by Rob Markman 7h ago
Tupac Shakur has an everlasting influence. Had the hip-hop icons life not been cut short at the age of 25, he wouldve turned 44 on Tuesday, Jun. 16. Yet even though he was murdered at such a young age, Pac has provided a lifetime of inspiration for future generations.
Jhen Aiko was only an 8-year-old, when Tupac died on Sept. 13, 1996, but after she saw the 2003 documentary Tupac: Resurrection she was affected forever.
Aiko often acknowledges Pac on his birthday, but this year she decided to share her gifts with the world, exclusively through MTV News. To celebrate Shakur, Jhen recreated three classic Tupac photos with photographer Danny Williams.
One of the photos captures the feel of the rappers diamond-selling 1996 classic All Eyez on Me, by recreating the LPs album cover; while another pays homage to the photo used to cover his posthumous Greatest Hits collection. The third photo, finds Aiko laying in a bathtub, covered in gold, saluting David Lachapelles Becoming Clean photo shoot, which took place right after Pac was released from jail in 1995.
In addition to the photos, Jhen shared a video of her covering her favorite Tupac song, Keep Ya Head Up, and she sat down with MTV News to talk about the influence that Shakur has had on her life, her soul and her music.
Happy birthday!
MTV: You recreated three iconic Tupac photos, that weve debuted here today. When did you get the inspiration to recreate these?
Jhen Aiko: I would say like a few years ago. Its been a few years, but every birthday of his I always want to do something. I feel like I have to give his legacy some type of present. It started off, one time I did a video shoot where they spread his ashes. And it was a coincidence that I was there that day, we were all like, Wait a minute, this is Tupacs birthday and were here on the same beach. So after that, its been several years since then and every year I want to do something. I wrote a letter one year, I put it on my tumblr. Its a special day because to me he was such a special person, so this year it was just an idea that me and my team had and Im passionate about Tupac so it was something and I was like, Yeah. It was just random, it just happened on the spot; it was a really good idea for his birthday.
MTV: The pictures came out really dope. Talk about taking these photos. I could only imagine when you do anything Pac related theres pressure, because he has so many fans that love him. Was there pressure?
Aiko: I didnt necessarily want the pictures to be exactly spot-on because I cant channel Tupac. Hes so great to me that I dont even compare myself to him, like Im trying to be Tupac. Thats not what it is. Its just that my love for him, I really wanted to do the pictures justice. There were moments, specifically on the All Eyez on Me picture, where Im sitting on the chair and it was a really uncomfortable position for me because Im so small. And Im like, This picture is not going to look the same as his because Im not the same body type. I was nervous about looking too masculine, but then I was like, You know what? This is Pac, let me channel my confidence because he had all that confidence. I wasnt worried about what people were going to think, because its just a personal thing for me. Im not doing it for people to be like, Oh, wow. For me, its just about expressing my gratitude towards him and his legacy.
MTV: June 16 wouldve been Pacs 44th birthday and he was 25 when he passed away. At what age did you become aware of Tupac? What was your earliest memory of him?
Aiko: My earliest memory of Tupac Im from L.A., born and raised, so I think the station at the time was 92.3 the Beat. They obviously played all the West Coast hip-hop and R&B. Im super young, I was born in 88, so when Pac was at his prime, I was still a toddler, I was a baby. I guess I have early memories of hearing him on the radio and seeing his CDs laying around because I have older brothers and sisters. But I didnt form a personal love for him until I was a teenager and I saw Resurrection and living in L.A. they play Tupac still like hes a new artist on certain stations. So I grew up listening to him and loving the music. I always liked the way he looked, I always had a crush on him that started in elementary school. When I saw Resurrection, I was so inspired. I was young at the time and obviously the people that were older, that got to witness Tupac in his prime, they were already I was late. I was a kid just discovering something at the right time when I could fully understand what he was all about.
MTV: How did things change for you after seeing Resurrection?
Aiko: I remember getting home from watching that and just feeling so inspired and I wrote this long journal entry about how inspired I was and motivated. I was so in awe of his story that I just dove in. I got books and I tried to find everything about Tupac. I started watching all the interviews, I started becoming obsessed and it wasnt about the music at that point. It was about him as a person and what he did as far as aside from music.
MTV: In a lot of ways, Im a little envious that you caught on late, as you say, because I remember when Pac was just a dancer for Digital Underground, then I remember when he was a rapper, then I remember when he did Juice. I got to see him grow, but to me he was a rapper first. You got to see him as a whole and not in parts.
Aiko: I just saw the big picture. I never felt there were a lot of people I could relate to as far as wanting to do so many things with my life that dont necessarily have to do with the other. He was so contradictory to people, but to me he was just human and not afraid to express himself. I could relate to that a lot How dancing turned into music, turned into acting, turned into all of the things that he did. And he still had this passion and this purpose about him. That spoke to me so much.
MTV: You talk about his contradictions and his dualities. There were many sides to him. What was the side you related to the most?
Aiko: I think the poet; the poet in Pac and the philosopher. He was thirsty for knowledge and I relate to that a lot, which is why a lot of the things that he did was contradictory to most people. Most people dont understand that its OK to be human and say one thing, do another thing, think another thing and then act another way. Thats what makes us amazing is that were all these things at once.
MTV: Whats your favorite Pac song?
Aiko: Keep Ya Head Up.
Embedded from www.youtube.com.
MTV: [Laughs] I couldnt have guessed. You cover that a lot at your shows. What is it about Keep Ya Head Up that draws you in?
Aiko: I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter and that song came on. I just cried like never before. His words meant so much to me. I just felt like I needed to hear that. I didnt know what was going to happen next. I wasnt in the best position to have a child. I was growing hopeless. At that moment I was leaving a free-clinic-type-of-family-planning-type of place to do my prenatal stuff. I was on the county, I had my E.B.T. card, I had my food stamps. I was in the system and I felt like, Where was my life going at this point? It was hard for me to be optimistic. But that song came on and thats what changed the whole mood of my pregnancy.
From that day when I heard that song, I was like, You know what? Hes right. I need to just keep my head up and keep it pushing and do what I have to do. From then on everything turned into a positive experience. It really stuck at that moment, because that was 2007 and the song had been out for years and years and years. Not until I had that full-circle moment of understanding struggle and pain did I relate to the song that much more.
MTV: You talked about him being a poet. I feel like your music is poetic, as well. Is that something that comes naturally you? Is that something that you learned listening to him?
Aiko: I think its natural. Writing has always been my go-to form of expression. Whenever I was going through something as a kid, I would write it down and I would turn it into a poem. And I was a teenager when I really got into Resurrection and really got into his poetry and really got into his life. I related to him so much because I felt like I was the same type of person that was into poetry and expressing myself through words. Just having a love for words, thats something thats always been in me since I started school since I started learning letters.
It came natural; thats why I love Pac. I remember for one of my birthdays, my dad got me one of his poetry books and I was just tripping out because his voice is his own thing. Even if he didnt write, his voice is powerful enough to stand alone, but then his words are the same thing. Theyre powerful enough to stand on their own by just reading them. Thats something that I would like my words to be.
MTV: I have to commend you for taking these photos and doing this cover and saluting Pac, because were in a generation now where it seems that a lot of young fans dont acknowledge the greats that came before us. Fans say the Migos are better than the Beatles and thats a matter of taste and preference, but it doesnt seem cool to acknowledge the past these days.
Aiko: I feel like I grew up in a time where we still had the analog stuff I got to experience tapes, I got to experience VHS, I got experience a lot of analog stuff and not only that, my family was late to catch on to the digital world. We didnt have a computer for a long time, we didnt have a cell phone for a long time, we didnt have cable. I think its important to stay connected to that, because it keeps you grounded. I just feel a way about everything being digital. Now, its all about whats new, whos better than who? Were not celebrating the individual, were not celebrating us all being great. Dont forget about Tupac, dont forget about Biggie, dont forget about these amazing people that taught us these things.
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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/2187362/tupac-shakur-birthday-jhene-aiko/
