Tupac Shakur

TUPAC SHAKUR
SPIRITUALITY AND POLITICS
By William Whalen
Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) is one of the great hip-hop stars. Still a hugely influential figure in the music world, there is much more to Tupac Shakur than his controversial media image suggests. This new book aims to interpret and analyze some of the more esoteric themes at play in the lyrics and practice of Tupac Shakur, as well as to consider their political implications to attempt to come to a better understanding of Tupac’s spirituality and why he felt the world could benefit from his teachings. Like Christ, who repeatedly says, ‘He who hath ears to hear, let him hear, ‘ Tupac says in various ways, ‘Holler if ya hear me, ‘ suggesting that his words are not only literal but also require deep interpretive consideration.This new book is one of the few to explore the spiritual themes in the music and lyrics of Tupac Shakur, and how they are manifested politically. William Whalen considers Tupac’s work in relation to religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, and to figures such as Carl Jung, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alan Watts, St John of the Cross, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Georges Bataille. The book is illustrated with examples from Tupac Shakur’s lyrics and songs. Author’s warning: The subject matter researched herein is not for children or young adults.
Illustrated with portraits of Tupac Shakur, and some of his cultural and religious influences. 168 pages. www.crmoon.com

Author Biography

Dr William Whalen is an independent researcher who received his doctoral degree from the University of Albany in 2014. His dissertation focuses on how a handful of contemporary American authors speak back to and reappropriate sacred formulations of human bodies that figure individual human beings as having both masculine and feminine aspects. Chapters are dedicated to the artists Octavia Butler, Cormac McCarthy, Chuck Palahniuk, and rapper Lil Wayne. While completing his dissertation, William Whalen taught as an adjunct at the University of Albany for seven years. His courses primarily focused on American literature, literary theory, and writing composition. Whalen has been a fan of Tupac Shakur since high school, but he first began closely studying and teaching Shakur when, as an undergraduate, he started a volunteer program to teach poetry and creative writing to inmates at Coxsackie Correctional Facility. His undergraduate honors dissertation was on Shakur, and he frequently included Shakur’s works in the syllabi of the college courses he taught. Whalen is currently writing a book that uses Vajrayana Buddhism as a theoretical lens to analyze the lyrics, art, journals, and life of Kurt Cobain.