"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"
-Shakespeare
"Romeo and Juliet"

Is a poet still a poet even if that person wears a bandanna, sagging pants and shoots expletives like bullets? Who determines the recipients of the title muse? When you think of poets, do you envision laureates like Robert Pinsky, Reed Whittemore, or Gwendolyn Brooks? How about Mos Def, Talib Kweli, or Tupac Shakur a.k.a 2Pac?

It's about time that this generation acknowledges the ground breaking work of great M.C.'s, lyricists, or rappers like Shakur. The poems and quotes by 2Pac have enlightened a generation of youth. The gift he had to evoke passion, his sense of timing, and relevance to today's world can not be denied.

Forward thinking college's like the University of North Carolina, UCLA and Syracuse have registered that literature is a living, breathing, ever changing beast. Studying, Lil' Kim to get a perspective on male chauvinism is feeding the minds of today's youth and challenging preconceived notions of what poetry is. Classes that study the poems and quotes by 2Pac are learning translate the urban tongue into the "King's English". And they gain a deeper understanding of urban life.

What can we learn from the poems and quotes by 2Pac?

"First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers.
Give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other.
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead."

"Learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers, and that's how it's supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?

I'd love to go back to when we played as kids, but things changed, and that's the way it is."

This is the rawest way of expressing the plight of so many communities facing this harsh reality.
Tupac is able to resuscitate empathy and compassion in those who would otherwise not care. It is easy to see that his desires and dreams are not that different from any other man's.

I have read many poems and quotes by 2Pac. This quote from when he was alive sums up his views on how he wanted to be pictured, ""I feel like role models today are not meant to be put on a pedestal. But more like angels with broken wings".

This by no means glorifies the violence, bigotry, misogynism, & pornographic, lyrics that are prevalent in today's music. It is there because it is a reflection of life. And not all of it is deep and moving. Sometimes the mood is lifted and it is time to party.

2Pac and Dr. Dre collaborated on the club banger "California Love" to demonstrate that hip hop is not all about guns, drugs, racism and violence. Although, at a time when relations between east coast rappers and west coast rappers were deteriorating rapidly, some say that the anthem was a akin to giving the east coast the middle finger. Such is the politics of hip hop. One man's expression of pride in his hood is another man's diss.

The east/west coast feud reminded me of another great conflict in literary history. The Montague's and Capulets would certainly understand the enmity between the two coast. Because they understood the power that words have. Our past power might sound differently but it does not lack the ability to raise your consciousness, tug at your emotions, and challenge your views.

Would a rose still smell as sweet if it was described as a blood colored pistol? 2Pac says it would.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about poems and quotes by 2pac, please visit Legends of Hip Hop http://legendsofhiphop.info/ for current articles and discussions.