Nov 11, 1998418 words · 2 min
"A Soldier Misunderstood": A Fan Essay Against the Media Image
Two years after Tupac's death, Brian Castillo pushed back: Tupac was not a gangster, but a soldier. A 1998 fan essay and how much truth lies within it.
Original: “Tupac Shakur: A Soldier Misunderstood” · outlet unknown · Brian Castillo · November 11, 1998
“I got crucified to the media.” Brian Castillo opened his essay with this quote from Tupac on November 11, 1998. Two years after Tupac’s death, he wrote not a news report, but the partisan opinion piece of a fan. Anyone who did not know Tupac took him for an angry young Black man preaching violence-so went his thesis. The primary culprit was the news coverage: like a microscope, it focused on the few specks of dirt on an otherwise gleaming surface.
A Soldier Instead of a Gangster
Castillo asked why Tupac had become such a target and surmised: because he had something uncomfortable to say. He described him as a “soldier” who had encouraged young Black people in music, poetry, and interviews, and called out injustice. In the end, he wrote that Tupac lives on in every song, every magazine, and every conversation about him-and in a vast estate of unreleased works. Where the essay appeared at the time remained unclear: its origin and initial publication could not be determined.
Real Convictions and One-Sided Obituaries
The text is partisan and intends to be. The image of an almost spotless surface with “one or two specks” obscures the fact that Tupac was convicted of sexual abuse in 1994 and repeatedly stood trial for violent offenses. Yet the media critique has a core of truth. Many obituaries from 1996 saw him primarily as a gangster; The New York Times headlined its obituary “Rap Performer Who Personified Violence.”
From Gangster Image to the Hall of Fame
Since then, the picture has shifted markedly-in Castillo’s direction. In 2010, the Library of Congress added Dear Mama to the National Recording Registry, as one of the first rap songs. In 2017, Tupac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His poems and lyrics have long been taught in university courses, and numerous posthumous albums have appeared since 1997.
The thesis of the misunderstood artist is widespread today, yet the debate over the darker sides of his life remains legitimate. Castillo’s closing line points to an aspect often lost in the gangster image: Tupac failed to mention God in very few songs. Tracks such as So Many Tears or Hail Mary demonstrate precisely these religious references.