[ Source: BBC News ]
The iconic 90s hip-hop artist was known for his pained intensity. But Dear Mama, a tribute to his mother Afeni, showed off his softer side – and still brings listeners to tears.
“Not everyone is so lucky and gets to experience the love of a mother for a long time,” explains DJ Master Tee, whose words are staggered due to deep emotion, before he starts to cry down the phone.
“A lot of people’s mothers died way too early… and I think Tupac Shakur understood that well,” the producer continues. “He didn’t just want to make a song that celebrated the mothers who are here, but also the ones that passed away.”
DJ Master Tee made the original silky-smooth beat (which was later adapted by co-producer Tony Pizarro) for Dear Mama, the late rap legend Tupac’s candid tribute to the many sacrifices of his single mother Afeni Shakur. She was an activist in the radical political group The Black Panthers, who subsequently struggled with drug addiction and to make ends meet while raising her two children.
This song is the pained yet ultimately joyful epicentre of Tupac’s otherwise death-obsessed third studio album, Me Against the World, which was released 30 years ago this month. In the context of an album where Tupac shifts from suicidal (So Many Tears) to grief-stricken (Lord Knows), repeatedly using the word “hopeless”, Dear Mama feels like uncovering a diamond at the bottom of a pitch-black mine.
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