The Rose that Grew from Concrete

“The Rose That Grew from Concrete” (1999) is a poem written by American rapper, poet, actor, and activist Tupac Shakur (1971-1996). The poem ultimately celebrates the power of dreams and determination to rise above struggle and neglect. “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” is also largely autobiographical. Tupac, who compares himself to a neglected rose in the poem, went from a disenfranchised youth in the inner city to one of the most influential rappers the world has ever known in just a few short years. “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” therefore serves as a powerful allegory of his life. Pocket Books published the poem posthumously in a poetry collection by the same name through its MTV Books imprint.

Although Tupac was most known as a rapper and an actor, his other interests included poetry writing. Tupac read and wrote poetry from a young age, so his poetry writing no doubt influenced his music, especially in songs like Thugz Mansions and Dear Mama, where he shows a sensitive side not commonly associated with the “Gangsta Rap” for which he was known and often criticized. In this poem and others in the collection, Tupac explores various English and American poetic traditions and techniques but creates a unique style, displaying his mastery over language. Much like in Tupac’s rap verses, the poet makes use of rhyme, slant rhyme, repetition, assonance, and other poetic techniques that effect the rhythm and musicality of the poem.

It’s worth noting that Tupac considered himself a revolutionary and an activist, and much of his family including his mother were members of the Black Panther Party. This poem follows in the tradition of African American writers like Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison, who helped expose the injustices suffered by Black people in America through their literature. But in “The Rose That Grew from Concrete,” Tupac also honors and celebrates the resilience and perseverance of Black people in America.

In “The Rose That Grew from Concrete,” Tupac deftly shapes meter, defines his own rhythm, and presents an image that conveys the deepness of his feeling. He does all of this through straightforward language, yet in a compelling and allegorical way that puts him in conversation with a line of poets such as Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, T. S. Eliot, and contemporary poet Maya Williams. “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” works best perhaps in conversation with the poetry of Langston Hughes, a writer Tupac had read. In 1951, Hughes wrote the poem “Harlem,” which asked the question, “What happens to a dream deferred?” referencing African American people whose dreams faced oppression. Forty years later, Tupac appears to have answered the question. For Tupac, the “dream deferred” has grown into a rose. And he is that rose.

The poem’s contrast between the rose and the concrete, between beauty and neglect, is vital not only to this poem but to Tupac’s work as a whole. Tupac’s life and work fluctuated between sensitivity and positivity and aggression and violence. Although the world knows and remembers Tupac as one of the most compelling rappers to ever live, this poem and others like it in his posthumous collection put Tupac in conversation with a range of artistic greats.

Poet Biography

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York. When his mother, Afeni Shakur, was pregnant with him, she was incarcerated and charged with conspiracy to set off a race war along with 20 of her comrades from the Black Panther Party. However, as a courageous and gifted orator, she chose to defend herself in court, where she highlighted her commitment to the community and the lack of evidence. She was acquitted of all 156 counts against her. A month later, Tupac Amaru (“shining serpent”) Shakur was born.

Growing up, Tupac’s mother struggled financially, and the family moved between several housing situations, including homeless shelters. When he was 15, they lived in Baltimore, where his mom was influential in helping him gain acceptance to the prestigious Baltimore School of the Arts. At this school, Tupac excelled as an actor and began writing. He later commented that he felt “the freest I ever felt” there. Unfortunately, the neighborhood the family lived in was full of crime, so Tupac’s mother moved him and his brother to Marin City, California.

Marin City turned out to have issues with crime as well, and in California, Tupac’s mother began using crack cocaine. Although she tried to hide her drug use for Tupac’s sake, it caused a riff between them. He moved out and began living on his own as a teenager. For a time, Tupac started selling drugs to make money; however, poetry and art helped him avoid having his life completely consumed by drugs at a time when crack cocaine was reaping destruction in many African American communities in the US.

In 1989, Tupac met the accomplished singer and dancer Leila Steinberg in a Marin City park and impressed her so much with his wit, charisma, and confidence that he was able to convince her to become his manager. Since she had no real experience as a manager, she introduced Tupac to Atron Gregory, who landed him a gig with Digital Underground, an American rap group in 1990. Although he began as a roadie and dancer, he performed vocally on two of the band’s albums, one song of which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1991 film Nothing But Trouble (directed by Dan Aykroyd). In 1991, Tupac also released his first solo album, 2pocalypse Now.

Unlike Digital Underground, which had a party vibe, Tupac’s first album was in the vein of what has been termed Gangsta Rap—a rap style that emerged in response to the violence, drugs, and gangs that were part of inner cities like the ones Tupac had grown up in in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle publicly criticized the album, saying, “There’s no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society.” Tupac responded by saying, “I just wanted to rap about things that affected young Black males. When I said that, I didn’t know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young Black males, to be the media’s kicking post for young Black males.” This exchange foretold much of the controversy that would arise during Tupac’s career and the relentless criticism he would take. Fortunately for him, in this instance the criticism had the opposite effect that Quayle desired: It led to increased sales and exposure. The album sold 500,000 units and was certified Gold.

Around this time, Tupac tapped into his acting skills and appeared in movies like Juice (1992) and Poetic Justice (1993). He also continued releasing albums, including Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993), Me Against the World (1995), and All Eyez on Me (1996), which sold five million copies in its first year and debuted as number one on the Billboard charts. By now Tupac was a fundamental figure in West Coast Hip Hop and was introducing important social issues and complexity into Gansta Rap.

Unfortunately, despite commercial success and stardom, much of Tupac’s life was troubled by violence and run-ins with the law. In 1992, after being attacked outside of a charity event, his gun fell to the ground and was picked up by someone else who fired into the crowd and killed a child of six. Tupac was acquitted of all charges, but he reportedly was inconsolable after the incident. A year later, he was charged with shooting two white police officers. But when it was revealed that the officers were inebriated and threatened Tupac, the charges were dropped.

In 1994, he was robbed at gunpoint and shot in a NY elevator on the way to record a guest verse at the same studio the famous New York rapper the Notorious BIG was recording at. He suspected BIG, producer Sean Puffy Combs, and music manager James “Jimmy Henchmond” Rosemond of setting him up, adding fuel to the ensuing East/West Coast Rap feud. Shortly after the shooting, he was arrested and served time in 1995 for sexual assault, but he was bailed out of jail after eight months after agreeing to sign to Death Row Records, run by notorious strongman and gang-affiliate Suge Knight. On September 7, 1996, after a boxing event in Las Vegas, Tupac was shot in the passenger seat of a car driven by Knight and died six days later. His case has never been solved.

Tupac is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. To date, he has sold over 75 million records worldwide, and his likeness is used on symbols and merchandise sold around America and the world. To many, he is not just a pioneer in rap, but an artist and a revolutionary that fought back against injustice and shined light on the plight of Black people in America. For many, he is a martyr.

For fans of hip hop, when the discussion of greatest rappers of all time comes up, Tupac is always in the conversation. This poem, “A Rose That Grew from Concrete,” along with the movies and writing Tupac left behind at the young age of 25, should put him in the conversation of one of America’s greatest artists of all time.

Poem Text

Shakur, Tupac. “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.” 1991. Allpoetry.com.

Summary

Before the first line of the poem, the word “autobiographical” appears just under the title (some versions omit the word). The speaker opens with a rhetorical question in a conversational style: “Did you heard about the rose that grew / from a crack in the concrete?” (Lines 1-2). The lines have a subtle rhythm that mimics a couplet in a ballad, and the speaker delivers them in a casual tone. The first line resembles iambic pentameter, the meter Shakespeare often used to convey regular speech. Since a rose growing from a crack in concrete seems unlikely, the question put forth is intriguing and sets the reader or listener up to want to learn more about the rose.

Since the poem is autobiographical, and because the rose works as a metaphor for Tupac, the “crack in the concrete” (Line 2) also alludes to Tupac’s life. In the proceeding couplet, Tupac explains what the rose accomplished. He writes, “Proving nature’s law is wrong it / learned to walk with out having feet” (Lines 3-4). The rose grew to become what it was without any care or a base to stand on, even against “nature’s law” (Line 3). This then, the reader or listener can assume, is a truly remarkable rose.

While Lines 1-4 set up the story and tell what the rose accomplished, in the next couplet the speaker reveals how the rose survived. Tupac writes, “Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, / it learned to breathe fresh air” (Lines 5-6). Although it may seem unlikely or “funny” (Line 5) for a rose to grow from a “crack in the concrete” (Line 2), it was able to do so by “keeping its dreams” (Line 5). Through dreaming and perseverance, the rose could “breath fresh air” (Line 6).

In the final couplet, Tupac writes, “Long live the rose that grew from concrete / when no one else even cared” (Lines 7-8). Here Tupac salutes the rose, which was able to survive even when no one cared for it.