and turned inside out. Nobody is born a thug; the thug is what collective abandonment produces. Tupac would also make it the name of his group and of an entire album in 1994. Read the article. Cradle to the Grave · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 So Many Tears · Me Against the World, 1995
Westside: The West Coast rallying cry, often thrown up with the W hand sign. Born a New Yorker, Tupac paradoxically became the loudest standard-bearer of the Westside during the feud with the East Coast. In his mouth the word is a declaration of war and a love letter to California at once. Read the article. California Love · All Eyez on Me, 1996 To Live & Die in L.A. · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998

The concepts

L'héritage Panther: Tupac is quite literally a child of the Black Panther Party: an activist mother, a stepfather and a godmother both convicted, a godfather, Geronimo Pratt, imprisoned for twenty-seven years before being exonerated. This revolutionary lineage sets his anger apart from that of his contemporaries, because it rests on an inherited political analysis, not on lived experience alone. His most militant tracks are its direct translation. Read the article. Words of Wisdom · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 White Man'z World · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Changes · Greatest Hits, 1998
La paranoïa Makaveli: After Quad Studios and prison, the certainty of being hunted became the fuel of the final recordings. The enemy was everywhere: former friends, rival labels, police, press. That tension gives the last tracks their haunted urgency, the urgency of a man recording the way one drafts a will. You can hear tragic lucidity in it, or blindness; both readings hold up at every listen. Read the article. Against All Odds · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Krazy · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Hold Ya Head · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
La rose dans le béton: The master image of Tupac's poetry, the title of an adolescent poem published after his death: a rose growing through a crack in the concrete should not be judged for its damaged petals but admired for having grown at all. A metaphor for the ghetto child who makes it out, it captures his view of himself better than anything else. The motif runs through his most compassionate songs. Read the article. Keep Ya Head Up · Strictly 4 My…, 1993 Unconditional Love · Greatest Hits, 1998
La théorie des 7 jours: The subtitle of the Makaveli album, a nod to the record speed of its making: lyrics written and recorded in three days, mixing wrapped in four. The number seven later took on an almost mystical charge, Tupac having been shot on September 7 and dying seven days after the Tyson fight at 25 (2 + 5 = 7, the exegetes would say). Tupac numerology is a bottomless well, and this album is its main source. Read the article. Hail Mary · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Blasphemy · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Le Code Thug Life: A set of rules of conduct for gangs, drafted by Tupac with his stepfather Mutulu Shakur in the early 1990s: no targeting civilians, spare children and pregnant women, no selling crack to mothers. The code was presented at a truce summit between Bloods and Crips in 1992. Utopian, perhaps, but it reveals the political project behind the posture: regulating violence where abolishing it was out of reach. Read the article. Cradle to the Grave · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 Pour Out a Little Liquor · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994

The people

Afeni Shakur: Tupac's mother, a Black Panther activist who conducted her own defense in the Panther 21 trial while pregnant with him, and was acquitted. Her battle with crack addiction in the 1980s left a deep mark on her son. He dedicated to her one of the most beautiful tributes ever addressed to a mother in popular music, and she went on to administer his catalog after his death. Read the article. Dear Mama · Me Against the World, 1995
Assata Shakur: Tupac's godmother and a figure of the Black Liberation Army, convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, escaped in 1979 and granted refuge in Cuba, where she still lives. For Tupac she embodied Black resistance in exile. Her shadow hangs over the most political songs in the repertoire. Words of Wisdom · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 White Man'z World · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Bad Boy Records: The New York label of Sean "Puffy" Combs, home of The Notorious B.I.G. and the designated rival of Death Row. After the Quad Studios shooting, Tupac held Bad Boy complicit in the ambush, an accusation never proven. The label became the named target of his most venomous tracks. Read the article. Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998 Bomb First (My Second Reply) · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Death Row Records: The label of Suge Knight and Dr. Dre, the war machine of 1990s California rap with Snoop Dogg as its flagship. In a matter of months Tupac recorded a staggering amount of music there, including the double album All Eyez on Me. The label gave him unprecedented resources while locking him into a logic of clan loyalty and permanent conflict. Read the article. 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Got My Mind Made Up · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Digital Underground: The funky, madcap Oakland crew that gave Tupac his way into the industry: he was a dancer and roadie for them before landing his first recorded verse on Same Song in 1991. The contrast is delicious between the group's slapstick humor and the gravity of the young man who emerged from it. He stayed loyal, inviting them onto his biggest party hit. Read the article. Same Song · This Is an EP Release (Digital Underground), 1991 I Get Around · Strictly 4 My…, 1993
Johnny « J »: A Mexican American producer, the quiet craftsman behind some of Tupac's greatest moments. His trademark: luminous soul loops, round basslines and a studio efficiency perfectly suited to the rapper's frantic recording pace. He signed a large share of All Eyez on Me and was already working with Tupac back in the Thug Life days. Pour Out a Little Liquor · Thug Life: Volume 1, 1994 How Do U Want It · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Kidada Jones: Daughter of producer Quincy Jones, a stylist, and Tupac's fiancee during his final months. Their story had started badly, Tupac having publicly criticized her father before apologizing. She was living with him in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting and stayed at his bedside until the end. She belongs to the calmer chapter that some tracks of the Makaveli era let us glimpse. To Live & Die in L.A. · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Makaveli: The pseudonym Tupac adopted for his final album, after Niccolo Machiavelli, whom he read in prison. The Florentine strategist theorized the art of feigning in order to rule; Tupac made him a darker, more paranoid alter ego, posthumous almost before the fact. The altered spelling would feed every theory about a faked death. Read the article. Hail Mary · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Toss It Up · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Mutulu Shakur: Tupac's stepfather, an acupuncturist and revolutionary activist sentenced to sixty years in 1988 for his role in a deadly robbery tied to the Black Liberation Army. From his cell he co-wrote the Thug Life Code with Tupac. On his final album, Tupac regularly salutes Black political prisoners, Mutulu among them. Read the article. White Man'z World · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Outlawz: The group Tupac assembled around himself after leaving prison, including E.D.I. Mean, Young Noble, Kadafi and Kastro. Each member took the name of a designated enemy of America, a political provocation entirely typical of their mentor. They are everywhere on the Makaveli album and carried his legacy after 1996. Read the article. Life of an Outlaw · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 When We Ride · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998
Shock G: Leader of Digital Underground, better known as Humpty Hump with the fake nose, but also an exceptional musician and producer schooled in funk piano. He was the one who gave Tupac his shot, produced part of his early work and appears on I Get Around. His blend of whimsy and musical craft left a lasting mark on the Bay Area sound. I Get Around · Strictly 4 My…, 1993 Same Song · This Is an EP Release (Digital Underground), 1991
Snoop Dogg: The star of Death Row and Tupac's natural ally when he arrived at the label. Their summit duet brought together the two most wanted men in American rap, both then entangled in court cases. Their bond frayed toward the end, as Snoop declined to fully embrace his comrade's crusade against New York. Read the article. 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Stretch: Randy "Stretch" Walker, a rapper and producer from Queens, member of the Live Squad and a close companion of early Tupac. He was at Quad Studios on the night of the 1994 shooting, and Tupac later accused him of standing by and cut ties. He was murdered on November 30, 1995, one year to the day after the ambush, a coincidence that has fueled endless speculation. Crooked Ass Nigga · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991
Suge Knight: The feared boss of Death Row Records. In October 1995 he posted the 1.4 million dollar bail that freed Tupac from prison, in exchange for a contract signed on the spot. Protector and jailer at once, he was driving the BMW in which Tupac was fatally wounded in Las Vegas. His presence can be heard in the very intros of the Death Row era. Read the article. All Eyez on Me · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Heartz of Men · All Eyez on Me, 1996
The Notorious B.I.G.: Christopher Wallace, known as Biggie, the giant from Brooklyn. First a friend and informal protege of Tupac, who housed him and brought him on stage, he became after Quad Studios the intimate enemy, the symbol of New York's supposed betrayal. Their falling-out, amplified by labels and media alike, structured the war between the coasts; Biggie was murdered six months after Tupac, and neither killing had been solved at the time of their deaths. Read the article. Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998 Bomb First (My Second Reply) · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996

The places

Baltimore School for the Arts: The arts high school where Tupac studied theater, ballet and poetry from 1986 to 1988, and where he became friends with Jada Pinkett. His teachers remember a brilliant student who devoured Shakespeare. That dramatic training explains a lot: the sense of staging, the diction, the knack for building whole characters in three verses. Read the article. Brenda's Got a Baby · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 Keep Ya Head Up · Strictly 4 My…, 1993
Can-Am Studios: Death Row's studio in Tarzana, in the San Fernando Valley. Tupac recorded there at a dizzying pace, often several tracks a night, writing one verse while the engineer set up the next take. All Eyez on Me and the Makaveli album came largely out of those walls, along with a stockpile of unreleased material that fed posthumous records for a decade. Read the article. Ambitionz Az a Ridah · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Hail Mary · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
Clinton Correctional Facility: The New York State maximum security prison where Tupac served eight months in 1995. During his incarceration, Me Against the World debuted at number one on the Billboard chart, a first for an artist behind bars. There he read Machiavelli and Sun Tzu, briefly married Keisha Morris, and came out transformed, harder, signed to Death Row. Read the article. Me Against the World · Me Against the World, 1995 Ambitionz Az a Ridah · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Harlem: The New York neighborhood where Tupac was born on June 16, 1971, one month after his mother's acquittal in the Panther 21 trial. He spent his childhood there between activism, poverty and theater, performing at twelve in A Raisin in the Sun at the Apollo. His tenderness for the New York of his childhood surfaces in his tribute to early hip-hop, which makes the war between the coasts all the crueler. Read the article. Old School · Me Against the World, 1995
Las Vegas: On September 7, 1996, after a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand and a brawl in the lobby, Tupac was gunned down at a red light on the Strip, riding as a passenger in Suge Knight's BMW. He died six days later, on September 13, at 25. The city thus became the final chapter of a body of work that had never stopped announcing its own end, which makes some retrospective listens dizzying. Read the article. Death Around the Corner · Me Against the World, 1995 Life Goes On · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Marin City: A poor enclave of Marin County, north of San Francisco, nicknamed The Jungle, where Tupac spent his last teenage years after Baltimore. There he sold drugs, bonded with local figures and wrote his first serious lyrics. The social backdrop of his recording debut owes a great deal to this period. Read the article. Trapped · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 If My Homie Calls · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991
Oakland: The city of Digital Underground and the true starting point of Tupac's career. It is also where, in October 1991, two police officers beat him over a jaywalking stop; he sued the city and won a settlement. That experience of police harassment feeds directly into the anger of his first records. Trapped · 2Pacalypse Now, 1991 I Get Around · Strictly 4 My…, 1993
Quad Studios: The Times Square studio where, on November 30, 1994, Tupac was robbed in the lobby, stripped of his jewelry and shot five times. He survived, convinced himself that people close to Bad Boy had known, and American rap tipped over. Coming the night before the verdict in his sexual assault trial, the episode transformed his music: paranoia became a structuring theme. Read the article. Against All Odds · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Death Around the Corner · Me Against the World, 1995

The music

Ad-libs: The interjections, asides and harangues slipped in around the verses. Tupac made them an art form in their own right: spoken intros that set the scene, threats muttered between two bars, endless outros where he settles scores by name. Some of his end-of-track monologues have become as famous as the songs themselves. Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998 Ambitionz Az a Ridah · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Doublage de voix: A studio technique that layers a re-recorded vocal over the main take to thicken it. Tupac doubled his verses almost systematically, sometimes end to end, which creates that sense of multiplied rage, as if several Tupacs were chanting at once. It is one of the most recognizable sonic signatures of his style. How Do U Want It · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Hail Mary · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996
G-funk: The dominant West Coast sound of the mid-1990s: winding synthesizers inherited from George Clinton's P-Funk, heavy basslines, laid-back tempos. Codified by Dr. Dre, the style found its most mainstream incarnation with Tupac on California Love. All Eyez on Me is saturated with it, going as far as putting Clinton himself on the mic. Read the article. California Love · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Can't C Me · All Eyez on Me, 1996 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted · All Eyez on Me, 1996
Sample soul: The other side of the Tupac sound: loops borrowed from 1970s soul, warm and melancholy, softening the harshness of the lyrics. Dear Mama leans on Joe Sample and the Spinners, Do for Love on Bobby Caldwell. This dialogue with the parents' music gives his introspective tracks their particular emotional depth. Read the article. Dear Mama · Me Against the World, 1995 Do for Love · R U Still Down? (Remember Me), 1997
Talkbox: An effect that makes a synthesizer sing through a tube held in the musician's mouth, producing that robotic, elastic voice so typical of funk. Its undisputed master, Roger Troutman of Zapp, delivered the most famous hook in the Tupac repertoire. Not to be confused with Auto-Tune, which came later: here everything is played live. California Love · All Eyez on Me, 1996 Temptations · Me Against the World, 1995
West Coast vs East Coast: The rivalry that tore American rap apart between 1994 and 1997, crystallized around Death Row and Bad Boy, Tupac and Biggie. Born of real incidents and then inflated by labels and the trade press, it turned an artistic rivalry into a cold war, then into tragedy, with two murders unsolved at the time. The last two Tupac albums cannot be understood without this backdrop. Read the article. Hit 'Em Up · Greatest Hits, 1998 To Live & Die in L.A. · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996 Bomb First (My Second Reply) · The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, 1996

References are made by song title only: no lyrics are reproduced on this site (transparency).