The Gospel According to Tupac

A Review of Baptized in Dirty Water: Regimagining the Gospel According to Tupac Amaru Shakur by Daniel White Hodge

Let me start by saying, this is the book I always wanted to write. I never got around to it, but Daniel White Hodge more than did justice to the topic. I have been a fan of Tupac since maybe the early 2000s. I was a little young to be very familiar with him at the time of his death in 1996. I use the word “fan” reluctantly because I think I was more than a fan. Tupac was not just another celebrity or just one of my favorite rappers. I connected with him on a deeper level. I expressed my anger through his anger and my sadness through his sadness. I emoted through his music. He was to me, and many others, what Kurt Cobain was to a generation. He was the interpretive voice through which we heard ourselves.

Furthermore, I connected deeply with his socio-political critiques and stances. Tupac was far more than just another rapper, as Hodge eloquently points out in this book. Tupac’s mother and step-father were members of the Black Panther Party. They were revolutionaries that fought for black liberation in America. Tupac’s music continued this revolutionary consciousness powerfully and poignantly.

It was this combination of poetry and politics that drew me so deeply into Tupac’s life and work. One of the things I quickly began to…