
While the social commentary of songs like ‘White Man’z World’ and ‘Blasphemy’ is often overlooked due to this album’s marinated street beef mentality, they rank as some of his most intense work and channels his namesake Machiavelli in his depiction of the unflattering relationship between politics and ethics. Unlike the more polished and mainstream monster that was his All Eyez on Me release, Makaveli sees Tupac using the mic booth as a therapeutic medium for exorcising his many demons – taking the listener on an intimate journey through his battles within his internal and external worlds.

Entrenched in the theory of martyrdom – Tupac has become the poster child for the exuberant expression of those without a voice, especially within the African American community.Īs the final release before his death, Makaveli: The 7 day Theory is a fascinating listen – splinted with both poetic beauty and venomous bloodlust. Like other artists who met an untimely demise, Tupac looms far larger in death than life. Weaving philosophy and literature out of words, Tupac’s potent poetics force fed the gritty street realities and revolutionary Black Panther spirit to a mainstream white American audience blind or reluctant to recognise social issues outside their own backyards. Revered by his peers as one of modern history’s most compelling figures, the impact of artist and activist Tupac Shakur on the public consciousness cannot be understated. Ĭapturing the essence of a hip hop icon in his prime – BeatDust caught up with Los Angeles visual artist Ronald ‘Riskie’ Brent to wax poetics about his work on 2pac’s final and infinitely influential work Makaveli: The Don Killuminati -The 7 day Theory.
