2Pac Friday
13 October 2023
As this is a Friday the 13th, it is only appropriate that we choose an eerie 2Pac track to be featured today.
It is not that this track has an eerie feel, but rather the lyrics have been used by some to believe the idea that 2Pac is still alive, that he was prophesizing the Makavelli plan of faking his death to escape his enemies.
After the song’s initial chorus, 2Pac begins the first verse:
“I heard a rumour I died, murdered in cold blood dramatized
Pictures of me in my final stage you know Mama cried
But that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted
Like I no longer existed, mysteriously missin'
Although I'm worldwide, baby I ain't hard to find”
It is easy to see how people could interpret these lyrics as "“prophesizing” or “foreshadowing” his faked death. The reasons for this are pretty clear and don’t really need to be analyzed.
Furthering such thoughts is the fact that 2Pac died exactly 7 months after the album All Eyez on Me, which this track appears on, was released.
While, especially in my younger years, I wanted to believe in such thoughts that 2Pac faked his own death and was still alive, I could never truly believe it.
Can you imagine 2Pac being quiet and standing by without expressing his views on various events of the world?
Plus, while it is a nice thought that he is alive somewhere, I feel delving too much in such ideals can be potentially insulting to his friends and family who truly mourned and were negatively affected by his death.
But I don’t want this 2Pac Friday to get sidetracked by such discussion.
Let’s enjoy this awesome song, which features C-Bo, D-Shot, Richie Rich, and E-40, who collaborate to each take turns with a line in the chorus.
After 2Pac does the first verse, the second verse starts with C-Bo, followed by B-Legit (the only rapper in this song who is not part of the chorus), and concludes with D-Shot. The third verse is E-40 followed by Richie Rich.
With so many rappers present in the song, it really accentuates the idea that 2Pac is not hiding and is shouldn’t be “Hard 2 Find,” even though it is implied that his enemies seem to be having a difficult time finding him. In that way, that song revolves around that certain irony of being absent and omnipresent at the same time.
This track was my first encounter with E-40, who has since rose the ranks of my favorite rappers. He is no 2Pac, but an under-the-radar rapper than has been around and good for a long time, a career that is kind of fitting for that similar irony, never the most famous rapper but consistently good for a long career. He is a Hall-of-Famer for sure, yet somehow underrated, I daresay as many people are not as aware of him as they perhaps should be. He has a unique style and a healthy mixture of hit songs and more contemplative narratives. He also was a self-starter, taking the lead in producing much of his own music.
But as good as E-40, there is not a day of the week celebrated after him as there is with 2Pac.
In that regard, 2Pac stands alone on his own pedestal.
A global pedestal.
2Pac is indeed worldwide. He is not hard to find. In fact, you can find him here every Friday on these wonderful 2Pac Fridays.
Or any day really, as we certainly do not limit our 2Pac listening to Fridays.