"Keep Ya Head Up"
Single by 2Pac featuring Dave Hollister
from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...
B-side"I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto", "Rebel of the Underground"
ReleasedOctober 28, 1993
Recorded1992[1]
GenreHip hop, R&B
Length4:23
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)Tupac Shakur
Producer(s)DJ Daryl
2Pac singles chronology
"I Get Around"
(1993)		 "Keep Ya Head Up"
(1993)		 "Papa'z Song"
(1994)
Audio sample
"Keep Ya Head Up"
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Music video
"Keep Ya Head Up" on YouTube

"Keep Ya Head Up" is a song by American rapper Tupac Shakur from his second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...(1993). It was released on October 28, 1993 as the album's third single.

Background

The song features R&B singer Dave Hollister and is dedicated to Shakur's godson Elijah, and Corin, daughter of Salt from Salt-N-Pepa[2] — the two had met through Treach of Naughty by Nature.[3] The song focuses on black womanhood.[2] Additionally, it makes reference to Latasha Harlins, who was shot by a Korean shopkeeper in 1991, increasing tensions between the Black and Korean communities of Los Angeles before the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[2] The music video for the song opens up with the words "Dedicated to the memory of Latasha Harlins, it's still on." Further, the song calls out Marvin Gaye, who "had [Shakur] feeling like black was the thing to be."

Production and release

The beat is sampled from Zapp's "Be Alright" and the chorus is taken from The Five Stairsteps' "O-o-h Child". It was first released in Shakur's 1993 album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. later appearing after his death in 1998 in his Greatest Hits compilation. A "sequel" to the song, "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)" was released on 2Pac's posthumous album Still I Rise in 1999. The song was featured in the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me.

Music video

The video has a basic format with Shakur rapping in the middle of a circle surrounded by a crowd of people and in some scenes he is seen holding a young child. His mother Afeni Shakur and close friend Jada Pinkett Smith made cameo appearances in the video.[4]

Critical reception

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Bruce Pollock United States The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000 2005 *
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Songs That Shaped Rock 2011 *

Alyssa Rosenberg of Brisbane Times felt the song "weaved together a critique of negligent fathers, an argument for abortion rights and a sharp analysis of misogyny."[5]

Track listing

CDS – maxi single

  1. "Keep Ya Head Up" (LP version)
  2. "Keep Ya Head Up" (Vibe Tribe remix)
  3. "Keep Ya Head Up" (Madukey remix)
  4. "Rebel of the Underground"
  5. "I Wonda If Heaven's Got a Ghetto"

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[12] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Credits

  • Engineer – Bob Tucker (tracks: A2, B2), Norman "Slam" Whitfield, Jr.* (tracks: A2, B2)
  • Engineer [Remix] – Eric Flickinger (tracks: B1), Franklin Purrell (tracks: B1)
  • Mixed By – D. Nettlesbey* (tracks: A2), Norman "Slam" Whitfield, Jr.* (tracks: A2)
  • Producer – D-Flow Production Squad, The* (tracks: B2), D.J. Daryl* (tracks: A1, B1)
  • Remix [Additional] – Norman "Slam" Whitfield, Jr.* (tracks: B2)

Remix,

  • Producer [Additional Production] – Bryant "Moe Doe" Johnson* (tracks: B1), Battlecat* (tracks: B2), Howard Johnson (2) (tracks: B2), Kris Kellow* (tracks: B2), Lea Reis (tracks: B1), Paul Arnold (tracks: B2), Vibe Tribe (10) (tracks: A2)
  • Vocals – Black Angel, The (tracks: A1, B1), Money B (2) (tracks: B2), Shockalock (tracks: B2)

References

  1. ↑ Sal Manna. "Official Biography". Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "The story behind Tupac Shakur's 'Keep Ya Head Up'". hiphophero.com. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. ↑ "2Pac, Salt's Daughter And The Story of Keep Ya Head Up". 2PacLegacy.net. 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  4. ↑ Pough, Gwendolyn D. (2015-12-01). Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere. Northeastern University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-55553-854-5.
  5. ↑ "5 songs politicians should listen to before they're allowed to talk about hip-hop". Brisbane Times. April 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  9. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 – 1994". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1994". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ "British single certifications – 2Pac – Keep Ya Head Up". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  12. ↑ "American single certifications – 2 Pac – Keep Ya Head Up". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
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