Happy Birthday Tupac: His 10 Most Influential Tracks

Tupac Shakur's influence can't really be measured by any sort of numbers. Sure, he's had five #1 albums and countless singles, but his impact goes deeper than that; it even goes deeper than rap.

Tracks like "Brenda's Got A Baby" is just one example of Tupac crafting somewhat of a PSA for his listeners. With real lyrical substance, the track worked to tell the tragic tale of a twelve year old who had a child. It's a gut-wrenching story, but an important one for the community to hear.

If society was impacted by Pac's words, than hip-hop certainly wouldn't be the same without him, straight up. Every MC you listen to was impacted by Tupac's music, whether they know it or not. As one of the greatest MCs to ever pick up the microphone, there's no shortage of influential tracks from the one and only Shakur.

Disclaimer: we know Tupac Shakur had more than 10 influential songs. The entire All Eyez on Me album could have made this list, but let's be real: some of his cuts had more of an impact than others. Today, we try to narrow Pac's discography down to its 10 most influential tracks.

The first single Tupac ever released was hardly a mainstream-sounding track. There's no chorus, no hook, and nothing fun about it. To be real, it's actually a pretty uncomfortable song all around as Tupac tells the story of a twelve year old child who was impregnated by an older man. Brenda, who never knew a mother or a father, found comfort in this older man who took advantage of her naivety. Tupac's extended, lone verse explains the birth and it's repercussions in great detail. 

"She had the baby solo
She had it on the bathroom floor and didn't know so
She didn't know, what to throw away and what to keep
She wrapped the baby up and threw him in a trash heap
I guess she thought she'd get away, wouldn't hear the cries
She didn't realize how much the little baby had her eyes
Now the baby's in the trash heap bawling
Momma can't help her, but it hurts to hear her calling
Brenda wants to run away
Momma say, you making me lose pay
The social workers here everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried to sell crack but end up getting robbed"

"I Get Around" is a much different Tupac than the one we saw on "Brenda's Got A Baby." Over a light-hearted beat, 2Pac invites Shock G and Money B to kick a couple short verses, ultimately making a track that's sound would be emulated countless times over the years. For something that was released in 1993, this still sounds totally timeless.

Tupac was at his best when playing spiritual leader for the hip-hop community. While objectifying women has always been somewhat of a weakness in hip-hop's content, Tupac would occasionally make statements that empower women, and encourage men to cherish them, like he did on "Keep Ya Head Up." 

"You know what makes me unhappy
When brothers make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up"

Boys love their mamas; Tupac was no exception. Here's his ode to his old earth, Afeni Shakur. It's a beautiful track that flows through adolescent troubles while giving thanks to the one who deserves it most.

Arguably 2Pac's biggest track was a funky affair with the one and only Dr. Dre. You won't find the social commentary that some of his other influential songs boasted, but "California Love" has a sound that will still tear a dance-floor up twenty years later. It's undeniable.

Tupac always had legal troubles, and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" sort of glamorized that aspect of his living. From the opening skit with Biggie and Puff to the court scene, this was a pretty controversial release. However, it's influence can't be knocked as Pac and Snoop link for a massive single.

As friends grow old, sometimes they grow apart. It's a natural thing that 2Pac embraces in "I Ain't Mad At Cha."

"Now we was once two niggas of the same kind
Quick to holla at a hoochie with the same line
You was just a little smaller but you still rolled
Got stretched to Y.A. and hit the hood swoll
'member when you had a Jheri Curl didn't quite learn
On the block, wit'cha Glock, trippin' off sherm
Collect calls to the crib, sayin' how you've changed
Oh you's a Muslim now? No more dope game"

Right around the time this eerie single was released, Tupac was basically obsessed with his own death. The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was written and recorded in just three days, as if Pac knew his time was coming to an end. It was recorded in August '96, Pac was murdered in September, and the album was released in November. The album has sold over five million copies, making it one of the best selling rap records ever.

We didn't want to include too many posthumous releases in this list, but "Changes" is undoubtably one of 2Pac's most influential tracks, both to hip-hop and society as a whole. The words Tupac rapped on this single are still relevant today. 

"Cops give a damn about a negro
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero
'Give the crack to the kids: who the hell cares?
One less hungry mouth on the welfare!'
First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal to brothers
Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other"

"Thugz Mansion" is the kind of song that ironically has more impact as a posthumous track. Alongside Nas, the two MCs rhyme about a better place over a soothing acoustic track.