[Taina La Poet]
Ode to 2Pac
First saw you with Digital Underground in the "Same Song" video
I never would have believed then that today you'd be my hero
I wasn't really a fan when at first you struck
Thought you was cute but just another young buck
And then "Brenda" dropped her baby and I saw you had a brain
Able to articulate the ghettos of the insane
Unable to fathom the magnitude of your intensity
Little did I know you'd be a part of my destiny
And it may sound pretentious to claim you as mine
Especially with all these girls screamin "Pac you so fine!"
I have to admit your face is divine
Sex appeal so sublime, intellect genuine
You carved a piece in the world's timeline
Your essence leaks out of you, and everybody wants it it's true
I gotta admit that yes, I do too
But no, it was the conscious level to which you took my teenage mind
And led me to understand the people's struggle over time
Of this urban warfare on welfare not understanding what is to become of us
Your words reached out to give us a soul hug
Spittin your verses emphatically and precise
Sometimes with rage and lyrically adept
You reached into our hearts and pulled out what NEEDED to be said~!
And didn't even blink those long eyelashes, not once
As you said what you had to say without GIVIN a f**
And that's what I liked, because I revere that rebel sh**
Confident, angry, head high and verse equipped
Our ancestors fought too hard for us to ignore being militant
You stressed the dangers of remaining complacent
And Pac, you awoke the infant rebel in me
Caressed my heart when it needed to be free
I can't BELIEVE you awoke this intensity in me
That seems to grow bigger the more years that I see...