Has Anything Changed Since Tupac's 'Changes'?

A look 15 years on at which - if any - of the rapper's wishes came true

In 2013, it will be 15 years since the late rapper Tupac Shakur scored a top three UK hit with his state of the nation single 'Changes'

(SEE VIDEO: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nay31hvEvrY)

It was a song that gave British pop fans an insight into life in urban America - as well as had the unfortunate side effect of making kids from the suburbs suddenly think they were gangstas.

But in the intervening decade and a half, which - if any - of Tupac's calls for change have actually been realised? Let's take a brief look.

In 2008, twelve years after his death, Tupac's dream of seeing an African American made President of the United States was realised in spectacular fashion with the election of Barack Obama, who stormed to the White House on the back of near-global excitement and good will. With slightly less fanfare but still by a convincing margin, he was reelected for a second term in 2012.

According to the US Department of Justice, in 1996, 41.1% of America's 1,640,000 prisoners were non-Hispanic black men. In the same report in 2012 the figure was put at 38% of 736,000 prisoners. So a decrease in overall numbers, but not a huge change in the proportion Tupac was talking about.

In 1996, conflicts broke out between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and Palestine, where violent riots took place throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Sadly, as recently as 2012 violence in the region broke out again, and the two sides seem no closer to finding a peaceful resolution.

The 'War On Drugs' conducted by the US government (and here in the UK) during Tupac's lifetime has remained their central policy on the matter ever since - despite increasingly vocal opponents who believe it is ineffective and a colossal waste of money.

However, in 2012 the Obama administration published an updated version of its Drug Policy that cited a possible “third way” approach, involving investment into research that sees drug use as a disease. So not a huge change from the world that inspired 'Changes', but a small one.

This is one area where life has changed dramatically since Tupac was alive and spitting. Today, almost everyone owns a mobile phone many time more sophisticated than the Nokia 9000 that was the most popular model in 1996. In 2013 the chances of anyone getting 'jealous' that you own a phone seems faintly ridiculous - unless it's a new iPhone, in which case the odd Apple geek might throw you a green glance or two.

Tupac's final prediction was a personal one - that he'd end up killed by someone he knew.

Tupac was murdered in 1996 on a Las Vegas street when a car pulled up beside him and someone opened fire. No one was ever convicted, but an article published in the LA Times in 2002 concluded that it was probably Orlando Anderson, a member of a rival gang called the Southside Crips who was later killed himself in an unrelated gang incident.

Whatever the exact truth, Tupac's premonition in the song's final refrain that he'd die as a result of his background with gangs proved sadly prophetic. On a wider note, gang violence remains a huge problem, not just in American society but in cities around the world.