The Rose That Grew From Concrete: Vol. 1

12/08/2000 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy

This disc is more than just another dip into the vaults of unreleased Tupac material. When a book of his pre-fame poetry was published last year, it was an attempt to make Tupac's posthumous claim as a serious artiste, and setting some of those poems to music is the next step in that effort. So while the all-star cast (everyone from Mos Def and Q-Tip to Danny Glover and Jasmine Guy) and wildly varied backing (everything from straight hip-hop to Disney Africanisms to folk) might wow you, that really isnÆt the point. This one boils down to TupacÆs lyrics of pain and searching--and thatÆs problematic.

Occasionally, as on the lovely, Nikki Giovanni-voiced title track, his words are inspired, creating memorable images with a hardscrabble grace. More often, the poems are mired in teenage self-pity; even if Tupac's unhappy background entitles him to more than your average adolescent, it still gets old in short order. And tributes like Quincy JonesÆ ridiculously overblown "Starry Night," a Latin-flavored paen to Vincent Van Gogh that compares him to Tupac, donÆt help. You can certainly make the case for The Rose That Grew From Concrete as a celebration of ambition and unfulfilled potential. Arguing that this is a great album containing great poetry is another matter entirely.