The Resurrection Mixtape

The Performance

Steve Hackman’s transformative exploration of life, death, legacy, struggle and triumph, The Resurrection Mixtape fuses the classic music of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur with Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. As Act One of the program begins, we hear the sublime music of Mahler’s ‘Urlicht’ (primal light), as the voices of Biggie and Tupac are heard through the loudspeakers, each rapper prophesying his own death. This hurls us into the fiery first movement funeral rites of the Mahler symphony, as Biggie and Tupac’s music are interpolated in thematically-linked pairs; they speak of the hard road they face in ‘Everyday Struggle’ and ‘Me Against the World’; of the ravaging of their communities in ‘Things Done Changed’ and ‘Ghetto Gospel’; of gangster life in ‘Notorious Thugs’ and ‘2 of Americaz Most Wanted’; and of letting loose in ‘Party and Bullsh*t’ and ‘Hellrazor’. As the first movement comes to a climax, we hear the two songs that iconify the East-West coast feud that many believe led to both rappers’ deaths, ‘Who Shot Ya’ and ‘Hit Em Up’.

In Act Two, the focus turns to social justice and transcendence. After the explosive opening of the Mahler fifth movement, the music slows to a complete halt. Over this stillness, we hear Tupac’s enduring and poignant lyric: “Here on Earth, tell me: what’s a Black life worth?”. We hear the painful pleas from both artists for equality and justice in songs like ‘I Wonder if Heaven Gotta Ghetto’ and ‘Changes’. As Mahler’s music whirls and rises to its triumphant climax, we are reminded of the powerful and profound legacy of these two artists, who, twenty-five years after their deaths, are as relevant and essential as ever.

Includes ‘Hypnotize’, ‘Ambitions as a Ridah’, ‘California Love’, ‘Juicy’, ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ and ‘Sky’s The Limit’.