So, apparently, Tupac Shakur had a romantic relationship with Madonna.
Okay, that I had no idea is no shocker. Aside from the fact that I’m always the last to know anything, at the end of the day, it’s Madonna. Yes, the same Madonna who was pissed off the Catholic Church for tongue-wrestling Black Jesus in a music video. Hell, for all I know, she probably fucked Flavor Flav. But still, I’d like to think that as a hip-hop head, I would’ve known about this. However, thankfully, Tupac’s breakup letter to Madonna is up for auction and is in the public domain. You can read the letter via TMZ, here.
So Why Did Tupac Dump Madonna?
According to the letter, Tupac broke off his relationship with Madonna because she was white. In the letter, Tupac writes, “For you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeopardize your career, if anything it would make you seem that much more open and exciting.” He continues, “But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was.”
Tupac then goes on to further explain that he never meant to hurt her:
As you can see I have grown both spiritually and mentally. It no longer matters how I’m perceived. Please understand my previous position as that of a young man with limited experience with a extremely famous sex symbol.
I offer my friendship once again time this time much stronger and focused. If you are still interested I would like to further discuss this with you but some of it couldn’t wait.
I felt compelled to tell you … just in case anything happened to 2 me.
That he wrote this letter tells me two things:
- At the time, Tupac was in a place where he cared about his image
- He respected Madonna enough to break it off with her by giving and honest explanation.
In a round-a-bout way, it was a, “It’s not you, it’s all me,” Dear John letters.
But in this instance, Tupac was sincere.
As a man, I really believe he was sincere. Not that I’ve ever been in prison, but I can’t imagine any man in prison writing a woman to say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t fuck with you.”
Especially if said woman isn’t the reason that they guy is in prison.
Sincerity Aside, I have A Problem With Tupac
What does it say about Tupac that while in prison for sexually assaulting a black woman, he wrote this letter to Madonna? Of course, you might say that one has nothing to do with the other. If this is your feeling, you’re right. But yet and still, I can’t help but wonder whether Tupac took the time to write an apology letter to the victim of his crime. He apologized at his sentencing but maintained his innocence.
After all, he couldn’t continue to have a sexual relationship with Madonna, because she’s white. In my head, as much as image meant to him, I’d like to think that he did write a formal letter of apology to the black woman who was the victim of his crime. That letter would be worth more than the $100,000 opening bidding price for his letter to Madonna.
In fact, it would be priceless.
I’m just sayin’, you can’t be raping black women after writing hip-hop hits like “Dear Mama” and “Brenda Got A Baby”.Well, I guess he could, given that he did write “I Get Around” and “How Do You Want It”. While we’ll never know whether he did apologize to that black woman, I seriously doubt whether many people would care to know if h did.
Tupac Will Always Be A God-like Figure
Apparently, it’s cool to fuck the wife of another rapper and write a song about it, even if it isn’t true. And, when not shooting it out with police officers, or dodging bullets from other so-called thugs, it’s perfectly fine to rape a black woman. What’s not cool is the world knowing you’re sleeping with a white woman. Because, of course, nothing is more disappointing than a successful black man sleeping with a white woman. If you don’t believe me, just ask Jesse Williams how that’s working out for him.
Because, why would any of Tupac’s black fans find any of those other things abhorrent? Nope, we don’t. However, if it were to ever get out that he was tongue-kissing the Jewish queen of Kabala with an affinity for LGBTQ culture? Yeah, son, we couldn’t fuck with that.
This is a huge problem for me.
I’m sorry, but my commitment to blackness isn’t just isn’t set up that way.
Tupac Was Who Tupac Was
Unfortunately, this speaks to the complexity and walking contradiction that was Tupac Shakur. It also explains why as a 20-something me, I was never one of Tupac’s many cult-like followers. Don’t get me wrong, though. Even as a veteran of the East Coast vs. West Coast beef of 1995, as a foot soldier in the Bad Boy army, I still dug some of his songs.
Even so, I’ve always seen Tupac for what he was. That would be, an extremely talented artist wrapped up in confusion. He was still while trying to find himself in the world.
He was a young man.
His moral compass may have been a bit off, but he was still growing.
In short, Tupac was just another black man caught up in the mix. trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents. Unfortunately, for many of us black men and black people more broadly, we traverse this seemingly unjust world while wearing the mask of realness.