With his newfound success, Tupac had cars, hotel rooms, record deals, and a nice house. "Dear Mama," though it is wracked with hurt over the lifestyle he came up in, celebrates the contradictions of staying "in the life," as seen in the track's lyrics: His friends, or fellow "outlaws," another term Pac tried to elevate and reclaim, were still pimps, dealers, and actual gangsters. He dropped out of high school at 17, and, through a series of breaks, got a record deal and a possible way out.īut as his songs indicated, Tupac never left the street life. The move was ostensibly an attempt to escape the violence and horror of Baltimore's streets.īy the time he and his mother made that final move, Tupac was living on his own, crashing with family friends and then living in an abandoned building with other street kids. But before he had a chance to finish his studies, the family moved again, this time to Marin City, California. Pac started an AIDS prevention campaign and attended a school for the arts, where he started acting and rapping. So as soon as I got there-being the person that I am-I said 'No, no. Tupac said, "Baltimore has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy, the highest rate of AIDS within the black community, the highest rate of teens killing teens, the highest rate of teenage suicide, and the highest rate of blacks killing blacks. Tupac grew up on the streets of New York, and as a young teen his mother moved him to Baltimore. In 2009, the song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress, who deemed it a work that is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." In a press release, the organization called the song "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference.Like all Tupac's other songs, "Dear Mama" is set in the streets of New York, Baltimore, and Marin City, a life in the shadow of wealth and privilege with no visible way out. "Dear Mama" has been consistently ranked among the best of its genre, appearing on numerous "greatest" lists. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA on July 13, 1995. The song topped the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart for five weeks and also peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. In the song, Shakur details his childhood poverty and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine, but argues that his love and deep respect for his mother supersede bad memories.
The song is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. "Dear Mama" is a song by American hip hop recording artist 2Pac, released on February 9, 1995, as the lead single from his third studio album, Me Against the World.
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