Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur
Sheldon Pearce
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur
Sheldon Pearce
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Pearce illuminates the kaleidoscopic aspects of Shakur’s life.
... timely and noteworthy. Candidly told through the voices of people with whom Shakur interacted—both closely and less so—the book provides insight into his personality and details the circumstances that influenced and motivated him. In almost cinematic fashion, these accounts create a nuanced portrait of Shakur’s story.
... riveting.
... lacks the polyphonic vitality of the best oral histories, a format that better serves the story of a collective endeavour than a single life. With so many key players dead, incarcerated or otherwise inaccessible, Pearce’s principled refusal to plug the gaps with archive material can be frustrating. He does, however, track down unfamiliar voices, including doctors, journalists and a jury member, to elaborate the broader context of gang warfare, racist policing and moral hysteria around hip-hop. Tupac made some horrendous choices but he had good reason to be paranoid.
Tupac Shakur is movingly captured as the people’s gangsta in this kaleidoscopic commemoration of his life.
There’s a Tupac Shakur–sized hole in the middle of this compelling oral history about the revered rapper and actor and his legacy—and that’s by design.