In fact the only “change” he has borne witness to is how he and his peers have lost the innocence of childhood. And that is what the chorus (sung by Talent) actually alludes to when it states that “things will never be the same”. That is to say Tupac has seen things change for the worst and doesn’t anticipate them getting better.īut in that regard not all of Tupac’s prophecies have come true. For instance, he states that “we ain’t ready to see a Black president” even though such may be “heaven-sent”, which may be the most-memorable line of this entire song. And as the chorus states, “that’s just the way it is”. What this means is that despite his hope for positive “changes”, he is not overly-confident that such will actually transpire. And why? Simply because “ that’s just the way it is”. Strangely enough, this is how he actually died in 1996. Indeed in terms of the aforementioned police brutality heĪnticipates one day having to shoot a cop himself in self-defense.Īnd regarding street violence, he predicts one day being shot by “some buck that (he) roughed up way back” coming for vengeance “after all these years”. Tupacĭepicts America as a country with many social ills, specifically in relation to On the African-American community with a somewhat pessimistic outlook. So overall we can conclude that this is a social commentary centered For instance, he disses those who sell illegal substances to kids, stating that they made their money “in a sleazy way”. Or put differently, the fact that he grew up in poverty compelled him to do such things in order to make money. However, at the same time he is not trying to rationalize all of the criminal activities his peers are known to engage in. Indeed the rapper portrays himself as someone who has done illegal things in the past. However, in his own defense he states that he “ never did a crime (he) ain’t have to do”. And on a couple of occasions he alludes to the fact that African-American communities are flooded with drugs from external sources, which exacerbates criminal activity therein.Īnd that brings us to the second major theme of this track, which is crime. ![]() prisons) as being “ packed and… filled with Blacks”. The third chorus omits the Ice Cube sample and adds B-boy-style chant with an unknown person repeating, “Clap your hands and feel it, clap you hands and feel it!” until the song ends.So whereas there is a myriad of topics discussed throughout the song, the two main issues it focuses on are racism and crime. As for racism, Tupac depicts African-Americans as the targets of an unjust law-enforcement system. Or as he puts it, “ cops give a damn about a ”, meaning that they don’t care about Black people and more specifically are quick to kill them and in the process become “a hero”. Moreover he refers to ‘penitentiaries’ (i.e. ![]() The second chorus adds the Ice Cube line, “Dope dealers, you’re as bad as the police,” from his song, “Us”. The chorus on the original track features a notable difference in a vocal sample of the line, “It’s like that and that’s the way it is”, from Run DMCs “It’s Like That”, which is also played twice during the intro. The remixed version released in 1998 has notably different percussion, and a few minor changes to the musical elements. “Changes” was produced by Deon Evans (also known as Big D the Impossible) Biggie Smalls- and recorded in 1992 while Tupac was still signed to Interscope Records. However, since his death many of the unreleased and unmastered songs have been officially released. At times Tupac re-used lines from other unreleased songs because he planned to make an updated version at a later date. The chorus of “The Way It Is” was re-sung by Talent and was used for this song. The song samples the 1986 hit “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The song re-uses lines from “I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto” which was recorded during the same year. ![]() “Changes” was later remixed during 1997-1998. The song was originally recorded during his tenure at Interscope records in 1992 and was produced by Big D The Impossible (Deon Evans).
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