Sonny was a Cool-Cat, Cassius was Square

Sexually assaulting women and beating people up doesn't make anyone a gangster. It might just make you a jack-ass. You get dozens of them in every small town.
Getting shot doesn't make you a gangster either. It just means you pissed the wrong person off.

Many rappers CLAIMED TO BE gangsters.

Tupac earned his living making multi-platinum selling albums, not criminal activity. His record label was briefly owned by a gangster-type individual, who bailed Tupac out. That's how Tupac got to hang out with some real gangsters, and other jackasses.
Tupac's story is a big advert for why you shouldn't PLAY at being a gangster. He was a "wannabe" if there ever was one. A celebrity acting hard. Like Mickey Rourke was a "wannabe boxer".

 

He got shot when he was just 25 right after beating the crap outa somebody with his mob in the middle of Las Vegas strip.

He may have not been a full fledged gangster for all we know, but his involvement to the streets went certainly deeper than that of a normal entertainer/performer, or even a rapper.

 

They certainly do not


Gangster rap was/is a subculture of rap which was very popular and prevalent in the 90's. Rap/hip-hop has never been confined to one style of story telling.

Today, mainstream rap is more about living the good life. Spending money, clubbing, etc.

This is a very general outlook to something that is a bit more complex though.

 

No problem Deuce.

And trust me, if I grew up in your time, I would be calling rap "that mumbo jumbo"


By the way, did you see my request for the sources in the "Ali?" thread? I hope you can help me out

Thanks again

 

Well, if getting into some silly "gang fight" makes one a gangster, then maybe. But just about half the people I know have done the same, young and stupid as we were. The amount of times I've seen some skinny kid jump in piling on six or more against one, never really thought of that as gangsterism.

Getting shot dead was a dumb move on Tupac's part. Or maybe not.
Anyway, half the rappers in the world make a point of being caught up in gun-related transgression of the law.

In my opinion, Tupac was an entertainer behaving badly, mixing with a few bad elements and other hangers on. It just so happens guns were used and some mixed up the gangsta rap image with reality.
But there are tons of other celebrities who got in just as many fights and brawls as did Tupac, an mixed with as many unsavoury characters - no one suggests they were really gangsters.

Tupac WAS deeply involved, yes. As a "wannabe" !

 

Your lack of sympathy is appalling.


I never said he was a gangster. I was saying he was involved with crime deeper than your aver "rapper/actor".


And Tupac helped redefine what a modern day gangster or thug is. But of course hes not a full time full fledged gangster.

He would be selling crack, not CD's

 

Not really. I think it's sad that he was killed so young, but he went out of his way to flirt with a stupid lifestyle or "wannabe" gangster, and got what you might expect. He had a lot of other options. You mentioned it yourself, he was joining in a beating of a guy in Las Vegas in the early hours of the morning shortly before he was shot dead.
Why does he deserves extra sympathy ?
His own stupidity got him shot. Likewise, his own stupidity might have got someone else killed too. Considering the facts that he was an educated young man (despite what he said about himself) and a high-earning one too, his decision to act stupid and join in such lowly activity is the real shame and cause of his death.

 

Extra sympathy?


I feel sorry for any civilized man who gets shot down and killed at the age of 25.


Tupac didnt have the same upbringing as you. So you may have learned lessons and were taught morals that were very different than his.


But if you were born in his shoes, would you make the same mistakes? Or is there something divine about you that makes you special and smart even if you were born in a cave in the middle of nowhere?

 

If I'm correct, he was just chillin in a car with Suge knight, after the fight in the casino, then someone in another car just shot him whom is unknown to this day

 

I fail to see what is phony of tupacs gansta lifestyle. He certainly paid the price for his involvement in violent activities. Starting the altercation with Orlando Anderson who was a Crip and beating him up may have been what got him killed. Associations with bloods and Suge Knight who if not a blood himself was a huge supporter of them, he emplyed Bloods as security and even cops who were bloods did security work for him. both tupac and suge commonly wore their colors. They were not phony, I think you confuse them with later gangster rappers who just were after the money that association with that lifestyle brings. His association with Suge was another reason he may have been killed.

I dont condone Tupac's behavior by the way, he was one of those resposable (perhaps most responsible) for pushing gangsta rap in the 90's which in the end got more than a few people killed.

Why you refuse to call Tupac a gangster is beyond me, but dont be surprised if others do.

 

your right Mr Il Duce. True indeed. Sorry for my part in hijacking your thread.