May 5, 2003

Harvard Takes on Tupac

While perusing Mike Barthel's blog I found a report in the Harvard Gazette about an academic symposium devoted to Tupac Shakur. Mike got the link from this blogger, who seems awfully offended that such an event would occur.

As I said to Mr. Barthel, I'm not sure I understand why some people find this so outlandish. I mean, of course whenever academics tackle a pop culture topic some silliness and pretension will ensue, as witnessed in the article below. But that doesn't mean the subject isn't worthwhile.

Why wouldn't Tupac be worthy of scholarly analysis, as a cultural phenomenon? It's not like this symposium was based on the premise that Tupac composed literature worthy of replacing James Joyce in Harvard's English curriculum, or anything like that. As far as I can tell, it focused on his impact as a cultural icon, which has certainly been profound. So why do folks find it so absurd that Harvard might devote a few hours to him? Is it an assumption that all pop culture is irredeemably frivolous? Or is there a more specific bias at play?

Symposium analyzes, celebrates 'thug': Tupac looked at as cultural artifact, force
Few spaces at Harvard are more burdened by symbols of the University's glorious past than the Barker Center's Thompson Room.

While the room itself is not particularly large, everything in it is on a grand scale, from the towering grandfather clock to the walk-in stone fireplace topped by a bust of John Harvard, both prominently inscribed with Veritas shields. Standing portraits of Theodore Roosevelt, Percival Lowell, and other Harvard notables hang from the floor-to-ceiling oak paneling, in which names such as Emerson, Longfellow, Bulfinch, and Agassiz have been carved in bas-relief.

But for one day last week (April 17), these dignified totems of authority and rectitude were all but effaced by portraits of a young black man, his head shaved, his muscular arms and torso heavily tattooed, and his heavy-lidded eyes conveying an expression both menacing and soulful. In several photos he brandished a handgun, and in one he wore a large automatic tucked into the waistband of his boxer shorts.

The occasion was an academic symposium titled "All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero." It was co-sponsored by the Hiphop Archive, the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, the Program of Folklore and Mythology, and IKS University of Oslo, Norway...

...Mark Anthony Neal, an English professor from the State University of New York, Albany, gave a talk titled "Thug Nigga Intellectual: Tupac as Celebrity Gramscian," in which he argued that Shakur could be seen as an example of the "organic intellectual" who expresses the concerns of his group, a concept articulated by Antonio Gramsci, the Marxist political theorist...

...But the guy who blew everyone away was the keynote speaker Michael Eric Dyson, Avalon Professor in the Humanities and African American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur"(BasicCivitas Books, 2001). Speaking in an intense, cadenced, crescendoing style that clearly derived from black preaching, Dyson combined the vocabulary of post-structuralist theory with the language of the streets while quoting liberally from Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dog, Nas, and Mos Def.

Dyson, who has written books on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as issues in contemporary culture and race relations, said that when colleagues heard he was writing a book on Tupac Shakur, they asked "Why would you waste time and energy writing about this thug?"

Dyson's answer was that "Tupac spoke to me with brilliance and insight as someone who bears witness to the pain of those who would never have his platform. He told the truth, even as he struggled with the fragments of his identity..."

Posted by jsmooth995 at May 5, 2003 6:28 PM

Comments

honestly, i don't know whether to yawn or sigh.

these things could be worthwhile but they always freak me out.

the same old 3 or 4 black intellectuals always get trotted out to bridge the gap between "street" (which they're generally not) and "academia." lots of dickwaving and conjecture takes place. it just seems like they're trying to "educate" ivy league folks about hip hop and "the hip hop experience" more than they're successfully fostering meaningful/progresive/useful dialogue about race/culture/politics/art and all that other good stuff.

i do, however, want to find out if the "hiphop archives" that sponsored the event was the program that the schomburg was trying to start a few years back.

Posted by: becca at May 5, 2003 7:30 PM

um, i wanna clarify. of course i think that 2pac and hip hop in general is worth a scholarly discussion but i'm tired of seeing events like these where it seems like "we" still are at that stage of having to convince "them" that it's a relevant topic. don't call it a "symposium" call it a "pitch."

Posted by: becca at May 5, 2003 7:41 PM

Hey Mister J-

I haven't been to hiphopmusic.com in a kajillion years. Just bumped into it via a search engine...
I moved back to St. Paul and am engaged, almost 2 years now, me and my old man both work PT and started our own company together...other than that not much else is new. I had no idea how well you've kept this place...the writing's great--I know you did book & movie reviews before and all but wow! Looks like you might've received your calling...

keep on keepin' on :o)
bj

Posted by: bobbi jo at May 5, 2003 9:20 PM

i like this:

"Emmett Price, an ethnomusicologist from Northeastern, traced the evolution of trickster figures in African-American folk tales to the urban badman of the post-slavery period, an archetype to which Shakur's public persona conforms."

and the discussion of this:

"A reader of theologians like Teilhard de Chardin, Shakur was obsessed by the problem of evil, Dyson said, and through his music, "got at the heart of the hurt and suffering that was going on in human society and gave it a voice."

after reading the article, i get the impression that this wasn't an apologists attempt to legitimize hiphop, but an in-depth discussion of one of the greatest iconoclasts of our time. that's a good sign.

to answer the question, "So why do folks find it so absurd that Harvard might devote a few hours to him? Is it an assumption that all pop culture is irredeemably frivolous? Or is there a more specific bias at play?"

yes.

Posted by: nakachi at May 5, 2003 10:29 PM

all that stuff about the trickster and the devil... that's top-line analysis, especially for a Harvard symposium. x-clan was singing about "legba and osiris, meet me at the crossroads" back in 1990... and puffy's slated to play robert johnson in an upcoming film. i'm not saying i'm the deepest, best read woman in the world, but i wanna hear something that makes me say, "hey, i never thought about that."

i have to say- of all the african diaspora studies classes i've ever taken or heard about from friends at other schools, the classes i took at hunter college (a NY city public college) with j. michael turner were the best.

Posted by: becca at May 5, 2003 11:40 PM

i'm certainly not suggesting that the trickster analogy is new, i'm saying it's applicable and a much better level of discourse than one that ignores any historical connection in favor of pop palatablility.

i'm less interested in being personally intrigued by the discussion than i am with seeing more appreciation for the social significance of artists like tupac in academe and elsewhere. for harvard to take up that call is not a bad thing, in my opinion, whether it's original or not.

Posted by: nakachi at May 6, 2003 2:22 AM

Why wouldn't Tupac be worthy of scholarly analysis, as a cultural phenomenon?

well, anything under the sun is a worthwhile subject of scholarly inquiry merely because it exists, but of course scholars study tupac not just because he has popular resonance but because the scholars *wish to have* popular resonance. if you actually look at the harvard speakers' approaches to tupac's mythology, it's pretty air-brushed and hagiographic.

Posted by: missiamma at May 6, 2003 2:28 AM

hagiographic?

hagiography

n : a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person

Oh. That's a great word.

Anyway, my personal taste would be a class that looks at hip hop lyrics as poetry and discusses the merits (particularly those artists that go beyond simple rhyme structure, simile and metaphor, and examine larger themes with some of their work.)

Posted by: Jason at May 6, 2003 11:47 AM

I guess if they want to use their time to "study" Tupac, that's good for them. I for one don't think it's a big deal nor worth my time. I was never really a fan of Tupac. I still don't understand what's the big deal about Tupac. I mean he was great lyricist and excellent MC, but beyond that... I don't see any thing that people should be raving about. Some people make him seem like MLK or Malcom X. I think it's ridiculous. First of all, he was a hypocrite. Some of his songs were positive, but the others where violent, sexual, and explicit. He had tried to make himself sound like some kind of positive roll model, then turn around and promote being a "thug"? It's like NAS... First he was a drug dealer and a convict, then he is a "jiggy", a pissed of MC with lots of beef, and now calling peace and saying that he is going to "save the music". Same thing with Tupac. He didn't save nobody (but himself and his fam). He spent all of his profits on money, drugs, alcohol, hoes, and other excessive luxuaries (when he was still alive). So why people are making him look like some kind of legend that tried to help "his people"? If not anything, he prepetuated stereo type of a black person by his music and his mannerism. (Everybody should know that there are many prominent African America people in this world that deserves much credit, exposure, admiration, and respect from the masses) I love hip hop and I respect artists for thier music, but I think people are looking at wrong direction when they start to think that "hip hop" artist could be more than an entertainment. People are too impressionable... People should know the difference between "entertainment" and "real life". No disrepect to Tupac, RIP, but I think people are blowing his memories out of propotions. Hey, if he gave away huge some of money and dedicated his life politically and stopped all of the hypocritical messages that came out of his music when he was alive, then I guess I would have been wrong. But the reality is that he probably was like any other top selling hip hop artist, out for thier own gains. (or why would he have been working under Suge Knight or all people? I still don't know why he got shot but if person was living positive lifestyle, usually people won't come after you with a gun (unless you have pissed off goverment).) Good for them for this "symposium" for the sake of discussion, but isn't there more important things to be discussed than this? I guess now Harvard is trying to fit into the pop culture.

Posted by: DJ Musashi at May 6, 2003 3:20 PM

anything and everything is up for study and dissection, especially if its something popular enough to instantly register in the minds of the general public, and maybe garner some media attention and funding at the same time.

there's the international journal of Buffy Studies, the Buffy section of the Center for Studies on New Religions, and the International Buffy Symposium

so maybe Harvard's trying to get into the game with another figure who could be considered by some to have achieved "mythic" status.

Posted by: DesertJo at May 6, 2003 9:06 PM

Tupac was not a hypocrit at all, he stood up for the cause and was good at what he did. He WAS the greatest rapper of all time and if he was still here he would be blowing 50 Cent or Eminem out of the water. Tupac Forevor

Posted by: Jacob Matlock at May 9, 2003 11:18 AM

man fukk all yall yall tryna put my boy pac down yall dont understand da shyt we "street" people go through feel me so rest it man leave pac alone 1

Posted by: dvuspoet at May 19, 2003 11:26 AM

pac forever to all who belive in him and his music fukk all the rest of the haterz tho 1

Posted by: dvuspoet at May 19, 2003 11:28 AM

Sounds like some of you might wanna start up a religion and worship Tupac. What did he do that was so great? To me, he kept up the stereotype of black people by what he did and what he put out. He enjoyed his fame and fortune but I didn't see him run around and reach out to people. From what I can remember, he was all about gettin' fucked up and fuckin' bitches... If that's doing "GOOD" for the community, then I guess I misunderstood. Hey, if he was alive and turned around and became "good samaritan", I would gave him props. But my memory of Tupac is him runnin' with Suge doing whatever the fuck he wants. So someone please give me a fact as to why Tupac was so great, otherwise I still think he is overrated. Yeah he did "talk" quite a bit but he didn't "walk" the "walk"...

Posted by: DJ Musashi at May 19, 2003 5:35 PM

Hey, whoever sent me an e-mail regarding Tupac, thanks but no thanks. I was very dissapointed by whoever you are that sent me that e-mail because it was very poorly written and unconvincing. As I've stated before, unless you can back up your claims with facts, don't even bother. I just can't believe that there is an individual out there who cares about Tupac so much that that person just couldn't resist taking time and sending me an e-mail. Whoever you are should probably start "Church of Tupac" or something like that since you seems to worship Tupac like somekind of God or leader. Remember this is just my opinion, but you had to make it personal... These are just opinions and discussions, leave it at that!

Posted by: DJ Musashi at May 20, 2003 1:30 PM

2pac is teh grates man he was a man who has no fear 2 any 1 in this world.he faced the fears all alon (the real man)who maid it by his own.R>I>P tupac thug living and fuck the world

Posted by: ahmed at June 7, 2003 5:13 PM

fuck the 1 who says that tupac was a hyprocitical TUAPC IS GREAT

Posted by: ahmed at June 7, 2003 5:19 PM

I just don't understand people who want give tupac props.He came up for young black males and females, maybe in a violent way hey but that's life you know.His songs were more than fuckin bitches or getting money DJ mushasi!!!It's about: day to day struggle on the streets for little individuals,but then again what do you know about that life.Thuglife:the hate u give little infants fucks everybody got it homie??

Posted by: zakaria at August 15, 2003 7:27 PM

all of you critics out there are nothing but disrespectful, unknowledgeable pieces of shits. cluster your reasearch about tupac 10 years or so all put together and then come up with theories. how could you educated people with so much knowledge talk so much shit about a person you've never appreciated or followed throughout his carrier?! and your answer for your questions is to be found a few lines above from "Dyson, who has written books on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as issues in contemporary culture and race relations, said that when colleagues heard he was writing a book on Tupac Shakur, they asked "Why would you waste time and energy writing about this thug?" (that question implicitly includes all of you that impetuously criticize for no reason). Dyson's answer "Tupac spoke to me with brilliance and insight as someone who bears witness to the pain of those who would never have his platform. He told the truth, even as he struggled with the fragments of his identity...". you guys have probably grown to your filthy fucking "bastard" parents of yours and accomplished no gleaming of how reality moves one step faster than you. If you really want to learn something about life please start reasearch about tupac NOW and learn what he really lived for "he lived for you fuckers"
part 2- he read more books than any of you idiots out there. and, oooh, they keep coming. You was born in your environment, he was born in his environment. as one of his songs implicit "my life in exchange for yours, born hated as a thug..."
reasons to make you hypocrits understand why he was true star. read some of his poems: here's one for you
Fallen Star
4 Huey P Newton

They could never understand
what u set out 2 do
instead they chose 2
ridicule u
when u got weak
they loved the sight
of your dimming
and flickering starlight
How could they understand
what was so intricate
2 be loved by so many, so
intimate
they wanted 2 c your lifeless
corpse
this way u could not alter the
course
of ignorance that they have set
2 make my people forget
what they have done for much
2 long
2 just forget and carry on
I had loved u forever because
of who u r
and now I mourn our fallen star

By: Tupac Shakur

have you read ponder on this, food for thought, alignment, the ancient misteries, astrology, the buddah, christ, challenge, the impact of color, state of consciousness, medicine, the moon, ocult teaching, telepathy, kabbalah, the roots...etc, omg to many(he read the you did not). study tupac's lyrics and you will understand how he incorporated his knowledge in what he did.
-what tupac had to say was more potent, most relevant, he was the better humna being...guys, one more time he pulled the shit from malcolm x, luther king "even though you were a crack... momma, you were a black queen momma"
if there is homeslness in washington DC, then why the hell isn't the president gather the homless people and put them in their "thousands" of rooms they have there? when tupac's fortune came along he ghatered everyone that he saw glimmer in and offered them as much as he could. what also makes him special- he did more good than any other, even though people do not know about -just for the fact that he never wanted the media to feel like he was trying to seel records
-he was a champion, a teacher, a prophet, and a political all wrapped in one and you will never understand because you dont have the knowledge of him.
and just to end this tupac died at age 25
-if malcolm x was to die at age 25 he would have been a street hustler
-if martin luther king died at age 25 he would have been a local baptist minister who would not yet arrive on the national scene
please go and further inform yourself for the next 10 years and then come back and try to put some words on the website
peace and love you tupac, you are the greatest

Posted by: alvin at October 27, 2003 7:36 AM

fuck every single person who says tupac is the greatest rapper of all time. i am heavily and i mean fucken heavily into rap. tupac was nothing new. he had no diversity in his lyrics, nearly every song he said somethin about drinkin hennessy and shootin at cops. anyone who compares him to martin luther king or malclom x should be shot in the throat. he did nothin to help stop racism. fuck, if you wanna hear a truly GREAT rapper who has actually said soemthin about racism then look at Kool G Rap - Erase Racism. wen did tupac ever do anythin liek that? NEVER. tupac is nowehere near the level of some of the real greatest rappers of all time. if u put every single song he ever made against just one album by Kool G Rap or Rakim or KRS or any other truly great artist, he would lose almost instantly. tupac is completely, truly, 100% overrated. oh and for the idiots sayin he isnt a hypcrite, try comparing the 2 songs, Keep Ya Head Up and Niggaz Nature. keep ya head up is about respectin women and niggaz nature is pretty much callin em all sluts and gold diggaz.....

Posted by: the truth at December 5, 2003 1:24 AM

fuck you racist bastards.

Posted by: Alex at December 10, 2003 10:17 AM

fuck you racist bastards.

Posted by: Alex at December 10, 2003 10:18 AM

Tupac at his very best had some interesting and smart things to say, but calling him the greatest ever is an insult to the truly great rappers.

Posted by: Taichi Master at December 10, 2003 12:49 PM

tupac was a dope lyricist and might have given kids in the inner cities someone to emulate, but most of the suberban fucks around where i live turned into a bunch thug loving violent theives.as soon as he died all of that faded and record companies stop marketing violence to kids. those suburban kids wherre about 70 percent of his audience which i'm sure he was well aware of....and "fuck you racist bastards" ? when race come into this?

Posted by: chemhead0 at January 25, 2004 4:25 PM

you are all ignorant fuck heads, tupac is the greatest, and thats that - fuck all of you fag ass mother fuckers i hope you all perish in the eternal flames of hell
ps. i will never read this webpage again so any insults wont hurt.. so fuck you

Posted by: jon at July 26, 2004 2:32 AM

Tupac is an epitome of the challenges confronting the have-nots the world over. Myopic and narrow-minded people may think otherwise but that is the bitter truth. It is not out of place to call Tupac contemporary Moses or a product of supremacists' politics. He brought to limelight the pains and deprivations of the poor everywhere nothwithstanding colour and all this in a very short space of time! He undoubtedly is unlike Jane Austen with her pretty and less turbulent environment but with much for high scholarly consideration as it affects lots of folks out there!

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