Sonny was a Cool-Cat, Cassius was Square

Sorry for the brief highjack, but I just had to:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qzRSU2NWmE[/ame]

 

What you talking about ?
Firstly, you know nothing about my upbringing.
Secondly, Tupac's upbringing included a lot of time at acting and dance and ballet classes, and his family were apparently politically conscious, not mindless thugs.
Also, he was very successful.

You seem to be saying I must have "sympathy" otherwise I'm being an ass. I already sad it was sad. I don't see what's wrong with saying Tupac was acting foolish and stupid repeatedly in the years leading up to his death. It's self-evident.
Also, you seem to be saying that making a judgment on his conduct is invalid simply because we don't know what he's been through. That's ridiculous. You could use the same defence with just about anyone who did anything wrong.

He could have stepped out in front of a speeding truck without looking and I'd say it was a dumb move.

 

Tupac was a multi-million selling artists before he got in with Suge Knight, who exploited him really.
Sure, Knight was a criminal. I never said Knight was a phony. I don't know how he made his money.

Tupac was a successful rapper before he got all caught up in trying to be a gangster.
He was surrounded by Bloods doesn't make a difference.
Frank Sinatra was surrounded by mafiosi.
I don't think Frank Sinatra was a "gangster" either.
(Although George Raft may have been !)

Being a gangster means you're either giving orders or taking orders, and gang activity is the first duty in your life. It usually also means your income is dependent on the crime activities of the gang. Tupac was no "boss" and no "soldier".
I think people confuse getting into brawls and going to jail for bothering a woman with being a true gangster. That's not gangster, that's just anti-social. Like I said, I know several people of that ilk. And look at some other celebrities, always fighting and vandalising things.

I think Tupac was a pretty good artist. His music was a little bit soft for my liking and became very commercial, but his voice and lyrics were pretty good. I think he was a late-comer to the 'gangsta rap' genre though.
NWA, Ice-T, Geto Boys all pre-dated him by at least 4 years.
Tupac was good though, and had politically conscious lyrics too, although I think early Ice Cube was quite a bit better.
I don't think gangsta rap was bad at all. I'm actually a massive fan of the genre, and Tupac was competent at it. I don't think music and lyrics can be blamed for real crime either. Maybe, I don't know.

Anyway, enough about Tupac.

 

I wonder what records cool cat Sonny had in his collection. ......

 

Both the Jimmy De Forest and James Brown versions of Night Train,for a kick off.

 

Bingo!! something we are in agreement with. I always thought rap was spelt with a silent 'c'

 

Jimmy DeForrest ?
Wasn't he a boxing trainer ?

 

Yep. That's some COOOOL stuff, right there.

 

Dave Bruebeck

 

lol I never claimed to know your upbringing. You could be rich millionare or a poor thug. It makes no difference towards my initial point, which is you did not grow up in the same house as him, and unless you lived his life exactly how he lived it, its cynical to say he was dumb to get shot.


But thats more a conflict of our philosophical viewpoints of life.

"You could use the same defence with just about anyone who did anything wrong."

Pretty much, and I said for a civilized person. A man who rapes a woman while shes on the way home from work and kills her, is not civilized. But in the realm of civilized people, I do have sympathy for everyone. I think it's a more logical and positive way to view life. It's not like me or you were born with special brains that would help us make different decisions if we were in Tupacs shoes and lived his life.