Today, Notorious B.I.G. would have been 38 years old. I’ve seen many posts about the “tragedy” of his death, a friend of mine even stated that “only the good die young” in accordance with Biggie’s birthday.

This makes me contemplate our ideas of the term “tragedy” and our broader concept on untimely death.

If a soldier dies at war, is it really tragic? When we rush to defend our country (or our turf), arrive to a situation armed to the teeth, and then conduct ourselves in a war-like fashion isn’t the accepted end result the possibility that we may be killed?

For poeple like Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur, is it tragic that they surrounded themselves with armed men, carried arms themselves, openly spoke about their involvment with violent crime and the drug trade, and then were murdered for their troubles? I understand it’s sad when we lose someone we care about, whether it’s a soldier or an artist, but shouldn’t we contemplate what it means to label something tragic or say that “the good die young”?

I know a little girl who is severely bi-polar, has been sexually and physically abused, and who’s father was thrown from a bridge before she really got to know him. Is this tragic? Is it tragic that she’ll never get the same chances that many of us have had, relegating her to an uphill battle for the rest of her life? Is it tragic that, even in her miserable state, she still has infinitely more opportunity than a girl in the Amuria district of Uganda who struggles daily for sustenance and education?

I’ve never lost a friend or relative in battle and I don’t have many feelings about the murder of either of our generations “great” MCs, so maybe I’m way off base. However, I think these things are worth giving a second thought if you’re open to self examination.