I think in this song Tupac addresses a number of people or entities whilst mostly reflecting on the past and finally resolving himself to “not being mad at” who these people/entities have become.

In the opening lines:

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“Change, shit I guess change is good for any of us Whatever it take for any of y’all niggas to get up out the hood Shit, I’m wit cha, I ain’t mad at cha Got nuttin but love for ya, do your thing boy”

“Change” is the major initial theme. The song is centered around change. In the 2nd line, getting out of the “hood” is seen as the goal or the struggle. “I’m wit cha, I ain’t mad at cha”. Tupac is a soldier in the same “struggle” as those he is addressing in this song…he’s basically saying “We’re all in this together and I have nothing but love for you”.

He then goes on and identifies who he is speaking to in this song:

“Yeah, all the homies that I ain’t talk to in a while I’ma send this one out for y’all, kna’ mean? Cause I ain’t mad at cha Heard y’all tearin’ up shit out there, kickin’ up dust Givin a motherfucker,”

He’s addressing his “homies” that he has lost touch/contact with over the years. He wants to let them know that he’s heard that they are out there “Kicking up dust and giving a motherfuck”…and he aint mad at that.

So now we know who he is addressing, what the major theme will be (how things have changed in their relationship and life in general), and how Tupac feels about all of it…namely that he loves his homies, they all came up together, they all struggled and lived and dreamed together, he loves them, and though they may have gone different paths with their lives…he still wants them to know that he loves them and he’s not mad at them.

The 1st entity/individual he addresses is his “little homie” in the 1st major piece of the song with the opening lines:

“Now we was once two niggas of the same kind”…and ending with “You tryin’ hard to maintain, then go head cuz I ain’t mad at cha”.

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This individual from his past was like a brother, they rolled together, they always had each other’s backs, they hustled together…but then this individual converted to Islam, went to jail, and re-emerged “a changed man”. He didn’t care about money, he didn’t want to chase girls, commit crime, or “sin”. When Tupac would call him up and tell him about his “big money scheme”…he wouldn’t be with it. So Tupac is “on the rise” in his celebrity, wealth, and “living on the edge” per se…and this friend from his past doesn’t see any of that or care for it. He sees Tupac’s life as a “struggle” or “trouble”. Well little homie…Tupac ain’t mad at cha for that!

He then goes on to address the 2nd person/entity from his past, a girl/woman, perhaps his “first love”.

“We used to be like distant cousins, fightin’, playin’ dozens…” and ending with “But you’re a down ass bitch, and I ain’t mad at cha”.

They used to sneak around, make out, “bump and grind” and were smitten with one another. But things changed, Tupac got involved in some crime, he felt his “fate had arrived” and he had to go out there in the world and “fight the fight”. He got locked up, and though they separated, she said that she would wait for him, and when he got out…as soon as the touched down…he called her up because she is and always will be a “down ass bitch” and Tupac ain’t mad cha either!

In the last major piece of the song, I actually think he is addressing himself while shifting from 2 alternate perspectives…1 being an outsider’s perspective which could be taken as the perspective of those very individuals that he is directly addressing in the song (his homies) and the 2nd being his own perspective of himself.

In the last piece he is addressing how HE himself has also changed.

In the first part, it’s as if his “homies” are talking to him now:

Well guess who’s movin up, this nigga’s ballin’ now Bitches be callin’ to get it, hookers keep fallin’ down He went from nothin’ to lots, ten carots to rock Went from a nobody nigga to the big, man on the block He’s Mister local celebrity, addicted to move a key Most hated by enemy, escape in the Luxury See, first you was our nigga but you made it, so the choice is made Now we gotta slay you why you faded, in the younger days

The 2nd last line there says a lot…they are saying Tupac YOU used to be our nigga…but you “made it”. Tupac “made it” and that has created a vast gulf between them now. They go on to say “So the choice is made”. Which means “it is what it is now” and now “We gotta slay you while you faded in the younger days”…which means to Tupac they are “slaying him” while he is in this “faded state of reflecting on the younger days”… before he “made it”. “Slay him” evokes the sense that he feels they are “slaying him”…whatever they are doing to him or perhaps the possible guilt or regret that he carries feels as if he is being slayed.

With the next lines:

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“So full of pain while the weapons blaze Gettin’ so high off that bomb hopin’ we make it, to the better days Cause crime pays, and in time, you’ll find a rhyme’ll blaze You’ll feel the fire from the niggas in my younger days”

He shifts perspectives. Now this is him talking, in response to what was previously addressed by his “homies”. Here he talks about the pains HE felt while the “weapons were blazing”. Because that’s how he “came up”, with weapons blazing…getting so high & hoping they would make it to the better days. And the reason why he says “hoping WE make it to the better days” is addressed in his next lines, “Cuz crime pays”…he sees what he does as “crime”…but in time he prophecizes that with the power of his pen game and “rhymes” that he will harness the “fire from the niggas in his younger days” and channel it through his rhymes. THAT is his response or promise to his homies who felt/feel that Tupac “making it” means that he has forgotten about them. He saying NO, in time, you will find a “rhyme I’ll blaze and you will feel the fire from the niggers in my younger days”.

“So many changed on me, so many tried to plot That I keep a glock beside my head, when will it stop?”

He is so many of his “homies” changed on him, they even tried to plot against him, so much so that he has to sleep with a glock beside his head…and he is questioning “when will it stop?”

He answers his own question “Til God return me to my essence”. His “return” to his essence basically means until he dies.

“Cause even as a adolescents, I refuse to be a convalescent”. If convalescent is actually the correct term, then this implies that he feels it has always been his fate/destiny to be who he is/became. The figure of Tupac, could be described as a rogue, renegade, outlaw, a revolutionary type figure…and he is acknowledging that basically…until I die, and even when I was a child, there has only been one path for me.

“So many questions, and they ask me if I’m still down I moved up out of the ghetto, so I ain’t real now? They got so much to say, but I’m just laughin’ at cha You niggas just don’t know, but I ain’t mad at cha “

He is basically saying

“With everything that has happened…they still ask if I’m still down? Just because I moved up out the ghetto all of a sudden I’m not REAL now? They have just so much to say…but they just don’t know…they don’t understand…but that’s alright…because Tupac is not mad cha!

So that’s basically it. I love the song, I think he really hits deep insights, it’s chock full of depth, meaning, and understanding about life/destiny/relationships/change. And this is how I’ve always interpreted the song, hope that helps.

R.I.P. Tupac Shakur

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