I'm sure Tupac Shakur, one of the most revered lyricists of our time, has certainly made his mama proud by having his song "Dear Mama" added to the Library of Congress this week.
The Library of Congress is our nation's oldest federal cultural institution that hosts everything from books and maps to recorded songs and movie reels from every decade up to date. According to the National Recording Act (2000), in order for one's work to be eligible for addition it has to be at least ten years old ( "Dear Mama" was released in 1995), and it must have "cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance."
The National Recording Registry described "Dear Mama" as a "moving and eloquent homage to both his own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty, and societal indifference". It definitely fills me with some level of pride to know that 2Pac's track was considered under such terms because it just goes to show that as many negative perceptions are placed upon hip-hip, there are still those few artists that will forever be known in our community for their social consciousness, truth, and poetic justice. (no pun). They rap about what we all can relate to. Even in today's world, history is repeating itself with the recession and the epedemic of young, single mothers that Pac speaks of. "Dear Mama" will always be a classic, and thanks to those that nominated the track for the LOC, it will be preserved as such forever.
Congrats Pac, and thank you. -Farasha xo
Hey VOQ! It's Farash again...as a side note, Pac's track was added along with 25 other recordings, one of which happened to be Bill Cosby's second comedy album. Cosby is another prominent figure in the Black community, and the US in general. I just wanted to acknowledge that his humor always touched on important things going on in society at the time as well. Didn't wanna steal his shine on being added to the LOC. Congrats Mr. Cosby. =)
ReplyDeleteHey Yall Sdot.. I wanted to acknowledge that Visions eclipsed the century mark with that post!! We want to thank all of you guys that have given us feedback. Those who have checked out ourblog at least once. I especially want to thank those who of you who frequent Visions of Quest regularly! It's you guys that we do this for. So keep reading we got a lot more coming to you so stay up and stay tuned (feel like I heard that somewhere but I can't for the life of me remember lol). Thank YOU!!!!
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