Tupac's 'Dear Mama' endures as rap artists detail complex relationships with their mothers, street life and the pursuit of success
- Written by A.D. Carson, Assistant Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia
Afenia Shakur (left). mother of Tupac Shakur (right).Getty ImagesIn hip-hop music, it sometimes seems as if songs to and about mothers are common enough that audiences might take them for granted.
As someone who studies hip-hop and how it shapes and is shaped by society and culture, I don’t believe rap has ever abandoned the idea that a song...