| "Dear Mama" | |
|---|---|
 Single by 2Pac from the album Me Against the World' | |
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Released |
21 February 1995 |
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Recorded |
July 1994 |
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Genre |
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Length |
4:39 |
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Label |
Interscope |
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Writer |
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Producer |
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| 2Pac singles chronology | |
|---|---|
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Previous |
"Cradle to the Grave" (1994) |
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Next |
"So Many Tears" (1995) |
"Dear Mama" is a song by American rapper Tupac Shakur. It was released as a single in 1995 as the lead single from his third studio album Me Against the World. The song is a tribute to his mother Afeni Shakur, in which he details his childhood poverty and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine but argues that his love for his mother supersede bad memories. Produced by Tony Pizarro with co-production by Moses and DF Master Tee, the song incorporates samples from the songs "Sadie" by The Spinners and "In All My Wildest Dreams" by Joe Sample. "Dear Mama" topped the Billboard Hot Rap Singles for five weeks and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA in July 1995.
"Dear Mama" has been consistently ranked among the best of its genre, appearing on numerous "greatest" lists. In 2010, the song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress, who deemed it as a work that is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States". In a press release, the organisation called the song "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference".
| Tupac Shakur | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2Pacalypse Now • Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... • Me Against the World • All Eyez on Me • The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory |
| Posthumous albums | R U Still Down? (Remember Me) • Still I Rise • Until the End of Time • Better Dayz • Loyal to the Game • Pac's Life |
| Collaborative albums | Thug Life: Volume 1 |
| Live albums | 2Pac Live • Live at the House of Blues |
| Compilation albums | Greatest Hits • The Rose That Grew from Concrete • The Prophet: The Best of the Works • Nu-Mixx Klazzics • Tupac: Resurrection • The Rose, Vol. 2 • The Prophet Returns • Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 • Nu-Mixx Klazzics Vol. 2 • Best of 2Pac |
| Singles | "Trapped" • "Brenda's Got a Baby" • "If My Homie Calls" • "Holler If Ya Hear Me" • "I Get Around" • "Keep Ya Head Up" • "Papa'z Song" • "Dear Mama" • "So Many Tears" • "Temptations" • "California Love" • "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" • "How Do U Want It" • "All Bout U" • "I Ain't Mad at Cha" • "Life Goes On" • "Toss It Up" • "To Live & Die in L.A." • "Hail Mary" • "Wanted Dead or Alive" • "Made N*ggaz" |
| Posthumous singles | "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" • "Do for Love" • "Changes" • "Unconditional Love" • "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)" • "Who Do U Believe In" • "Until the End of Time" • "Letter 2 My Unborn" • "Thugz Mansion" • "Still Ballin'" • "Runnin' (Dying to Love)" • "One Day at a Time (Em's Version)" • "Thugs Get Lonely Too" • "Ghetto Gospel" • "Untouchable" • "Pac's Life" • "Playa Cardz Right" |
| Featured singles | "Call It What U Want" • "Gotta Get Mine" • "Slippin' Into Darkness" • "Be the Realist" • "Smile" • "World Don't Take Me Personally" |
| Other songs | "Same Song" • "I Don't Give a Fuck" • "Cradle to the Grave" • "Pour Out a Little Liquor" • "Runnin' (From tha Police)" • "Hit 'Em Up" |
| Books | The Rose That Grew from Concrete |
| Stage | Holler If Ya Hear Me |
| Documentaries | Biggie & Tupac • Tupac: Resurrection • Tupac: Assassination |
| Related articles | Death of Tupac Shakur • Digital Underground • Discography • East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry • Outlawz • Thug Life |