Top Ten Tupac Tunes

Feeling Pac inspired this evening, so going to try to work out my top ten tunes from Tupac Amaru Shakur. There are of course more than ten, so this may be a hard process.

10. It Ain't Easy (Me Against The World)

This is probably the nicest track from the album Me Against the World. It sums up the theme of the CD and is one of Pac's lesser well known tunes.



9. Pain (Above the Rim OST)

This is a great track and has been used by lot's of other MC's including Ja Rule and Lowkey.



8. Brenda's Got A Baby (2pacalypse Now)

A track from Tupac's first full album. In most people's top ten, an emotional story track that follows the trials and tribulations of a poor teenage mother.



7. How Long Will They Mourn Me ft. Nate Dogg (Thug Life)

From Pac's third album, this track epitomizes his obsession with his own demise. Featuring his group Thug Life and a nice hook from the 'King Of Hooks' Nate Dogg



6. Life Goes On (All Eyez on Me)

From the famous All Eyez on Me, the first album from Death Row Records. The album features some typical gang banging tunes but Life Goes On is again Pac talking about his own death. He beautifully and somewhat egotistically talks about his funeral.



5. Krazy (Makaveli the Don)

From the Makaveli album which came out just after his death in 1996. Krazy is another less well known track but is a great insight into the mind of Tupac. It is reflectful and displays the troubles in his minds.



4. Keep Ya Head Up (Strictly for My N.I.G.G.A.Z.)

This tune comes from Pac's second album and is definitely worthy of being in the top 10. Pac may have been full of contradictions, with many sexist lyrics, but this is clearly a strong anti sexist anthem. He tries to convince his listeners to show more respect to women as well as sending a message to women to keep their head up with lyrics such as "when he tries to tell you, you ain't nuttin' don't believe him/ and if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him". This is Pac at his most sensitive best.



3. So Many Tears (Me Against the World)

A great use of Stevie Wonder's 'That Girl'. Beautiful song, again Pac talking about his personal suffering. The recurrent theme of death is again prevalent to show a truly tortured soul. The internal struggles within the MC are clearer than ever in So Many Tears.



2. Do 4 Love (R U Still Down Remember Me?)

A party hasn't started until Do 4 Love Comes on. Another posthumous track but without a doubt one of his greatest. Uses Bobby Caldwell on the hook nicely. He shows his intelligence with a quote from 18th Century Scottish Poet Sir Walter Scott (What a tangled web we weave). Great video too.



1. Changes (Greatest Hits)

Perhaps an obvious choice for number one but few can deny what an amazing song Changes is. Sampling Bruce Hornsby's 'The Way it is', Pac captures the struggle against racism in America in an essentially quite pessimistic tune. He talks about the Black Panthers Leader Huey Newton who was shot for standing up for resisting racism. However the final verse is a hope for the future where all races can live peacefully. A notable lyric is "Even though it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to see a black President". One could argue this is now dated with Barak Obama being elected US President, but the point is clear. This is an anti-racist song and for me is Tupac's best. Enjoy.

Who Protects the Nazis?

In Defence of Moazzam Begg

Today The Sunday Times reported that a senior official at Amnesty International has accused the organization of compromising its stance on human rights by working with Moazzam Begg, a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay. Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty, described Begg as a supporter of the Taliban and labeled his group Caged Prisoners ‘Jihadi’.

I have heard some nonsense in recent years but this quite possibly tops it all. I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Moazzam Begg on numerous occasions, through the Stop the War Coalition, twice inviting him to speak at The University of Essex whilst I was the SU President. I have had long discussions with Moazzam and there were issues we had disagreements on. But to label the man as a supporter of the Taliban is inaccurate and offensive.

I can think of many events where Moazzam has publicly condemned terrorism and expressed sadness for the victims of 9/11 as well as the London bombings in July 2005. However, he is quite right to argue that these events do not excuse the clear violation of human rights shown by the western governments in the so-called ‘war on terror’.

A war that has had millions of victims, from the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan to those illegally detained elsewhere. One of which has been Moazzam Begg himself, detained first in Bagram and then the infamous Guantanamo Bay for a total of three years. Begg has never been convicted or charged with any crime, but will forever be scarred by his three years of detention, in which he saw two fellow detainees beaten to death as well as children as young as twelve in detention.

Moazzam Begg knows about human rights abuses more than most. Amnesty International is absolutely right to work with activists like Begg who have first hand experience of the violations made in the name of anti-terrorism.

Since 9/11 we have seen a massive campaign of hate against the Muslim community worldwide, encouraged by global leaders. It’s no wonder that the BNP can stand by the side and rub their hands together as governments fall over each other to show how tough they are on terrorism.

It is this atmosphere that has led to the huge wave of Islamophobia that has swept across Europe. From the Swiss ban on minarets, to the niqab ban in France and of course not forgetting the racist anti-terror laws in Britain. University campuses are constantly spied on for signs of ‘radicalisation’, and Islamic societies have been targeted for growing terrorists.

The reality is that the radicalization of young Muslims doesn’t take place in the mosques, the schools or the prayer rooms. It comes from switching on the television and seeing the daily images of the wars waged by the British and American governments that have ripped through the Middle East. It comes from the silence and the compliance of the same governments when Israel launches yet another onslaught on the suffering people of Palestine. It comes from the Islamophobia that has become a recurrent part of the lives of British Muslims over the past few years.

So Amnesty is absolutely right to campaign on behalf of those who have been targeted time and time again. To ignore the plight of the Guantanamo detainees is to fail in advocating human rights. Gita Sahgal claims that this campaigning damages the integrity of Amnesty and is a threat to human rights itself.

So should we sit back and ignore the crimes of western governments? Should we pretend that America and Britain are the champions of human rights and the backwards Middle Eastern countries need to follow our lead? Bush and Blair wanted us to think that in 2003, and look where it got them. Anyone who seriously tries to say that Afghanistan and Iraq are better places to live now than before should go there and ask the people themselves. It’s very easy to sit in the comfort of expensive London home and talk about others.

So I congratulate Amnesty for their tireless campaigning for the closure of Guantanamo Bay and for their defence of the victims of the war on terror. And Moazzam Begg should not be hounded and accused of extremism by those who should really know better. A couple of newspaper articles are nothing compared to three years in illegal detention, but Moazzam does not deserve that treatment. For somebody who has been through what he has and is still standing today, fighting injustice and campaigning for what is right, the man should win a medal.

Sadly, the only thing that hangs around his neck is the memory of Guantanamo and the relentless racism that just won’t go away.

Stop Islamophobia & Racism in EC1

STOP RACISM & ISLAMOPHOBIA IN EC1
UNITE AGAINST FASCISM PUBLIC MEETING

MONDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 7 PM

THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, OLD FINSBURY TOWN HALL (NEAREST TUBE ANGEL http://bit.ly/C7DLw)

WITH:

Emily Thornberry MP
Weyman Bennet (joint secretary of UAF)
A rep from Muslim Council of Britain
James Haywood (NUS NEC)
A rep from City Uni UCU
Ceinwen Hilton (City & Islington College NUT)


Last month 3 Muslim students were stabbed in a racist attack outside City University. We need people from all community to stand together and say we oppose racism and Islamophobia and show solidarity with the Muslim community.