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Ford continues to be the leader in diversity and multicultural ad campaigns with their latest commercial for the 2013 Ford Fusion. 

Not only did they tap Andre “Bubs” Royoa, fan favorite from the show The Wire, their new spot titled “A Rose” features Tupac Shakur’s poem A Rose Grows From The Concrete

DETAILS: Beyonce and Willow Smith Pen Letters To Tupac

Ford choose the poem for the ad, which began running November 19th, to symbolize the Fusion’s breakthrough in performance, style and innovation as a transformation of consumer expectations of their midsize sedans.

But it also goes to show you the power and versatility of hip-hop artists. Tupac was one of the realest artists ever to breathe, with songs like “America’s Most Wanted” and “California Love,” but he showed another side that spawned works like A Rose Grows From The Concrete as well.

It’s this renaissance-type trait that is one of the reasons why we coined the term Hip-Pop. In fact, there are a lot of artists who dabble in other forms of artistic expression, apart from the ones they are famous for. 
Did you know Beyonce paints and writes poetry? And way before Charlie Sheen was winning with shows like Two and a Half Men, he published a book of poetry. 

From Rosie O’Donnell to Chris Brown, there a lot of celebs who have a renaissance fusion of talents, so check out these artistically versatile hip-pop celebs we love!

Beyonce has been doing a lot of writing lately, penning letters and poems to Michelle Obama, Jennifer Hudson and Frank Ocean. But aside from her poetry and prose, she’s also been doing a little painting. Beyonce took up the craft during the filming of Austin Powers, saying, “It takes me away, and it’s really peaceful. I want to maybe teach an art class. I want to do something that has to do with art.”

Johnny Depp also likes to spend his free time painting, telling Vanity Fair, “I started painting people I admire, like Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Nelson Algren, Marlon Brando, Patti Smith, my girl, my kids. I painted Hunter a couple of times. Keith Richards.”

James Franco does just about everything, so acting, poetry and painting would be no different. He has held a few art gallery shows and once said, “After school, I would go from about 4 to 10 every day at a local art league and take classes on drawing and landscaping.”

Chris Brown is considered one of the best in game with a pen when it comes to writing songs and poetry, but his other talent of art and painting speaks for itself. 

Swizz Beatz is another one who dabbles in the arts. Making beats in one thing, but his love for Basquiat and his eye for visuals crosses boundaries that have propelled him into being one of the most artistic people ever. 

Charlie Sheen is also rather talented with the pen. His poetry book released in 1990 called “A Piece of My Mind” was interesting, to say the least.

Rosie O’Donnell has always been outspoken, so you shouldn’t be surprised her poetry is as well. She writes “cagney and lacey showed up / they cuff the pimp / they free the girl”

Andre 3000 speaks poetry and crafted some of the best lyrical verses ever recorded on track, but lesser known is his artwork. Andre did the album cover for a few of the OutKast albums.

Big Boi once said, ”All our fans are always asking us about the dogs and paintings and everything else, it was like, ‘O.K., cool, just put it in there.”’