CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR CHANGES RINGTONE
"I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself, is life worth living, should I blast myself?," starts one of the most famous rap songs of all-time. Tupac's "Changes" is a flash of brilliance in a time when most rap songs were focused on money, cars and women. The song is a real message of change, and Tupac wasn't afraid to address touchy subjects such as drug use and police brutality. The song was released post-humus which made it all the more potent, as Tupac's messages about violence were backed up even further by the fact that he was killed in a drive-by shooting. "Changes" samples the 1986 Bruce Hornsby hit "The Way It Is." Tupac himself called the song an "interpolation" rather than a sample (Tupac is credited as inventing the word "interpolation).
"Changes" is an amazing song, and the video has some amazing moments as well. Who can forget the scene where Tupac struts out of a courtroom, or Pac's infamous "Yes I am going to say that I'm a thug!" speech? Beyond just being a great song, "Changes" was important because for many people in the suburbs, it was the first time they saw an honest depiction of life in the ghetto. Everyone knew the ghetto was bad, but it was an issue suburban people used to gloss over. "Oh yeah, the ghetto is so terrible," many a suburban person would say in the mid-90s. Meanwhile, no one in the suburbs really knew what ghetto life was like before Tupac. To suburban people, the idea of ghetto life was mythical thing, like taking a trip to Shangri-la on the back of a unicorn. You thought you knew what it was like, but you really had no idea. No one knew the extent of police corruption. No one knew the amount of black-on-black violence that was occurring, or the destruction it caused. No one knew that people in the ghetto got jealous "when they see ya wit cha mobile phone."
Tupac changed everything, so it's appropriate that his biggest song is called "Changes." Most people underestimate the affect that Tupac had on American history, but of course you understand, and that's why you're here. So get a little piece of history on your cell phone by downloading the "Changes" ringtone here.
