Written Task 1 Draft

2PAC Interview

Interviewer:

Welcome! It is really a pleasure to have you here.

Tupac:

It's my pleasure to be here.

Interviewer:

I would like to start by asking you a relatively personal question. Have you, at any point in your life, experienced hardship or conflict?

Tupac:

My life is and always has been full of conflict. So many stumbling blocks have been placed on my path of life, it's near unfathomable.

Interviewer:

Anything specific; any events that have remained with you until today?

Tupac:

Well, looking back to my childhood revives no sensations of nostalgia or wistfulness, but rather feelings of melancholia. Significantly seldom, in hindsight, were there any clear or distinctive 'bright sides' to many events in my life. I could muse on the countless experiences of criminal actions within the community in which I was raised, and even within my own family. My stepfather is a good example, as he remained for four years on the FBI's list of the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, starting in 1986, at which point I was only around 10-12 years of age. He was imprisoned for murder; he was imprisoned for involvement in robberies, and yet, surprisingly, that alone is so minute in comparison to the rest of my experiences. Generally speaking, I was constantly surrounded with violence and crime, even drug abuse and the dismantling of families. In all honesty, it was really depressing to a certain extent, but that was everyday life for me.

Interviewer:

Now, you obviously write most of your music with these inner and outer conflicts in mind, and, based my own assumptions, I feel as if your music strongly depicts these conflicts. Do I make a valid argument?

Tupac:

Indeed you do. If I may reiterate, the violence, crime, drug abuse, and dismantling of families, all of which I spoke of just a second ago, are often themes that lay in the depths of my music. I saw rapping as a unique way to express and depict the aspects that define my difficult yet resultantly successful life.

  Interviewer:

"Difficult yet resultantly successful." Interesting. Do you refer, perhaps, to the idea of your difficulties acting as the greatest of factors in the success of your career?

Tupac:

Yes. That is the basis of what my life is: turning struggle into success. Considerably, what does the large majority of my lyrics illustrate anyway?

Interviewer:

On that note, I was listening to your song "My Block," paying close attention to the lyrics of the song. Would you share with us the real meaning behind the lyrics, or at least what thoughts and feelings had, seemingly, taken over your mind while writing it?

Tupac:

"My Block" simply represents my block. It is an illustration of my life; a memoir of my struggles. I uttered the words crime and violence and claimed that they acted as one of multiple underlying themes of my music. It is the case in this song specifically, out of which so many excerpts could be taken, and, believe me, each line is equally meaningful. Let me give an example. "Now s*** is constantly hot, on my block, it never fails to be gunshots." Truer words have never been spoken. It is a description of my surroundings; my environment. For us, struggling each and every day, hearing a gunshot was just as common as a rich man hearing his new BMW arrive at his doorstep. Sometimes we actually saw it happen as inner scars formed, changing us and altering our view on life, which was constantly in flux.

I, additionally, talked about family problems. One line from the song reads: "A single mother with a problem child, daddy free." How sad it was that that very line could accurately portray the unfortunate reality that was, for many, life: a split and morally drained "family." Alike violence and crime, it was all around me. Honestly, I could baffle on for hours upon hours, because, for me, looking back at these lyrics and reflecting on them are opening multitudinous floodgates, out of which so many memories are flowing as we speak. It is quite incredible what I've been through.

Interviewer:

I can speak on behalf of your fan base of millions by stating that indeed, we feel it. I may not be able to feel it with you, but there are millions out there who do, because you've reached out and provided hope to so many dark corners of this world.

Tupac:

That's what my overall intention was from the very start.

Interviewer:

Well, it's quite clear that you have, over many years, more than successfully expressed your difficulties and hardship through your music, but is that it, or do your lyrics portray any positive aspects of your life?

Tupac:

Elaborating on what mentioned earlier, my music could just as easily and accurately be described as being a cultural memoir as one of my struggles and pain. My lyrics link, strongly, back to my African-American roots, and it doesn't lay in the depths of my music, but rather at the very surface. I, extensively often, use African American Vernacular English while writing my lyrics, evident of the fact that I do, as well, portray a sense of pride in culture and backgrounds. I could very easily adapt the use of the words "going to" instead of "gonna," or "am not" instead of "ain't" in my lyrics, but why do that when it is the truncation of words and forms of negation that clearly illustrate the spirit of my African-American roots and emphasize the cultural connection that my music has?

Interviewer:

Well this is exactly why you should, rightfully so, be considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time, and this is despite the statistical success that you have achieved over the past few years, and solely based on the depth and meaning that you have proved your music to portray and possess. On that note, I would like to thank you for giving a few minutes of your time to be here with us.

Tupac:

It is my absolute pleasure.