Papers of the 2012 Tupac Amaru Shakur
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Teaching Tupac Shakur through the Disciplinary Lens of Communication Carlos D. Morrison, Ph.D. Professor of Communications, Department of Communications Alabama State University 334-229-8802 (o), 478-542-4873 (c) After more than three decades, hip hop culture, and rap music specifically, continues to sustain a place of importance in society both on a national and international level. The music and the culture have influenced our notion of language, dress, and art throughout the world. Moreover, the culture has created its own music (Political and Gangsta Rap, “Crunk Music,”), language (“fresh,” “dope,” and “beef”), dress (“Hard Core,” “New Jack,” or “Fly Girl”) and art (graffiti). As a result of this type of influence on society and in particular, young people, scholars from a variety of academic disciplines such as sociology, history, cultural studies, political science, anthropology, and communication have put a critical lens to hip hop culture in an effort to understand its affect on today’s youth. Professors at various colleges and universities are not only teaching courses on hip hop culture, but more specifically are focusing their efforts on certain rap music artist. Cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson teaches a course on Jaye-Z at Georgetown University. However, one particular artist that has, in recent years, garnered attention from academicians is the late Tupac Amur Shakur. Ivey League universities, such as Harvard, have a Tupac Shakur course and the University of Wisconsin has a course that focuses on Shakur’s lyrics as literature. Yet, the questions become: Why teach a course on Tupac Shakur? What does a course on Tupac Shakur look like? Moreover, for the purpose of my discussion: What does a course on Shakur look like from a rhetorical perspective? This paper will outline a course on Tupac Shakur. The paper will: (1) address why studying Shakur is important and (2) suggest that the teaching and analysis of Shakur should take an interdisciplinary approach (3) outline, via course description and objectives, what that interdisciplinary approach would look like. Why Study Tupac Shakur? One of the reasons for studying Tupac Shakur involves his place in the world of hip hop as a culture icon (Morrison & Dangerfield, 2007). An icon is an idol, star or symbol and Shakur was all of these. For some fans, he was a star of the silver screen having acted in such movies as Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Gridlock’d (1997) while others were infatuated with Shakur‘s lyrical style as a rapper. The images of Shakur in his movies, i.e. “Bishop” and the “gangsta” lifestyle portrayed in his rap lyrics made him both attractive and detested yet iconic to his fans. Moreover, the revolutionary ethos Shakur inherited from his mother, Afeni Shakur that was embedded in his rap lyrics, made him a symbol of both Black resistance to the status quo and a symbol of “Black life as a contradiction.” In addition to studying Shakur as an icon, another reason to study Tupac involves viewing Shakur in the context of Black life (existence) as a contradiction. Viewing Shakur’s existence as a contradiction or more specifically “double-consciousness” (a term coined by W.E.B. Dubois) involves a thorough investigation of the dualities that manifested themselves in Shakur’s art form: On the one hand, Shakur praised the fortitude and tenacity of the Black women in such songs as “Keep Ya Head Up,” and “Dear Mama,” and on the other hand, conveyed misogynistic and sexist attitudes towards Black women in songs such as “Toss It Up,” and “How Do You Want It.” These dualities are worthy of scholarly inquiry and analysis because theses dualities have always existed in Black life. Morrison & Dangerfield (2007) suggest the following, “While the notion of contradiction existed before Tupac Shakur, the hip hop community, scholars of popular culture, and everyday lay people have become intrigued with the contradictions expressed in varied ways throughout Tupac’s life” (p. 412). A final reason to embrace the study of Tupac Shakur involves the tattoos that creatively adorned his body. Like the lyrics, Shakur’s tattoos of “Nefertiti,” “Black Jesus,” “Exodus 1831,” and the “Gothic Cross,” can be critically examine as a text in an effort to (1) understand Shakur’s meaning(s) associated with the tattoo and (2) to look for contradictory meaning(s) between tattoos (Morrison et al., 2010). Moreover, the fact that so many of our young people have tattoos and more specifically, some have a tattoo of a gothic cross, like Shakur’s tattoo on his back, is further reason for studying Tupac Shakur as a significant, yet partial representation of Black (young) male life in urban America. How to Study Tupac Shakur In addition to a justification for the study of Tupac Shakur, the second most important question that a teacher of popular culture must ask is how should Shakur be studied and analyzed? Shakur and hip hop culture have been studied and analyzed from a variety of disciplinary approaches. While some historians have conducted an historical analysis of Shakur’s life and music (White, 1997; Jones, 1998), cultural critics have led the way by providing a critical cultural approach to the analysis of Tupac and hip hop (Datcher & Alexander, 1997; Dyson, 2001; Rose, 2008; Forman & Neal, 2012). In addition to these approaches, I argue that a rhetorical/communicative analysis would help students understand the “meaning(s)” associated with Shakur’s discourse, both discursive and non-discursive (Morrison, 2003; Morrison & Dangerfield, 2007; Morrison et al., 2010). In essence, an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Tupac Shakur would be the most appropriate. First, any pedagogical or analytical approach to Shakur or hip hop culture for that matter should always take into consideration three important elements: (1) the historical, (2) the cultural (the popular) and (3) the rhetorical/communicative. Secondly, any pedagogical or analytical approach will look at the interrelatedness of the historical and cultural in an effort to contextualize Shakur’s discourse. And finally, Shakur’s discourses are the product of the historical and cultural elements of time and space and furthermore, give insights into each element which is necessary for a holistic understanding of Tupac’s worldview. Tupac Shakur, despite his critics, is worthy of intellectual study within the walls of the academy. Shakur is worthy of study because (1) he is a hip hop icon, (2) his music and life, like the lives of so many hip hop “heads” who listen to his music and mimic his lifestyle, exemplified various contradictions that need to be analyzed and explained and (3) the tattoos that covered his body are a rhetorical text that needs further explanation in light of the fascination with tattoos that exist in hip hop culture. Moreover, an interdisciplinary orientation should be taken in the teaching and analysis of Tupac Shakur. That approach would take into consideration the historical, the cultural and the rhetorical/communicative elements in an effort to understand Shakur holistic. Yet, what would a Tupac Shakur Course look like that incorporates theses various elements? What follow is a course description and objectives. Describing the Tupac Shakur Course Name of Course (Working) Title: Deconstructing Tupac Shakur: The History, Culture, and Criticism of Hip Hop Course Description This Course is design to investigate the life and discourses of the late Tupac Amur Shakur. The course begins with the assumption that discourse, whether discursive or non-discursive, is grounded in the historical and cultural context that produced it. For that matter, the history and cultural production of hip hop will be discussed focusing on major themes, movements, artists, DJs, etc. that gave rise to Tupac Shakur and his rhetoric. Furthermore, the course assumes that rhetoric, both (discursive) and symbolic (non-discursive) is the process of developing arguments, strategies, tactics, etc in an effort to bring about change in an audience’s attitudes, values, or beliefs. Rhetorical criticism is the description, interpretation, and evaluation of a rhetorical act (message). The course will address fours fundamental questions: (1) What are some of the historical and cultural factors that give rise to a rhetorical artifact, i.e. Tupac’s lyrics, tattoos, etc. (2) How do pop cultural artifacts such as music lyrics, images of artists, or tattoos influence behavior, i.e. change or reinforce attitudes, values, and beliefs in an audience? (3) What does a critical analysis of the pop cultural artifact tell us about the object under study, the audience or society? And (4) what are some various methods, concepts used to analyze the artifact? Course Objectives (1) Students are introduced to a variety of Afrocentric and Eurocentric methods and concepts that can be used to critique Shakur’s discourse. Students are introduced and later tested on Afrocentric concepts such as Nommo, polyrhythm, and mythoforms from the works of Molefi Asante focusing on his book, The Afrocentric Idea (1987). Moreover, the book discusses African American discourse as resistance, Orature, the African Oral tradition, and various rhetorical figures like Malcolm X whose “militant discourse” is similar to Shakur’s rhetoric. Eurocentric concepts focus on defining rhetoric, rhetorical criticism and the various critical methods from Sonja Foss’ Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice (1996). (2) Students will use the critical methods and/or concepts learned to write a piece of criticism of Tupac’s discourse. Here, students are introduced to both Afrocentric and Eurocentric methods of analysis. As suggested earlier, I believe in a holistic approach to understanding and critiquing a phenomenon. When introducing students to Afrocentric methods, Asante (1987) book focuses on the African roots of African American discourse and highlights such methodological concepts suggested earlier such as Nommo-the magical power of the word, and mythoforms-“deep utterances” or patterns of thought embedded with the collective psyche of the African American community and in its rhetoric.