The titular question is, of course, metaphorical, but the earnestness in 2pac’s voice almost makes the question sound literal. He was venomous one moment and disarmingly earnest the next. He might be the first rapper people associate with the word “poet,” even to this day. Tupac was brash, bombastic, and headstrong, but he was also one of the most introspective rappers of his age. Somehow, all of this came together on Loyal to the Game’s lead single “Ghetto Gospel,” making it one of the definite singles of 2004. The documentary Tupac: Resurrection had been in theaters just a year earlier Eminem, a lifelong Tupac devotee, was a global superpower and had defiantly performed “Stan” at the Grammys with Elton John, and thanks to Kanye, sampling was bigger than ever. “Ghetto Gospel” is another cut from Loyal to the Game, and despite being a posthumous release, it’s an incredibly of-the-era song and a few factors led to its success. It wouldn’t get a proper release until 2004’s Eminem-produced Loyal to the Game.
Adding to the song’s reputation was the fact that Pac performed “Out on Bail” at the first Source Awards before Interscope pulled it from Thug Life’s debut album. This was before his longer prison stint – earlier in life when a 15-day stint cost him a role in Menace II Society. Hip-hop has always involved a degree of self-mythologizing, so for better or worse, it helped 2pac’s credibility that he’d actually been to jail.
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