Tupac Shakur by Vibe Magazine Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Tupac Shakur
Book Review: The best book I have ever read!
Summary: 5 Stars
It let people know who the real 2pac Shakur is and why he is here. I listen to 2pac everyday he is my favorite rapper ever! It is too bad he had to die R.I.P. 2pac thug life 4ever 2pac 1971- 1996Book Review: This book has it all: pictures & words...
Summary: 5 Stars
First and foremost, this is an excellent book. In pictures and in words, the life of the (arguably) late Tupac Shakur gets documented and commemorated in 157 glossy pages. The best part about all of this, is that VIBE magazine was (and still is) a major player in the hip-hop music industry - the reader's letters and articles on these pages are as real as it gets. Read on: "This is my last interview. If I get killed, I want people to get every drop. I want them to get the real story." - (VIBE, "Ready To Live" - April 1995)
Writer Kevin Powell really gets to the heart of things in this interview with 'Pac from Rikers Island.
"When you do rap albums, you got to train yourself. You got to constantly be in character. You used to see rappers talking all that hard [stuff], and then you see them in suits and [stuff] at the American Music Awards. I don't want to be that type of [person]. I wanted to keep it real, and that's what I thought I was doing. But now that [stuff] is dead. That Thug Life [stuff]...I did it, I put in my work, I laid it down. But now that [stuff] is dead."
I can't help but wonder...would Tupac still be alive had he stuck to this quote back in 1995? Would the Notorious B.I.G still be alive? Would they be friends?
There were so many facets to Tupac. He was hard...perhaps the 'realest' rapper to ever live. To say that Tupac Shakur was charismatic is an understatement - his sheer presence had the power to electrify a room. His lyrics were insightful, and his visual package had his female fans in a trance. He was truly a legend.
I (like many others) practically grew up on Tupac. I remember when he landed the role of "Bishop" in 'Juice' (he was still a relative unknown that fall of 1991); how he got to star opposite Janet Jackson (lucky dude!) in 'Poetic Justice'. In music, "I Get Around", was the joint in the summer and fall of 1993 - and it is now a classic.
Then in 1994, the trouble really started. He got shot up; sent to Rikers Island on a sexual assault charge, yet released a new album anyway. Tons of stars turned out for him to shoot the "Temptations" video (dang, Pac had a lot of friends, huh?). Then the infamous Source Awards of 1995 happened - the real powder keg of the Bad Boy/Death Row feud. The letters back and forth - the finger pointing...(I'll leave that at that).
That whole East Coast/West Coast rivalry proved once and for all that hip-hop (as DMX says) is not a game. On that note, all the shadiness, all the unsettling moments, and the unsettling quotes are documented on these pages as well. Read it, and draw your own conclusions - I just hope we never return to that state of affairs. It was most likely a very tenseand scary time to be a music journalist in hip-hop...from the outside looking in.
That being said, I'd say that this is a great place to start finding out more about Tupac. He seemed to be an extremely lovable guy. He was engaged to Quincy Jones' daughter - and he was friends with classy ladies like Jasmine Guy and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Obviously, Tupac had class...but like everyone else has been saying, he must have just turned into his "thug-life" image...and just like his character "Bishop", he died way before his time. Gone too soon.
Book Review: This the book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the book that shows two different sides of Tupac... I don't understand why it's the "negative" side of him people know more. His good personality really stood out to me... and I'm sure it did for plenty other people too. If you read this book, you'll see what a sweet person he really is... I know he did some questionable things, but he is really a good person.Book Review: Touching Enough To Make Any Thug Cry
Summary: 5 Stars
I have have read parts of the book and looked at the pictures. it makes you see the side of Pac the news and media never want you to see.. This book will put tears in your eyes and make you think twice about the way people are on the ouside!Book Review: Tupac HUH???
Summary: 1 Stars
Tupac... What can say about him. A man of a thousand words, whonever forgot his roots, childhood and was not a front, or fake. Hegave it to you like he saw, and belivied and if ypou didn't likeit....So what...This book, goes over his life, but brings to much BSinto his life about that Eastcoast westcoast crap. It's by VIBE, whatdo you expect ya know?? Anything to make a dollar. I've read alot ofbooks on tupac. He was a kind guy...He lived to worlds and it madpeople MAD..In this world, your not supposed to live like a thug andhave riches..People would do anything to assisinate his charactor andexpected the worst from him. He was a educated thug who loved to overcome struggle, set new goals, be in touch w/ others, and was anexcellent poet who could give you his feelings and have youthinking--i feel it, i know..... Many never took the chance to to feelhim, but who did, are those that feel this..