Saturday, June 18, 2011
Live Review Tupac's 40th Birthday Celebration: How late will they mourn he?
Posted by Jacinta Howard on Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 10:14 AM
On what would've been Tupac's 40th birthday, fans, artists and family gathered to celebrate his life and legacy at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This is the first time a Pac celebration has been held there, but the fancy-shmancy decor of the ASO didn't stop attendees from keeping it all the way real — from the handful of Pac look-a-likes to the Tupac-tatted, middle-aged, white mother who came from Chicago with her family to take part in the event.
Although the show was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., host Mike Epps didn't get there until 10 p.m. But things went fairly smoothly from there. Here's a rundown of the good and the unfortunate events of the night.
THE GOOD
Tupac's mother and sister, Afeni and Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, present Mike Epps with a limited edition plaque of Tupac's records, which blinged brightly from the stage. Epps was naturally touched and proceeded to "give all the glory to the Lord" — although just an hour later, while trying to lead the audience in a random rendition of "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good," he realized that he "fucked it up" before doubling over in laughter.
Mike Epps presents the Tupac Shakur Foundation with a $10,000 check: "It would've been more, but the tax man is on my ass," he said.
The Outlawz's member Idi Amin gives an impromptu lecture on Geronimo Pratt's importance to the community. Of course, most of the audience seemed to have no clue about who the recently deceased Black Panther leader was — despite the fact that Pac rapped about him in the song "White Man's World" — but they listened intently anyway as Idi waxed poetic on his life and legacy.
Jasmine Guy's appearance on stage after a slew of rappers late in the evening. It was obvious performance slots got mixed up in the lateness and confusion and Jasmine admitted that she thought she was going on after Roy Ayers, who performed at the top of the show, but she nevertheless stilled the riled up audience with her powerful reading from her book Evolution of a Revolutionary, about Afeni Shakur. Then, she launched into an acapella version of a Sweet Honey in the Rock song with three other women dressed in white. The performance brought the entire show back into the proper perspective.
Warren G appearing out of nowhere for a pretty cool tribute to Nate Dogg. Mount up.
Erykah Badu wearing a huge light beige poncho that read "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," and a long, straight wig that hung to her knees. Her clothes are almost as entertaining as she is.
THE UNFORTUNATE
Rick Ross performing "Tupac Back" with Meek Mill and Pill (who coincidentally was dressed like a Reservoir Dog). Rick Ross has been a regular supporter of the event, so you can't knock his tenacity, but that song, well, sucks. At the end, Ross got all misty eyed: "I was in a single parent home and Tupac played father for a lot of dudes; not only was he the greatest rapper, but he was a hard worker." This would've been super touching if the song weren't so damn awful.
Rappers performing songs that weren't really representative of Pac.
We all know that Pac was a complicated dude who could rap about partying one second and then capture the innermost thoughts of a young black man the next, but by and large, Pac's catalog leaned toward the latter. It's what made him so great. That said, it would've been much better if Bun B would've done "One Day" instead of "Get Throwed" or "Feds in Town" instead of "Draped Up" (that's a stretch, I know, but you get the idea here). Or, Eightball & MJG could've done "Daylight' instead of the crappy "Look Like Money." It just would've felt more authentic and representative of Pac's memory.
The kids in the lobby who had no clue who Tupac was. As they made their way out of the building they questioned loudly to each other who the heck "Tay-pac" was. Sad, indeed.
Erykah Badu's set being cut short. Of course, if the show had started on time and she had actually been there, this may have been avoided. But the bad thing about doing an event at the ASO is when they say lights out at 12 midnight sharp, that's what they mean. Although she insisted that she would pay to do an extra song after they turned the lights on, she was about 15 seconds into "Soldier" when they pulled the sound from her mic.
Although the evening started late and was full of random occurrences, the genuine love for Tupac was palpable and they likely raised some good money for the foundation. That's probably what's most important.
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
I'M GLAD THIS IDEA WAS PRESENTED AND WAS FOLLOWED THROUGH. TUPAC'S MUSIC AND POETRY WERE TRUE GIFTS TO SOCIETY, AND ALTHOUGH HIS LIFE ENDED SO SOON, IT HE TOUCHED MORE LIVES IN HIS SHORT 25 YEARS THAN ANY OTHER POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS OR SOCIAL ACTIVIST COULD HAVE AT THAT AGE. I KNOW AFENI MISSES HER SON. THE WORLD MISSES A SOLIDER. REST IN PEACE BROTHER. WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
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I'm disgusted this was presented and was followed through (not proper English, I know). Tupac's music and "poetry" was that of a degenerate thug. He touched a lot of lives, and inspired a lot of people to act like criminals, break laws, resist order, and disrespect other people. He wasn't an activist he was a hooligan.
That fact that Woodruff - the city's most prestigious arts institution - hosted something like this is disgusting. 90% of Atlanta is ass f'ing backwards.
by resisting order you mean the order of a suppressive system that enslaved and continouse to exploit black people? Yea you would want to hold up that order
Black people used to be exploited by the system. Now the system is exploited by black people.
And others, to be sure.
No one can hold you back if you have the will.
"He touched a lot of lives, and inspired a lot of people to act like criminals, break laws, resist order, and disrespect other people. He wasn't an activist he was a hooligan."
He was a musician that gave commentary about the realities of poverty and disparate treatment...people like you consistently fail to understand that circumstances influence the "hooligans," some of whom go on to be musicians. Being imperfect and having less than desirable characteristics = being human. And being human certainly doesn't preclude someone from delivering a poignant message. His work was too voluminous for you to narrow it down to such provincial terms. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you never listened to a song in it's entirety - and certainly not an entire album.
The celebration was in order. We do this for controversial artists all the time, and rightfully so.
"Black people used to be exploited by the system. Now the system is exploited by black people."
Shut the fuck up.
Man who is this Gay ass dude name(AtlantaAdvocate) Anyway! Nigga you hating on 2pac for no reason, tell the people why you're really mad!!! Is it because you just found out your momma was really a man? You called her mom, others called her (Moe). Eat a dick bitch lmao!!!!!!!!!!
STFU yourself.
Truth hurts. That's your cue to tell me I hate black people...which is absolutely ridiculous.
You can probably guess I don't buy the politics, but he had great tracks behind him. Man had talent. It doesn't bother me that the Woodruff hosted the deal. I appreciate beauty wherever it is. And I always listen to the whole album.
Except the Black Eye Peas. Oh man.
Dave, the generalities you make are pretty ridiculous at times. And pointless. And I know you know better.
Blacks were ALL exploited by the system at one time. Today, SOME exploit the system. Just like people of every race and class "exploit the system" through one method or another.
I'm the last guy out there to pull the race card, but when you deal in ludicrous absolutes regarding entire races...guess what that's known as.
It was just too good a turn of phrase to pass up.
Especially since it punctures the victim balloon so many people float around on. And if I meant "all" I woulda said "all." Plus I was responding to this: "suppressive system that enslaved and continouse to exploit black people."
Perpetual victims. I'm saying there's nobody holding you back now but yourself. If there's a roadblock in front of you, there is another road.
"I'm saying there's nobody holding you back now but yourself."
That's your response to the assertion of you dealing in ludicrous absolutes? What a fucking idiot. I'm in awe at how you always manage to say stupider shit than than the stupid shit you already said.
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