"I Don't Give a Fuck" is a
protest song
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
...
by American rapper
2Pac
Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
and the fourth track of his debut studio album ''
2Pacalypse Now
''2Pacalypse Now'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper 2Pac. It was released on November 12, 1991, through TNT Recordings and Interscope Records, while EastWest Records America, a division of Atlantic distributed the album. The recor ...
'' (1991). The song, which features rapper Pogo, deals overtly with
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
and racism. In the song, he narrates how the black community in the United States face harassment by racists, including police.
Overview
In the intro, Tupac receives phone calls from one of his friends about the police beating them for no apparent reason and various crimes that are directed at them, after which he starts to rap. The theme of the song is strongly anti-racist and anti-police, and the lyrics tell about racism, such as store owners following him while he is just shopping, and
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
in the
ghetto
A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
.
This was one of the songs that a youth in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
blamed for his shooting of a state trooper, as in the outro of the song, Tupac questions the authority for not dealing with these issues and he curses out the
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...
, the
Marin County Sheriff Department,
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
, the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, and then president
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
in the spoken-word outro.
In popular culture
The song was featured as a track on the in-game radio station ''Radio Los Santos'' in the 2004 video game ''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''.
References
1991 songs
Tupac Shakur songs
Criticism of police brutality
Songs about police brutality
Songs about police officers
Songs about racism and xenophobia
Songs written by Tupac Shakur
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