Being a single mother is doubling the work, the stress, the tears, but most importantly doubling love and care. In 1970, Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother, was pregnant with Tupac, while she was on bail after being charged with conspiring to set off a race war. The following year, she was acquitted after defending herself in court. Tupac Shakur, an Africa American hip hop artist, was born on June 16, 1971, in Harlem, New York. Afeni Shakur played both roles as a parent raising two kids while struggling financially. Tupac and Sekiya, his sister, both had different fathers who didn’t stick around in their lives. ‘Dear Mama’ was the lead single from his third album: ‘Me Against the World’ in 1995, that tributes the love and respect for his mother. Tupac Shakur’s song ‘Dear Mama’ addresses the theme of fatherless and appreciating single mothers, demonstrating that without fathers being in your life, mothers know what is best for you to provide love and care for you to not give up. In ‘Dear Mama’, it provides the use of ethos by hanging out with the wrong crowd, the use of pathos by expressing his feelings to his mother, and the use of logos by providing imagery to childhood memories throughout the years. Additionally, the use of different literary devices was used in his song ‘Dear Mama’. Those who can relate to this song knows how it feels to grow up without a father and having their mothers play both roles as a parent.
In the song ‘Dear Mama’, Tupac used different types of literary devices. “I reminisce on the stress I caused, it was hell”. Here, Tupac was using flashbacks of everything that he’s caused throughout his childhood, especially disagreeing with his mother and blaming everything on her. “Hey! I see the penitentiary, one day”. Tupac used foreshadowing to hint that he’ll end up in jail one day like his mother from the use of drugs. “And even as a crack fiend, mama you always was a black queen, mama”. Here, the speaker used metaphor to compare that even though his mother is a crack addict, in his eyes she’s a black queen. Whenever he said “selling rocks”, he is referring it to selling cocaine. The use of irony was used here, “I love paying rent when the rents due”. No one likes paying rent every month and keep track of the due date. Repetition is used in his song as well, “You are appreciated lady. Don’t ya know we love ya? Sweet lady. And dear mama, place no one above ya, sweet lady. You are appreciated don’t ya know we love ya? Sweet lady”. Here, the chorus shows repetition to show how much his mother is appreciated.
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Tupac uses ethos in his song ‘Dear Mama’ by telling us that he hung out with the wrong crowd. In the middle of the song, Tupac says, “No love from my daddy cause the coward. Wasn’t there”. Here, he is telling us that his father was never there for him because he left him and his mom at a very young age. He also mentions, “He passed away and I didn’t cry, cause my anger wouldn’t let me feel for a stranger. They say I’m wrong and I’m heartless, but all along I was looking for a father he was gone”. Tupac didn’t show any emotions to his fathers’ burial as shown in the music video because his father was never in his life, which caused him to look for love in other places. You can’t express your love to a stranger if you don’t know them at all. “I hung around with the Thugs, and even though they sold drugs they showed a young brother love”. Here, Tupac hung out with the drug dealers that showed him love and how to be a man. If his father didn’t abandon him in the first place, then he wouldn’t have made the choices that got him to be a thug. Fathers play an important role in the family by leading the family to make the right choices and learning from their mistakes. Some people can relate because without their dads in their lives they see the world differently.
Tupac mainly uses pathos in his song ‘Dear Mama’ to express the love and appreciation to his mother. “For a woman it ain’t easy trying to raise a man. You always was committed. A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it. There’s no way I can pay you back. But the plan is to show you that I understand”. Here, Tupac is trying to say that he honors his poor single mother for being able to raise two kids on her own. She knew how to play both roles as a single parent and having to double the work. In the chorus “You are appreciated. Lady, don’t ya know we love ya?” it is self-explanatory, because he appreciates the way his mother raised him and deserves all the love for pushing the family forward. “If you can make it through the night there’s a brighter day everything will be alright if ya hold on”. People can relate to this whenever they are going through a rough time. There will always be hope and encouragement to push them forward and make things easier on them.
Logos is used as well in his song ‘Dear Mama’ to provide certain childhood memories throughout the years. The music video shows chronological events as him being in child poverty to drug dealing, and being incarcerated. Twelve seconds into the video, Tupac’s mother mentions that she was in jail pregnant with her son and was acquitted a month and 3 days before Tupac was born. She lets us know an accurate date whenever she was being freed from jail. At the beginning of the song, it starts with “When I was young me and my mama had beef. Seventeen years old kicked out on the streets”. Tupac specifies his actual age when he got kicked out of his mom’s house and started living on the streets. Tupac had to make a lot of changes in his life that involved him and his family. This song was to teach others and himself a lesson that love and encouragement are the most important factors.
‘Dear Mama’ defines a life lesson, by emphasizing Tupac’s life not being the easiest while growing up without a father. His mother was a huge impact on his life for always being there whenever love was needed. The song provides the use of ethos by being around with the wrong people, the use of pathos by showing how he feels about his mother for everything she’s done, and the use of logos to provide time frames of him growing up throughout the years. Tupac is sending us a message from this song by saying to love and respect our mothers because they will never be here with us forever. No one can replace your mother. They sacrifice everything for their kids to succeed in life. Cherish every moment with your mother and say I love you. Those who have a single mother playing both roles as a parent are more appreciated. They are hardworking ladies that put a lot of effort to provide for their families.
Works Cited
- Shakur, Tupac. “Dear Mama”. Genious, 21 Feb. 1995 https://genius.com/2pac-dear-mama-lyrics Accessed 2 Feb. 2020.
- “Tupac Shakur Biography”. Biography, 14 Jan. 2020 https://www.biography.com/musician/tupac-shakur Accessed 2 Feb. 2020.
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