One of the most influential artists of all time, Tupac Shakur, Changes a song by Tupac is one of his greatest hits that influenced many people. In the song Changes, he sends messages about the life he lives in, such as living with police brutality, poverty, racism, equality, and death that is going on in the black community. Also he uses irony, metaphors, and puns throughout the whole song to keep listeners listening, and such a crazy beat that goes perfectly with it. The young males who live in the hood are his audience, and he believes that the ways is in the hood should be changed while it’s not too late.

Tupac’s choice of the title of the song “Changes”, plays a huge role in the song, being repeated many times throughout the whole song and has a deep meaning to it. In the song he is explaining how the audience can change their ways as he himself is doing the same. Tupac Shakur explains that the people in the black communities should change yourself and your mindset first before we can thrive as a people, also just because you are black and growing up poor, just like the way Tupac did. He doesn’t want you to give up because in our society looking at the people living in poverty, people expect them to give up. I can’t put myself in his situation because I didn’t grow up in that way of life of always having to worry about what you are going to eat tomorrow or who is going to be next, but the people who have grown up in the black communities can see the destruction of crime, poverty, and racism, and in this song he strays away from adding anything to that life and wants the youth to change so that others will try to do the same.

One line in the song that a lot of people in these communities can relate to is, “ I’m tired of being poor and even worse my stomach hurts so Im looking for a purse to snatch”. Not only is he telling a story in this line, but not only are they living in poverty in the United States, they aren’t given the same opportunities as other people in America, so because of this most people have to turn to crime to get even just a dollar. In the song he does a great job of explaining the struggle in living in this life, when not given equal opportunities as other people, people will do anything to survive. In this verse Tupac is trying to show the audience and understand how it is to be black and why they turn to crime.

In the song he talks about racism in different perspectives, and why racism is leading to crime and destruction in the black community. A line in the song that explains this is, “ Cops give a damn about a negro, pull the trigger he’s a hero”. This verse explains that racism is something that no one wants to talk about because it is “Justified”. He explains to us that the police killing someone, mostly African Americans though, their actions are justified because they are white and have a badge. Not only is the justice system not fair, but because of this it causes unnecessary crimes and deaths just because the justice system is praised by many people. In the song Tupac says that the justice system needs to be “colorblind”, so that justice can be served.

Ethos in this song is Tupac Shakur, Tupac is a credible rap lyricist that used his talents to make music for an audience he believes that is often forgotten. His music is played by people of different religions, races, and shapes, his music is used to talk about real things that he goes through and real things that are going on in the world that a lot of people can relate to. In this song, it helped many people realize the racism and the struggles in the black community. Not only that, but it has also helped people realize they need to change their mindsets to help their community and society. 

A form of pathos that was being in this song was the lyrics. The lyrics in the song were very powerful and it really put you in those communities seeing how it was to live in them and how emotional it can be. Also with his lyrics he would influence many of the listeners, therefore he would persuade the audience with facts and reasoning, so this can be called Logos.

In conclusion, “Changes” by Tupac, shows the reality and difficulties of being black in the United States. He shows that although many people go through racism, poverty, and police brutality, he made it through and that you shouldn’t give up on those dreams because not everything is going to be easy. By having goals, not only does that give you something to live for, but this can make you the best person you can be. I just want to say thank you Tupac for this amazing song. 

Works Cited 

Shakur, Tupac. “Changes” . Tupacs Greatest Hits 1998 Death Row Records/Interscope records