He's a Poet!
we outlaws
let me ride
until I get free
I live my life in tha fast lane
got police chasen me
I was always a little confused when people swore that 2Pac was a poet. I knew he was good, even before I was a fan, but there's such a thing as an overstatement. Is it even possible to say "got police chasen me" with a straight face, and still be taken seriously?
But this weekend, I had the surprising experience of taking the opposite position in a 2Pac debate - with a fellow metalhead, of all people. Metalheads are so rare these days that when two of them meet, it's an unspoken rule of etiquette for them to agree with each other and validate their beliefs.
What happened in the interim? Do I now think that 2Pac is a poet? Not exactly...I still maintain that "got police chasen me" is a hilarious line. But the man's blue streak is nothing less than lyrical. You can't help but tip your hat to that kind of ability to say things that should sound dirty and offensive, but instead come off as pretty natural. Furthermore, the vocabulary was way ahead of its time (at least to me; maybe not to people who are more hip).
Thus, I'm more likely to categorize the post-incarcertation thug life songs as poetry than the socially-conscious ones. It's a revolution of language.
My fellow metalhead said that 2Pac was hypocritical for rapping all this stuff about social change, and then going out and beating women. True, I answered, but nobody's perfect. But like I said, I think that for me personally, the language was more poetry than the message. Not that I'm underrating the message; it's great, but yeah, a little messier.
The best analogy: Walt Whitman. Natural language; a celebration of his own real life on a heroic scale; personal issues in conflict with his art. Literary historians think it's a feat that Whitman was able to map out the American landscape like he did. I say that if you can put a town like Sacramento on the map, your artistic merits have earned a place in history.
let me ride
until I get free
I live my life in tha fast lane
got police chasen me
I was always a little confused when people swore that 2Pac was a poet. I knew he was good, even before I was a fan, but there's such a thing as an overstatement. Is it even possible to say "got police chasen me" with a straight face, and still be taken seriously?
But this weekend, I had the surprising experience of taking the opposite position in a 2Pac debate - with a fellow metalhead, of all people. Metalheads are so rare these days that when two of them meet, it's an unspoken rule of etiquette for them to agree with each other and validate their beliefs.
What happened in the interim? Do I now think that 2Pac is a poet? Not exactly...I still maintain that "got police chasen me" is a hilarious line. But the man's blue streak is nothing less than lyrical. You can't help but tip your hat to that kind of ability to say things that should sound dirty and offensive, but instead come off as pretty natural. Furthermore, the vocabulary was way ahead of its time (at least to me; maybe not to people who are more hip).
Thus, I'm more likely to categorize the post-incarcertation thug life songs as poetry than the socially-conscious ones. It's a revolution of language.
My fellow metalhead said that 2Pac was hypocritical for rapping all this stuff about social change, and then going out and beating women. True, I answered, but nobody's perfect. But like I said, I think that for me personally, the language was more poetry than the message. Not that I'm underrating the message; it's great, but yeah, a little messier.
The best analogy: Walt Whitman. Natural language; a celebration of his own real life on a heroic scale; personal issues in conflict with his art. Literary historians think it's a feat that Whitman was able to map out the American landscape like he did. I say that if you can put a town like Sacramento on the map, your artistic merits have earned a place in history.
posted by Rex at 3:31 PM
2 Comments:
I miss Rex. Even though Rex sometimes violently opposes some of my actions. Come back, Rex, come back.
I miss you too, my dear! Wanderer of the Dark and Dangerous Road. I'd give you a big hug if I were there, followed by a punch on the arm. All in due time :-)
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