Words for My Comrades
On sale
8th May 2025
Price: £25
‘Words for My Comrades ambitiously sets out to transcend the standard pop star biography, carefully knotting the evolution of hip-hop into a sweeping account of 20th-century radical US politics’ – Victoria Segal, THE TIMES
Before his murder at twenty-five, Tupac Shakur rose to staggering artistic heights as the pre-eminent storyteller of the 90s, building, in the process, one of the most iconic public personas of the last half century.
In this cultural history and brilliantly researched biography, Dean Van Nguyen reckons with Tupac’s coming of age, fame and influence and how the political machinations that shaped him as a boy have since buoyed his legacy as a revolutionary following the George Floyd uprising. Words for My Comrades crucially engages with the influence of Tupac’s mother, Afeni, whose role in the Black Panther Party, with its dedication to dismantling American imperialism and police brutality, informed Tupac’s art. Tupac’s childhood as a son of the Panthers, coupled with the influence of his militant stepfather Mutulu Shakur, became his own riveting code of ethics that helped listeners reckon with America’s inherent injustices.
Drawing upon conversations with the people who bore witness – from Panther veterans and other committed Marxist revolutionaries of 1970s America, to good friends and close collaborators of the rapper himself – Van Nguyen demonstrates how Tupac became one of the most enduring musical legends in hip-hop history and how intimately his name is threaded with the legacy of Black Panther politics. Words for My Comrades is the story of how the energy of the Black political movement was subsumed by culture and how America produced, in Tupac and Afeni, two of its most iconic, enduring revolutionaries.
Before his murder at twenty-five, Tupac Shakur rose to staggering artistic heights as the pre-eminent storyteller of the 90s, building, in the process, one of the most iconic public personas of the last half century.
In this cultural history and brilliantly researched biography, Dean Van Nguyen reckons with Tupac’s coming of age, fame and influence and how the political machinations that shaped him as a boy have since buoyed his legacy as a revolutionary following the George Floyd uprising. Words for My Comrades crucially engages with the influence of Tupac’s mother, Afeni, whose role in the Black Panther Party, with its dedication to dismantling American imperialism and police brutality, informed Tupac’s art. Tupac’s childhood as a son of the Panthers, coupled with the influence of his militant stepfather Mutulu Shakur, became his own riveting code of ethics that helped listeners reckon with America’s inherent injustices.
Drawing upon conversations with the people who bore witness – from Panther veterans and other committed Marxist revolutionaries of 1970s America, to good friends and close collaborators of the rapper himself – Van Nguyen demonstrates how Tupac became one of the most enduring musical legends in hip-hop history and how intimately his name is threaded with the legacy of Black Panther politics. Words for My Comrades is the story of how the energy of the Black political movement was subsumed by culture and how America produced, in Tupac and Afeni, two of its most iconic, enduring revolutionaries.
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Reviews
In a time in which having a rich relationship with the truth is especially vital, here comes Dean Van Nguyen. History is either a tool of the state or an outside screaming for freedom. Words for My Comrades is about freedom - it is freedom at work
In Words For My Comrades, Dean Van Nguyen deftly ties Tupac's brilliant career with his anti-capitalist upbringing. A richly researched biography that honours his subject's bold, deeply textured life and art
Moves confidently . . . Fresh interpretations of a foundational hip-hop narrative
Insightful . . . Van Nguyen contextualizes the hallowed lyrics of Shakur's music by contrasting a personal biography of the rapper with relevant history lessons on, among others, the Black Panthers and Malcolm X
Music journalist Dean Van Nguyen paints a comprehensive portrait of Tupac Shakur-not just as the legendary rapper, but also as an artist existentially shaped by radical politics . . . As this bold biography makes evident, Shakur's political conscience naturally informed the way he approached his art
This is a beautifully written, fascinating look at the legacy of an American legend through a different lens
The defiant stare, gangster caricature, and death at just twenty-five: all of it has been repackaged into a consumable legend, more often that not detached from the political environment that made him. Words for My Comrades is, at its core, a rejection of that hollowing out. It is Van Nguyen's attempt to return Tupac to the radical context from which he emerged ... These revealing excavations of Tupac's personal and political journey make his book as captivating as it is revealing
The book expertly tells the political story of Tupac's life and how the radicalisation he grew up in impacted his music and, by extension, the world. But more than that, it walks you through two generations of justice, hurt, love, pain, and trauma, by not only telling his story, but the story of his mother
Dean Van Nguyen's fascinating new book tells the story of a musical icon's political life . . . Insightful, readable and thoroughly well researched, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of politics and pop culture
[There is] much to admire about Van Nguyen's industrious, thought-provoking research, oral histories and thorough critical analysis of Shakur's significance . . . anyone (Shakur fans or not) interested in hip-hop history and Black radical political ideology will, with some justification, love it
Words for My Comrades is a searing, essential corrective to the myth-making machine . . . reminding us that behind every platinum plaque might be a Panther's ghost, still howling for justice
This smart and sharp political biography traces Tupac's activism and artistry, exploring how his radical legacy continues to resonate-especially after the George Floyd uprisings. A bold, insightful take that moves beyond the myth, this book celebrates Shakur as a voice for justice and change in America's racial and cultural landscape
Words for My Comrades is elegant, incisive, and deeply considered. With Tupac's political history as the focus, Dean Van Nguyen properly humanizes a man who reached mythical status long ago. An astounding achievement
Sets out to transcend the standard pop star biography, carefully knotting the evolution of hip-hop into a sweeping account of 20th-century radical US politics . . . With the old-school grit of a hard-boiled crime writer, Van Nguyen sketches out a story full of explosive characters and explosive violence . . . It's no failing of this learned, compassionate narrative that Shakur the man remains elusive