First they put Malcolm X on a stamp. Now, the Library of Congress has announced they will add the late, legendary Tupac Shakur’s seminal ode to his former revolutionary mom called “Dear Mama”.
First they put Malcolm X on a stamp. Now, the Library of Congress has announced they will add the late, legendary Tupac Shakur’s seminal ode to his former revolutionary mom called “Dear Mama.”
The classic single, which paid homage to his mother, Afeni, who gave birth to him while being dogged by the police and the courts as a member of the Black Panthers, and who subsequently descended into a life of drug abuse, will join 24 other recordings. The songs will be added specifically to the National Recording Registry, which requires a song to have some cultural, historical or aesthetic significance and be at least 10 years old.
Bill Cosby will join Tupac in the Library of Congress, where his entire second album will be added. Tupac becomes the third rapper to be inducted into the extremely prestigious and exclusive institution, following Grand Master Flash and Public Enemy.
If I were making the choice to add a Tupac song for the Library of Congress, I would select “So Many Tears.” This was 2Pac at the apex of his creative powers and offers a spine-chillingly haunting single where he revisits the subject of his own mortality while seemingly begging God for forgiveness: “Will I survive the morning to see the sun/please Lord forgive me for my sins ‘cause here I come” … I’m falling on the floor/ begging the Lord to let me into Heaven’s Door.” All the while 2Pac simultaneously wonders if he deserves eternal damnation in the lake of fire for the life he has led. This is a conversation that, on some level, millions of people have and struggle with. Other classics from Tupac’s vast vault of hits that I would have offered are “Keep Your Head Up” and “That’s the Way it Is.”
Would you have chosen “Dear Mama” if you were on the decision committee for the Library of Congress? Or is there a classic song by another rapper that has been overlooked in your opinion? –terry shropshire
– terry shropshire
