Perception and Creativity in the Life of Tupac - Term Paper Example

Perception and Creativity in the life of Tupac Change is based on the analogy that creative thinking inspires ideas which in turn promote change. In this case, change is termed as an outcome of ideology and creativity (Mark, 279). In the same way, creativity can be as a result of change in location and paradigm. People tend to diversify their ideas with the change of environment. This is attributed from the concept of learning new things in a different environment. Tupac Shakur is a significant figure of change in the music industry. He is among the pioneers of rap music in the 1990s (Daniel, 2001). Tupac was a dynamic artist and influential to most African American youths as well as white people in the United State. His life story is inspired by change and struggle towards right. He was well known as the most influential artists of his time. This document tends to explore the relationship between transformation of location and transition in creativity and focuses on Tupac’s life. Tupac is known for the representative of Western Hip-hop. However he was born in New York. How does changing location from East to West affect him in developing his creativity and to be the best Western Hip Hop artist? Tupac Shakur was born of two popular members of the Black Panther party Afeni and Billy Shakur. He was born at the time her mother had been convicted with bombing charges. He was first named Tupac Amur which meant the shining serpent. While growing up in the north coast, Shakur spent much of his teenage life in acting (Tupac, 11). He featured in his first movie which was known as A Raisin in the Sun. this was produced by the Apollo Theatres as a benefit of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1983. He then moved to the Baltimore School of Art. Tupac moved to the west coast after dropping out of the film school. He was 17 years old. While in the south coast, he settled in Marin County California. This is where his career transformed from acting to rap as he became a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground rap group (Daniel, 2001). Since then, he became popular to rap music featuring in the group’s albums such as son of the P and the EP which were released in 1991 and 1990 respectively (Daniel, 2001). As an underground artist, he signed Interscopes music productions and released an album 2pacalpse in 1992. The album became famous for its message on racial strength. He then ended his acting career with the film Gang related posing as a sidekick to James Belushi. At this point, his main focus shifted from movies to music. The music industry was full of classical music which made him place all his efforts on rap introducing new styles the modern Hip-hop which is aimed at entertaining the general public compared to the its ancient form that was basically underground rap. He accomplished releasing several hit songs Hit Em Up, I Get Around, California love alongside various famous rappers like Dr. Dre with Roger Troutman and the eminent single Dear Mama. Tupac died on 7th September 1996 in Las Vegas after his Knight BMW was sprayed with bullets from an unknown gang (Daniel, 2001). Tupac’s biography depicts a transition in place and ideas that eventually lead to the improvement of Creativity. As an actor, Tupac did not play a distinctive role which created the worlds alert. His change of environment gave him a new passion in which he pursued successfully. As a music artist, Tupac gained both fame and the platform to pass massage and show creativity to the youth all over the world. It is at this point that he discovered his role to the society with the use of talent and music. Dear Mama is a brilliant idea that is used by many people in the current society to show appreciations to their mothers. The track single is comprised of inspirational message from a son to his mother. The art of music made Tupac to learn a new trend which involved giving back to the society as a sign of appreciation for support. This notion supports the analogy that the change in location and awareness of novel paradigms improves the creative potential of a person. Tupac was able to venture and prosper in a fresh field where he lacked knowledge but had potential. In this case, the role of classroom knowledge is to strengthen a person’s creativity but does not act as the core source of creativity (Gary, 206). Creativity is a product of individual making as depicted by Tupac’s career change. This notion can be explained in the classical theory that explains the concept of a dream (Josh, 48). The theory perpetuates that dreams do have meaning if viewed in a different way from the ordinary perception of the brain’s fragmentary activities. Freud says that a dream can be viewed as a fulfillment of wishes in a person’s thought (Sigm, 143). Creativity uses a similar concept as it follows self desires and dream. Other than attending a film school, Tupac featured in several Hollywood movies at a young age but changed his career to music in which he majored in as his ultimate career choice. In his bibliography, he performs better in music than film. Tupac’s music is a product of creativity vested in his childhood dream as depicted in his single Dear Mama. Gilles Deleuze creates a theory of goodness to affirm the relationship between creativity and desire as explained by Freud. In his theory, “Good sense affirms that in all things there is a deliberate sense of direction”. The driving desire to do music forced Tupac to join Digital Underground rap group depicts his wish to perform and advance in the music industry. As a result, he stated as a dancer and roadie with the ambition of doing his own music at one point in life. Other than the change of location, creativity is inspired by self motivation and desire. The classic theory perpetuates that it is indeed hard to advance in creativity without the desire to pursue the art or action in practice. Paradigm is another entity in advancing creativity. Paradigmatic mode of thinking develops with the mental growth (Jerome, 13). As a person grows older, he or she tends to discover new paradigms that lead to the discovery of new ideas. As a young man, Tupac admired the music industry but his passion was not mature to fully pursue it as a career. He began acting in the film A Raisin in the Sun at the age of 13years where his talent was discovered thus making him to join the art and film school. The ability to tour various cities in the US with his mother as he grew up exposed him to new paradigms. This aspect led him to choosing music as a career and advancing his creativity in the process of pursuing song compositions. As a result, he was able to achieve his dream through the writing of inspired songs. Tupac was also exposed to a violent environment which shaped his way of thinking. This notion made him compose peaceful songs such as Changes which was a message to the youth arguing them to condone violence in streets. Paradigmatic mode of thinking promotes tight analysis, good theory, and logical proof to thought, empirical thinking as well as sound argument (Jerome, 13). In this case, paradigmatic imagination is essential to creativity as it combines the concepts of ideology and logic in thinking. Tupac had grown with the Digital Underground rap group developing his mode of thinking through exposure to new paradigms in the music industry. Hip hop culture is a facet of creativity that has been misunderstood by many people (Murray, 60). In the United States, it is associated with the street violence it is most ventured by the African American society. Pop culture uses hip hop as a creative form of communicating with the mass society. Many music artists use this trend to advance their creativity as it garners billions of dollars in the music industry. Tupac used this factor as a motivation to creativity as he talks about money making and specs that make up the hip-hop culture. Creativity and art go in handy they tend to nature each other in their respective ways (Murray, 62). Tupac is considered to be legendary in the hip-hop industry due to his combination of art and creativity. His songs are poetically design thus require concentration in order to understand the intended message. He also raps faster a technique which depicts creativity in hip-hop as it makes him unique compared to most hip-hop artists. Tupac depicts a perfect description of creativity advancement in regard to change of location and awareness of new paradigms. His contribution to the hip-hop industry makes him legendary in music with respect to creativity. Gary Davis says that creativity is a product of change as people tend to acquire new modes of artistry when relocated to a new environment (Gary, 208). In this case, creativity is pays tribute to diversity and culture change (Keith, 133). Tupac was able to succeed in a new career field where he had little knowledge courtesy change in location and awareness of new paradigms. Work Cited Daniel Kreps. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. Tupac Shakur Biography. New York. Simon & Schuster. 2001. (Print) Dr. Sigm Freud. On Dreams. 1901. (Print) Gary Davis. Creative Persons, Creative Process. 25 Aug 2013. (Print) Gilles Deleuze. The Logic of Sense. New York: Columbia University Press. (Print) http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tupac-shakur/biography Jerome Bruner. Two Modes Of Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. 1986. (Print) Josh Linkner. Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. (Print) Mark A. Runco. Creativity: Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice. New York: Academic Press. 2010. (Print) Murray Forman, Hip -Hop Culture, Youth Creativity, and the Generational Crossroads. Ontario: Press Coverage of Canadian Skinheads. 1992. (Print) R. Keith Sawyer. Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 2006. (Print) Tupac Shakur. The Rose that Grew from Concrete Ed. New York. Simon and Schuster. 2009. (Print) Read More