Tupac Shakur’s favorite track of all time

Most individuals know Tupac Shakur because the late gangster rap icon, however much less broadly understood is the artist’s penchant for ballet and the emotional tender rock of Don McLean. Tragically, Tupac Shakur was killed throughout a hit-and-run incident in September 1996, however had he survived, maybe we might have seen a heart-warming collaboration between the 2 musicians. 

Shakur’s favorite track by McLean reveals one other hidden ardour: Vincent van Gogh. The ‘American Pie’ folky wrote his 1971 track ‘Vincent’ concerning the troubled Dutch painter. The lesser-known monitor would change into Tupac’s favorite by McLean; he felt he may relate to van Gogh as a misunderstood artist. 

Shakur’s love for McLean and ‘Vincent’ was unearthed in Lauren Lazin’s 2003 documentary, Tupac: Resurrection. After watching the film, Allen Hughes, the director of the 2022 docuseries Dear Mama, determined to provide the monitor some consideration. At first, he wasn’t impressed. 

“I’ll be frank,” he informed Consequence in April 2023. “I heard [‘Vincent’], and I was like, God, this is corny as fuck. I didn’t like the feel of it. I didn’t want anything to do with this.”

Nevertheless, when researching for Expensive Mama, Hughes interviewed Donald Hicken, the rapper’s drama trainer from the Baltimore Faculty of Performing Arts, and his previous pal, John Cole. Amid their glowing, eye-opening character references, each mentioned the significance of McLean and ‘Vincent’ in Shakur’s life. 

“He said Vincent van Gogh was misunderstood, and he related to that, as an artist,” Hughes recalled Hicken saying. 

After understanding slightly extra about Tupac’s connection to the track and its topic, Hughes gave it one other likelihood. “I listened to it, and we started playing around with it, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is powerful.’ I must admit, I was never a fan of poetry, but this journey has opened my eyes to the power of poetry and how beautiful it is,” he mentioned.

“I’m a big fan of the song now. I gotta admit, I didn’t get it at first — and that’s why these guys and gals, that are these incredible artists, are so ahead of their time,” Hughes added.

After releasing Expensive Mama in 2022, Hughes mirrored on his fascinating topic and his tragic finish. “I think his greatest art outside of his poetry and his writing was — he’s a performance artist,” Hughes mentioned. “I think that that’s also his self-destruction because the lines between performance art and reality, I think he… There were no lines anymore. And ultimately, his greatest piece of art, he painted in his own blood, unfortunately.”

So highly effective was Tupac’s religious connection to van Gogh he wrote a poem titled Starry Night time. Hear McLean’s ‘Vincent’ and Shakur’s poem under. 

Starry Night time – Tupac Shakur

A artistic coronary heart, obsessive about satisfying

this dormant and uncaring society

you’ve gotten given them the celebs at night time

and u have given them

Bountiful Bouquets of Sunflowers

however 4 u there may be solely contempt

and although u pour your self into that body

and current it so proudly this world

couldn’t settle for your masterpieces

from the guts.

So on that starry night time u gave 2 us

and u took away from us

the one factor we by no means acknowledged

your life.