Dear Mama
| "Dear Mama" | ||||||||||
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| Single by 2Pac | ||||||||||
| from the album Me Against the World | ||||||||||
| Released | February 21, 1995 | |||||||||
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| Recorded | July 1994 | |||||||||
| Genre | Conscious hip hop, R&B | |||||||||
| Length | 4:39 | |||||||||
| Label | Interscope | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Tupac Shakur | |||||||||
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| 2Pac singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Dear Mama" is a song by American hip hop recording artist 2Pac, released on February 21, 1995 as the lead single from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). The song is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. In the song, Shakur details his childhood poverty and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine, but argues that his love and deep respect for his mother supersede bad memories. The song topped the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart for five weeks and also peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA on July 13, 1995.
"Dear Mama" has been consistently ranked among the best of its genre, appearing on numerous "greatest" lists. In 2010, the song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress, who deemed it a work that is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." In a press release, the organization called the song "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference."
The song is a tribute to Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur. She and her husband were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Shakur was born a month after his mother was acquitted of more than 150 charges of "Conspiracy United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York "Panther 21" court case. She was often absent during his childhood in favor of being an activist, and also during his adolescence when she became addicted to crack cocaine. Shakur was kicked out by Afeni at age 17, and they had little contact for many years. Having "lost all respect" for his mother, he subsequently moved into a vacant apartment with friends and began writing poetry and rap lyrics. In 1990, realizing her habit was out-of-control, she enrolled in a 12-step program at a drug and alcohol treatment center in Norwalk, Connecticut. After completion, she reconciled with her son, who was at this point a successful recording artist.
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