Changes (Tupac Shakur song)

"Changes"
Single by 2Pac featuring Talent
from the album Greatest Hits
Released October 13, 1998 (1998-10-13)
Format
Recorded 1992
Genre
Length 4:30
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Big D The Impossible
2Pac featuring Talent singles chronology
"Do for Love"
(1998)		 "Changes"
(1998)		 "Unconditional Love"
(1999)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"Changes" on YouTube

"Changes" is a hip hop song by 2Pac featuring Talent. The song makes references to the war on drugs, the treatment of black people by the police at the time, racism (explicitly the reconciliation between the black and white races in America), the perpetuation of poverty and its accompanying vicious-cycle value system in urban African American culture, and the difficulties of life in the ghetto.

Production and recording

The song was originally recorded during his tenure at Interscope records in 1992 and was produced by Big D The Impossible (Deon Evans). "Changes" was later remixed during 1997-1998.

The song re-uses lines from "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" which was recorded during the same year. The song samples the 1986 hit "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The chorus of "The Way It Is" was re-sung by Talent and was used for this song. At times Tupac re-used lines from other unreleased songs because he planned to make an updated version at a later date. However, since his death many of the unreleased and unmastered songs have been officially released.

The remixed version released in 1998 has notably different percussion, and a few minor changes to the musical elements. 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 second chorus adds the Ice Cube line, "Dope dealers, you're as bad as the police," from his song, "Us". 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.

Samples

The song is an interpretation of the 1986 hit "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Bay Area rapper E-40 had interpreted the song already on his track, "Things'll Never Change", for his album Tha Hall of Game. The Tupac "Changes" instrumental was used by Insane Clown Posse in "Mom Song", a Mother's Day song. Nas also sampled the song for his song "Black President".

Overview

The song was the #1 hit in Norway and the Netherlands and reached the top ten in the singles charts of several other countries, including #3 in the United Kingdom, which gained Tupac a broader audience.

Released posthumously on his album Greatest Hits, the song talks about all of the different issues that were related to Tupac's era of influence - notably racism, police brutality, drugs and gang violence. The "Huey" that 2Pac mentions in the song ("two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead") is Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party. The song refers to the possibility of a black president of the United States, claiming "we ain't ready". Further, the last verse of the song refers to Tupac's premonition about being shot to death, mimicking the sound of the gun with the phrase "rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat".

When examining the lyrics Shakur address several different problem that have directly affected the African-American community. In the first stanza the War on Drugs[2] is a addressed when he says, "Give crack to the kids who the hell cares"[3] in the same stanza he also adds in how the drugs (crack) was brought to their neighborhoods as well as weapons. He says," First ship 'em dope and let 'em the brothers, Give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other".[4] Shakur not only addresses the War on Drugs but as well as the War on Poverty. The majority of the issues that he speaks about in his song are about things that Huey Newton was trying to change. He pays homage to Newton while addressing police brutality and corruption in the government. He says, "It's time to fight back that what Huey said, Two shots in the dark now Huey's dead".[5] Throughout the whole song Shakur is addressing issues that are being created to keep African-Americans oppressed in the United States. He addresses the issue that at the time the U.S was not ready to have a Black President as well as the high incarceration rates for African-Americans.

Two decades later, the song lyrics in which Tupac says, "Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live, and let’s change the way we treat each other. You see the old way wasn’t workin’, so it’s on us to do what we gotta do to survive," read like a prophetic roadmap to the actions we all need to be taking to survive the current environmental crisis.[6]

The Chris Hafner-directed music video is a compilation of a number of previous music videos Tupac released in addition to home videos and never-before-seen pictures, similar to the format of The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Dead Wrong", also released in 1999.

Accolades

"Changes" was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards of 2000 and remains the only posthumous song to be nominated in this category. It was also nominated at the MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing in a Video & Best Rap Video in 1999.

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ↑ Ascap entry for song ASCAP, accessed May 1, 2011
  2. ↑ 1941-1998., Carmichael, Stokely, (1992). Black power : the politics of liberation in America. Hamilton, Charles V. (Vintage ed.). New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0679743138. OCLC 26096713.
  3. ↑ "2Pac | Universal Music Publishing Group". Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  4. ↑ "2Pac | Universal Music Publishing Group". Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  5. ↑ "2Pac | Universal Music Publishing Group". Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  6. ↑ "Tupac's 'Changes': A Climate Change Visionary | SEAL Awards". Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  7. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – 2 Pac – Changes". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  8. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – 2 Pac – Changes" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  9. ↑ "Ultratop.be – 2 Pac – Changes" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  10. ↑ "Ultratop.be – 2 Pac – Changes" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  11. ↑ Dance peak
  12. ↑ Canadian Top Singles peak
  13. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – 2 Pac – Changes". Tracklisten.
  14. ↑ "Lescharts.com – 2 Pac – Changes" (in French). Les classement single.
  15. ↑ "Musicline.de – 2 Pac Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  16. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – 2 Pac" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  17. ↑ "Charts.nz – 2 Pac – Changes". Top 40 Singles.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – 2 Pac – Changes". VG-lista.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – 2 Pac – Changes". Singles Top 100.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – 2 Pac – Changes". Swiss Singles Chart.
  21. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/r-and-b-singles-chart/19990214/114/
  22. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  24. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  25. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  26. ↑ "2 Pac – Greatest Hits". Ultratop.be (in French). Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  28. ↑ "End of Year Charts 1999". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Romanian Top 100: Top of the Year 1999" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005.
  30. ↑ THE FIELD id (chart number) MUST BE PROVIDED for NEW ZEALAND CERTIFICATION.
  31. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1999" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  32. ↑ "British single certifications – 2Pac – Changes". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 17, 2017. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Enter Changes in the search field and then press Enter.
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