Dear Mama

"Dear Mama"
US cover
Single by 2Pac
from the album Me Against the World
B-side	"Old School"
Released	February 21, 1995
Recorded	July 14, 1994[1]
Studio	Echo Sound (North Hollywood, Los Angeles)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:39
Label	Interscope Jive
Songwriter(s)	Tupac Shakur
Producer(s)	Tony Pizarro
2Pac singles chronology
"Cradle to the Grave" (1994) "Dear Mama" (1995) "So Many Tears" (1995)
Music video
"Dear Mama" on YouTube

"Dear Mama" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). It was released on February 21, 1995, as the lead single from the album. The song is a tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur. In the song, Shakur details his childhood poverty and his mother's addiction to crack cocaine, but argues that his love and deep respect for his mother supersede bad memories. The song became his first top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nine. It also topped the Hot Rap Singles chart for five weeks.^[2] As of March 2021, the song is certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA.

"Dear Mama" has been consistently ranked among the best of its genre, appearing on numerous "greatest" lists. In 2009, the song was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it a work that is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States",^[3] making it the first hip hop recording by a soloist to be inducted.^[4] In a press release, the organization called the song "a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper's own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference."