What Is The Code Of Thug Life?

Behind the Chalk Line it was just another crime, but for us in the heart & soul of Hip-Hop a GIANT was gone. As we celebrate what would have been Tupac Amaru Shakur’s 39th birthday, I reflect on his body of work. I pondered over where Tupac was trying to take Hip-Hop, the art form as a whole, and the fans that loved and supported the music. His death was more than Hip-Hop’s beef, but the beginning of a trend that will lull us to sleep and take away so many of our youth right before our eyes. The Good Die Young is why Tupac worked so hard to make The Code a reality in street. Tupac once stated, 'I'm not saying I'm going to change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.' Through his death, I vowed to never give up on making The Code a reality in our streets Giving our Youth something to Hope & Dream for.

In Brooklyn, New York a new Hip-Hop beat was taking over the streets, Tupac had taken the world by storm. He was intelligent, dedicated, and powerful; he too wanted to connect the love for Hip- Hop and the movement together. Our respected triple OG’s, Viola Plummer & Pac’s Step-Pops Mutulu Shakur brought us together. It was time for The Code to the Thug LIFE to come out of the minds of prisoners to the heart and soul of young people on the streets.  From South Central Los Angeles to Atlanta, Georgia and New York City the Code of the streets was making peace real.

We built a youth movement of Hip-Hop heads who were bold, audacious, committed, and conscious of the need to believe in something other than themselves, The Code became an unwritten law in street. Black Power and Hip-Hop were becoming powerful entities.