Keep Ya Head Up

- Satthik 

"Tupac Amaru Shakur"- most of us rap enthusiasts are very much familiar with this name, and to those who aren't, I would like to introduce him as a poet first. A poet who upheld the very streets he came from, the sociopolitical conditions of the black Americans.

American rap culture is often associated with gang affiliations, drug abuse and dark tales of the streets. American Rap, dominated by the black American people, is often seen as uncivilized by many in America. The rise of Desi Hiphop in India in the recent years ever since the  Zoya Akhtar film- "Gully Boy" had been released has also been received with sharp criticism by many prominent faces of the Indian music and film industries and Indian masses. Likewise in the USA, when the Black Americans were struggling for their rights in the second half of the 20th century, hiphop rose parallely. Taking a break from melodies and civilised language, the very gangsters who used to rule the streets started penning down their lives. Whatever they saw and did - murder, drug abuse, robbery, extortion, and sometimes sexual assault ; they penned those visuals down in the very rough form they perceived those and verbalized them. They performed those at "rap cyphers". Lots of youngsters gathered in cyphers to perform what they penned down with different flows and these performances were accompanied with musical beats. The musical beats were much derived from Jamaican sound culture.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, rap shifted from such block parties and cyphers towards commercial recordings. The 1980s saw rap expand in style and geography. Rappers like Run-DMC popularized a harder, more aggressive sound. Public Enemy added a political edge, directly confronting racism and social injustice. Meanwhile, groups like N.W.A. in Los Angeles pioneered “gangsta rap,” narrating the lived realities of policing, drugs, and violence in Black neighborhoods. The NWA song - "Fuck Tha Police" was widely regarded as the most controversial and influential rap song of the time.

As rap started its journey in the 1960s, parallely in Oakland, California in 1966, The Black Panther Party (BPP) was founded by Huey. P Newton and Bobby Seale. They started the party to protect their community from police violence and to demand basic rights like freedom, good jobs, decent housing, proper education, and justice. This was written in their Ten-Point Program, which clearly explained what they wanted for their people.

The Panthers were famous for carrying guns and watching the police to stop harassment, but they did much more than that. They built “survival programs” to directly help poor Black families. These included free breakfast programs for children, free health clinics, education classes, and even programs that gave out food and clothing. Their goal was to show that Black people could take care of their own communities and didn’t need to depend on a system that oppressed them.

The Panthers were inspired by Malcolm X, who said Black people must fight for their rights “by any means necessary.” They also saw themselves as part of a global freedom struggle, connecting their fight in the U.S. with independence movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This made them more than just a local group—they became symbols of resistance worldwide.

Because the Panthers were growing in popularity, the U.S. government saw them as a threat. The FBI, under a program called COINTELPRO, worked to destroy them. Agents spied on members, spread lies to create division, arrested leaders on false charges, and even carried out violent attacks. One of the most shocking cases was the killing of Fred Hampton, a young Panther leader in Chicago, who was shot by the police in his home. By the mid-1970s, after years of pressure, arrests, and internal problems, the Party had weakened, but its influence never disappeared.

One of the children of that generation was Tupac Amaru Shakur, born on June 16, 1971, in New York City. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was a well-known Panther who was part of the “Panther 21” trial, accused of planning attacks against the police. She defended herself in court and was freed just a month before Tupac’s birth. His stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was also a Panther who worked on community health programs but later went underground and was arrested for involvement in radical political actions. His godfather, Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, was another leading Panther who spent many years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Even his aunt, Assata Shakur, was a Panther and activist who later fled to Cuba after escaping from prison. Growing up around such people, Tupac was surrounded by stories of bravery, sacrifice, and the constant struggle against injustice.

His name carried that same history. “Tupac Amaru” came from Tupac Amaru II, an Incan leader in Peru who led a rebellion against Spanish colonial rule in the 1700s, and it means “shining serpent” in the Quechua language. His last name, Shakur, is Arabic for “thankful to God.” From birth, his identity was tied to resistance, culture, and struggle.

As a child, Tupac’s life was not easy. His family faced poverty, constant police attention, and instability. Despite this, he was gifted and creative. He studied acting, poetry, and dance at a performing arts school, where he developed his love for storytelling. These skills later shaped his unique style of rap, where he could move between anger, sadness, and hope with honesty and power.

Tupac’s rap career began in the late 1980s. He first performed with the group Digital Underground before starting his solo work. From the beginning, he stood out because his music carried deep messages. When Tupac released his first solo album, he immediately showed what made him unique. Instead of only focusing on fame or violence, he balanced social issues with personal emotion. Songs like Brenda’s Got a Baby shocked listeners by telling the story of a teenage girl abandoned by society. This was not typical for rap at the time, and it proved that Tupac was willing to use his music to raise awareness about real problems.

In his early career, Tupac also developed his reputation as a political voice. Growing up with the ideas of the Panthers, he naturally brought activism into his music. He rapped about police brutality, poverty, and racism, but also about hope and strength. His songs connected deeply with young people who felt voiceless, because he spoke in a way that was raw, honest, and emotional.

Tupac Shakur’s song "Keep Ya Head Up" is one of his most powerful and loved songs. It is not just a rap, but a message of care, respect, and hope. Through this song, Tupac showed that music could talk about real problems and also give people strength.

In the song, Tupac speaks to women, especially Black women and single mothers. He talks about how they are often disrespected and left to struggle alone. At a time when many rap songs were rude to women, Tupac did the opposite. He encouraged them, telling them to “keep ya head up,” meaning to stay strong and never give up.

The song also talks about bigger problems in poor neighborhoods, like poverty and the government not helping enough. Tupac connects the pain of one person to the larger pain of the community. In this way, he showed that personal struggles are linked to social problems.

What makes Keep Ya Head Up so special is Tupac’s voice and feelings. He raps with both sadness and hope, like he truly understands the pain but also wants to give comfort. It feels almost like advice from a brother or a friend. That is why so many people, especially women, felt deeply touched by it.

Even today, it is remembered as one of Tupac’s best songs. It shows his caring side and his belief that music can inspire and give strength. Through this song, Tupac proved he was not just a rapper, but also a voice for respect and justice.

In “Trapped,” Tupac raps about police harassment and the feeling of being trapped by a system that unfairly targets Black men. The song reflects the anger and frustration that many young Black people felt, especially in neighborhoods with heavy policing. It is a direct critique of injustice and shows Tupac’s awareness of social problems.

Another powerful song is “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” In this track, Tupac encourages people to stand up against oppression. He talks about poverty, violence, and inequality, calling on listeners to resist and speak out. The song has a strong energy that mixes anger with hope, inspiring people to take action.

On September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was only 25 years old. The attack happened after he had attended a boxing match with the rapper Suge Knight, who was the head of his record label at the time. Tupac was hit multiple times and was taken to the hospital, where he died six days later, on September 13, 1996.

The murderous and ruthless rivalries between the east coast and west coast rappers, internal rivalries between the Industrial giants, and most importantly his activism seemed to be the cause of this murder.

But as Tupac sang in Keep Ya Head Up - “You gotta keep your head up, ooh, and keep your heart strong.”, we must also keep our heads high in such dark times. Our own India which sits at the opposite end of the world witnesses iconic hiphop songs like "Azaadi" by Divine, which samples Kanhaiya Kumar's famous "Azaadi" slogans at JNU, and talks about the corrupt state and major problems of India.

Rap - often viewed as violent and uncivilised can also convey such hard hitting messages. Rappers like Tupac laid down the foundation for such art across the world. A whole new culture has been developing around rap and it has many problematic sides to it too, which can be critiqued. But we believe; rap will not be kind to the forces demolishing man's right to self determination and the ones who crack down upon hard fought democracy, to the ones who exploit, to the ones who occupy, to the ones who discriminate. Rap will forever remain the barbed arrow fired at the chest of the agents of evil in our society.