Read Eminem's Thought-Provoking Tribute To The Genius Of Tupac Shakur
For as long as I can remember, Eminem has been a tried and true defender of Tupac Shakur's legacy. Here's a man who's so pure in his reverence for Pac and his brilliance that he was tapped to produce a posthumous record from the late legend, thanking his mother Afeni for the opportunity in a well-publicized letter that was heartfelt and sincere as can be, revealing a vulnerable side to the Detroit rapper that few had ever seen. And so, as part of Paper's forthcoming "Nowstalgia" issue (which has already seen a personal account on the greatness of Eazy-E from Compton current king Kendrick Lamar,) Em was given the opportunity to go even further with his proclamation of Pac's genius, tracking the trajectory of Shakur's career through the lens of an adolescent growing up in 8 Mile. It's a touching and thought-provoking measure of a man from one of his brightest students and you can read it in its entirety by hitting the link below. Stay tuned for Paper's next intsallment; Swizz Beats on the legacy of the GOAT, Notorious B.I.G..
>>Read Eminem's full piece on Tupac (via Paper Mag)"He was taking things further than a lot of rappers at the time -- pushing it to the next level as far as giving feeling to his words and his music. A lot of people say, "You feel Pac," and it's absolutely true. The way he chose which words to say with which beat was genius; it's like he knew what part of the beat and what chord change was the right place to hit these certain words... to make them jump off the track and make you feel what he was saying. Like, listen to "If I Die 2Nite." Whatever he was rapping about, it was urgent. If it was a sad song, it'd make you cry. But there were a lot of different sides to him: fed-up, angry, militant, having a good time. His spirit spoke to me because it was like you knew everything that he was going through, especially when he made Me Against the World. You just felt every aspect of his pain, every emotion: when he was happy, when he was sad. His ability to touch people's lives like that was incredible."
