Tupac Shakur, Bill Cosby, REM work called "Culturally Significant"

Years after his death, the sprint of Rapper Tupac Shakur continues to live with us via his music. A series of works so powerful that one of them, Dear Mama, was called "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress.

Tupac Shakur joins Bill Cosby, REM, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Mississippi John Hurt, Patti Smith, and others in the honor.

Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas in 1996 and during a feud with rival rappers that really should not have happened at all. Tupac Shakur was a major music figure in the San Francisco Bay Area, having moved here and to Marin City in 1988.

That Tupac Shakur's music has reached this lofty status should be a sign to urban economic development officials (if they're paying attention and most don't) that investing in the people who create music in a city can not only help them but give the city itself incredible visibility.

That's certainly true for cities like Oakland, California, which has a rich rap music culture, but this space knows that the Oakland Redevelopment Agency pays no attention to an industry, the music industry, in Oakland that many of its residents are already involved in, one way or another.

Tupac Shakur. Forever.