Blasphemy

The fifth track on Makaveli is Blasphemy, one of my personal favorites. This song portrays a more religious side of Tupac similar to the Hail Mary track.

My family tree, consists of drug dealers, thugs and killers
Strugglin; known to hustle; screamin fuck they feelings
I got advice from my father, all he told me was this
Nigga, get off your ass if you plan to be rich

While in some of his earlier songs Tupac shows much hatred for his father, this particular verse shows a rare insight into his relationship with his biological father; Billy Garland. He had several father figures and indeed perhaps he is referring to them. He knew his father until he was five years old and then he left, until 1994 when Tupac was shot for the first time.

Apparently Tupac was quite surprised to see his real father and perhaps this meeting influenced an evolution of attitude he held for his father. These lines would certainly indicate that perhaps his father's influence was not entirely absent and that the advice he did give Tupac, albeit not very much at all, was not completely useless.

Also, the progression of his attitude towards his father evolves quickly and exceptionally as he evidently psychologically matures; evidenced when you compare this attitude to his song 'Papaz Song' on his second album much earlier in his career.

There's ten rules to the game, but I'll share with you two
Know, niggas gon' hate you for whatever you do
Now rule one -- get your cash on, M.O.B.
That's Money Over Bitches, cause they breed envy

The first rule is acquire money, and then Tupac references the acronym M.O.B, which he had a tattoo of and was very prominent in some of his later songs.

Tupac had a huge respect for women. More importantly he has made such powerful songs regarding womens rights and hard times, such as Brenda's Gotta Baby and Keep Ya Head Up.

The type of women who hang around clubs and that are often affiliated with rap stars and/or their entourages, are called 'groupies' and it's not surprising that he held contempt for such females, particularly because they were why he went to prison before he released All Eyez On Me.

Now rule two is a hard one, watch for phonies
Keep yo', enemies close nigga, watch yo' homies
It seemed a little unimportant, when he told me I smiled
Picture jewels being handed, to an innocent child

Now this part is extremely intriguing and poetic and as such is open to interpretation. Perhaps Tupac was being quite literal at this point in the song, and was reminiscing back to when his father gave him gifts and he was quite pleased about it.

On the other hand the 3rd line could have a comma before 'I smiled' like this:

It seemed a little unimportant, when he told me, I smiled

In this case, he could mean that someone told him these rules, and at first he considered them to be unimportant and then realised that these rules were 'jewels' being handed to him while Tupac himself is the metaphor of an 'innocent child.' The next lines seem to follow this meaning.

I never knew in my lifetime I'd live by these rules
Initiated as an outlaw, studying rules
Now papa ain't around, so I gotta recall
or come to grips with bein' written on my enemy's wall

While he says 'my enemy's wall' you can hear Tupac in the background saying 'Rest in Peace.' So I believe he's saying that he has to remember these rules that his father knew otherwise get use to people hating him so much that they wrote his name on their wall's not resting until Tupac was dead.

[I] Promise if I have a seed, I'm a guide him right
Dear Lord don't let me die tonite

Basically Tupac is saying that if he impregnates a girl that he will raise him well, as long as he survives.

I got words for my comrades, listen and learn
Ain't nuttin free, give back what you earn, no doubt
Gettin higher than a mother fucker, bless me please
This Thug Life will be the death of me, c'mon, yeah

The end of this verse is saying that he is teaching us what be understands to be and that since nothing is free we need to redistribute these rules of life. A very deep ending to the verse.

We probably in Hell already, our dumb asses not knowin'
Everybody kissin ass to go to heaven; ain't goin
Put my soul on it

It's quite obvious what he is saying here I think the last line means that he would bet his soul on the fact that no one is going to heaven.

I'm fightin' devil niggas daily
Plus the media be crucifying brothers severely
Tell me I ain't God's son, nigga mom a virgin

We got addicted had to leave the burbs, back in the ghetto
doin wild shit, lookin at the sun don't pay

Here again is one of the most prominent themes of the album, (including the front cover), in which Tupac refers to himself as Jesus; this time saying that his mom was a virgin. Religious leaders often hated Tupac because even though he respected the Lord and Christianity deeply his musical persona portrayed Jesus suggesting that perhaps he was going to die for everyone's sins and not Jesus.

Also, another extremely deep phrase is said by Tupac: 'Looking at the sun (son) don't pay.' Here is another pun (a literary device used by poets, puns are prolific in the writings of Shakespeare, who was read by Tupac in his youth) where Tupac uses this phrase, there are 3 different meanings here.

Firstly we have the literal meaning which is if you look at the sun you won't get anything out of it. This is how critics of his work interpret this line.

Secondly, he means 'Son' instead of 'sun' referring to Jesus. One thing he could possibly mean by this he is referring to himself again as Jesus and that the media is the all-looking eye (as shown with his line earlier: media crucifying brothers severely.) Also, the bible says that Jesus died for all our sins and as such letting us avoid paying for them. Perhaps he meant that we don't pay for our sins when considereing Jesus' (or Tupac's) sacrifice. To further strengthen the argument that this insinuation is plausible, Shakespeare uses "sun / son" as a pun in his play of Richard the III, where Edward the IV is referenced as the [blazing] sun of York. Brilliantly, King Richard the III has often been referenced as the perfect example of a Machiavellian King, with his murderous and treacherous traits.

Thirdly, and most exceptionally, the word sun is used as a metaphor for heaven, or God, by philosophers since Plato referred to the sun as such in The Republic, Socrates also used that same metaphor.

Tupac was a follower of early philosophical literature which he studied in Baltimore along with studies of Shakespeare and Niccolo Machiavelli. Understanding the depth of his literary study one can become immediately aware the depth of his lyrics are not by accident, but by design.

So considering this third interpretation Tupac is saying looking towards heaven will bring us no closer, the work is to be done here on earth.

Criminal mind all the time, wait for Judgment Day
They say Moses split the Red Sea
I split the blunt and rolled a fat one, I'm deadly -- Babylon beware

Babylon was an ancient city with much biblical history, specifically the destruction of the city was due to 'God's punishment' of the entire world. I believe that Tupac here is saying the time for punishment is once again upon us, which relates to the beginning of the verse.

Comin for the Pharaoh kids, retaliation

Makin legends off the shit we did,

Quite interestingly the Pharaoh is considered to be evil in the bible, suggesting that this line means Tupac is doing God's work by ending the line of Pharoah's.

Still bullshittin' niggaz in Jerusalem, waitin for signs
God comin', she's just takin her time, haha

Here Tupac is laughing at the idea of God coming to our saviour; almost mocking the idea of salvation when the world is in such shape, fitting with the title of the song: Blasphemy.

Living by the Nile while the water flows
I'm contemplating plots wondering which door to go
Brothas getting shot, comin back resurrected
It's just that raw shit, nigga check it (that raw shit)