Almost exactly eleven years after its posthumous release,
legendary rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1998 hit
“Changes” has been selected by the Vatican as one of
the institution’s “12 Favorite Songs” as part
of a playlist for MySpace’s new streaming service MySpace
Music. The distinction is the first time the Catholic Church has
officially recognized the work of any popular American artist.
With it, the song joins the ranks of works such as “Don
Giovanni” by Mozart, the Vatican’s own
“Advocata Nostra,” featuring the voice of Pope
Benedict XVI, and “After The Rain,” by Dame Shirley
Bassey. “The genres are very different from each other, but
all these artists share the aim to reach the heart of good
minded
people,” the Vatican explained on its official MySpace
Music page. The playlist, compiled by Father Giulio Neroni, was
released Thursday, December 3 - and “Changes” has
received nearly five million plays since then. “This came
as such an amazing surprise - it’s not something I would
have ever thought possible,” says the late rapper’s
mother, Afeni Shakur. “I give thanks every day, knowing
Tupac’s words and music continue to have such an incredible
effect on people worldwide. My son was always striving to reach
out to as many people as he could, and he changed the world in
doing so.” ...... “It’s a testament to
Tupac’s genius that his music can have this kind of impact
more than ten years after the fact,” says
Interscope/Geffen/A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine. “This is
an unprecedented honor to his legacy, as well as for those who
had the privilege of working with him during his lifetime.”
Most of Shakur’s recordings are owned and controlled by
Afeni Shakur’s Amaru Entertainment and Interscope Records.
The Death Row albums “All Eyez On Me” and
“Makaveli - The Don Killuminati 7 Day Theory” are
owned by Death Row/Wide Awake Entertainment, but controlled by
Afeni Shakur and are exclusively administered worldwide by
ICG/Evergreen Copyrights. Both albums are distributed in North
America by E1
Entertainment.