2Pac — Me Against the World

On December 1, 1994, Tupac Amaru Shakur born Lesane Parish Crooks is sentenced to a prison sentence of 1,5 to 4,5 years for a crime he did not commit, framed by people who he believed to be his friends. This is just the latest of the many problems with the law that this young artist has had in recent years, and it's the toughest, because until then he had always gotten away with it somehow: in October 1991 he's brutally beaten by the Oakland police, the following year in Marin City a stray bullet from a pistol registered to him kills a child, then he beats another rapper with a baseball bat, beats director Allen Hughes who expels him from the cast of the movie "Menace 2 Society", and in October 1993 an argument with off-duty cops near Atlanta resulted in a shootout in which 2Pac shoots both of them, avoiding prison only after investigations revealed that the two officers were drunk and under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident.

In court in New York, he hears the jury's verdict sitting in a wheelchair: fearing repercussions from people who had attacked him the night before, he escaped from a hospital and was treated with the help of a private doctor at the home of his friend actress Jasmine Guy. The jury acquits him on most of the charges, including illegal possession of weapons, and convicts him for sexual assault. On top of that, among the boys who are accused of the same crime with him, Haitian Jack manages to get a separate prosecution and avoid incarceration, drawing 2Pac's suspicions about his role in orchestrating this prosecution, later revealed to be an invention made by a girl linked to Haitian Jack to frame the rapper and send him to prison. There's former drug dealer and club promoter Haitian Jack also behind the episode that ignites and unleashes the East Coast vs. West Coast rap war.

In the spring of 1993, 2Pac met The Notorious B.I.G. in California, the two quickly become friends and in the following months they record a few tracks together, including "Runnin' (from the Police)". On one of his many trips to New York, Shakur meets executive executive and drug trafficker Jimmy Henchman through Haitian Jack. The night before his sentencing, November 30, 2Pac is in New York to record verses for a Ron G mixtape, when he's invited by Henchman to record something for Little Shawn at Quad Studios in exchange for a generous fee. In order to settle some legal costs, the rapper reluctantly accepts and once he arrives in front of the elevator of the Studios together with other friends, he's robbed and beaten at gunpoint, he resisted and is shot. Shakur doesn't immediately understand who the instigator is and accuses of the assault his friend Stretch, who had arrived with him at the Quad Studios, Biggie and Puff Daddy, who were recording on the upper floors of the building, and Jimmy Henchman.

During the period between the end of the 1993/94 tour in Europe following the commercial and critical success of his second CD and the night of the shooting, 2Pac records material for his third studio album and in December 1994, he has enough tracks to complete the record in the weeks following his prison sentence.

1. "Intro"

The intro of his third LP opens with a skit that traces the news about his shooting and his legal victory against the Atlanta cops, on a beautiful instrumental by Tony Pizarro, in one of the rare tracks recorded in the period following hospitalization.

2. "If I Die 2Nite"

The first real track on the album is the immense "If I Die 2Nite", which is a great masterpiece: 2Pac delivers bars regarding his impending death in a paranoid cut that's a hymn to alliteration, reciting his lyrics with a spectacular, fluid, crisp and energetic flow. To complete this beautiful track there's the soundscape chosen by Easy Mo Bee, which is sensational: crunchy, dry and hard drum, sublime sample from Alicia Myers' "If You Play Your Cards Right", and on the iconic hook of the emcee, Easy Mo Bee adds a simple and brilliant loop from a Diana Ross medley.

3. "Me Against the World" (ft. Dramacydal & Puff Johnson, the latter uncredited)

That piece is followed by the title track, one of the best tracks ever, "Me Against the World". The production is provided by Danish duo Soulshock and Karlin who take short excerpts from Isaac Hayes' "Walk on By" and Minnie Riperton's "Inside My Love" to create a fantastic beat. Powerful bass, tight and lean midtempo drum, amazing synths, excellent samples, this brilliant boom bap rhythm launches the track. Hook of 2Pac claiming to be simply alone against the world with nothing to lose, while he sings alongside the vocals of Puff Johnson, then after letting the beat breathe, the rapper enters hardcore, crisp, clean, smooth and delivers one of his best, deepest, most thoughtful and most nihilistic songs he has ever recorded, with immaculate style on a heavenly production. Puff Johnson sings the hook in a fantastic way, then Dramacydal give a decisive rip to the song with their sixteen.

Yaki Kadafi enters with a different style, relaxed, quiet, he delivers as if he were recording a verse for the neighborhood kid's mixtape, he has an impressive confidence, while EDI Mean is almost the exact opposite. He enters hardcore, more energetic than Pac, quicker than the others, tense, very tense, almost as if he knew that any guest spot on any joint by this MC could easily have ended up on the album of the year (and "Me Against the World" isn't only there, but also gives the title to the album itself): he delivers desperate lyrics with an urgent and desperate flow, in which he's shouting for help claiming to be attracted more to the criminal life than to the prospect of a lawful job at the cost of dying or, if all goes well, of getting a life sentence, and also closes with an ironic "but oh well" note at the end. It's just great, but why isn't anyone talking about that?

The answer comes later, Tupac returns to obscure everything and everyone with his second and final verse. Yes, because the track could have ended here and it would be classic anyway: 2Pac and Puff Johnson sing the hook like we were really at the end. Instead he has foreseen a fourth verse, with which he kills the cut and gives one of the fundamental moments in the music of the nineties, delivering one of his best stanzas ever with an unrivaled flow on the wings of an extraordinary masterful production. The final hook anticipates an outro in which Shakur still has the strength to send out a couple of positive notes in what is one of the darkest songs in hip-hop's quintessential darkest year. Just Puff Johnson who closes by singing is worth the price of the whole album, she makes a performance on this track that is never praised enough.

4. "So Many Tears"

This is one of the artist's most touching songs and is considerably darker than the others, addressing the themes of his friends' death, loneliness, and depression. In the original version, Stretch is a guest of the song, then he's cut out following the shooting at the Quad Studios in which Tupac suspects his involvement. The rhythm created by Shock G is calm, almost mild and shy, but nevertheless excellent: flawless bass, simple drum and splendid melodic samples, in particular on the hook there's an excerpt from "That Girl" by Stevie Wonder. The rapper's style here becomes more melancholic and sadder, he delivers almost whispering and the hook, in which the boy is joined by Shock G, is as powerful as it's suffering.

5. "Temptations"

"Temptations" is a song that boasts a different mood than the other tracks on the disc, that hook inspired by a Redman song reflects almost positive vibes, and it's a track where the rapper addresses women on a vibrant Easy Mo Bee musical carpet that flicks Zapp's "Computer Love" beautifully. The drum is perfect, dry, hard, dusty and skeletal, 2Pac delivers in a velvety way and puts another fundamental brick in the construction of a classic album.

6. "Young Niggas"

It features a lively and outgoing production on this track by Tupac Shakur, which is aimed directly at the boys of the youth street gangs in order to convince them to give up a criminal life that would lead them to nothing more than a grave in a short time and to live their life peacefully and happily away from crime. The beat is the work of Le-morrious Tyler & Moe ZMD, who use a loop from Cameo's "She's Strange" and place a fat bass in the background, combined with a lean midtempo drum machine, on which the artist delivers in an urgent way.

7. "Heavy in the Game" (ft. Richie Rich)

Here the emcee returns to hustling alongside one of the few officially accredited guests on the record, Oakland rapper Richie Rich. It's an interesting joint, because most of the CD has a more East Coast oriented sound, while this is one of the first tracks to get a clearly West Coast rhythm. The beat is produced by Mobboss, the duo consisting of Sam Bostic & Mike Mosley, which brings some accessible g-funk synths into the album, along with a punchy bass, a tough midtempo drum and a good sample for the chorus.

8. "Lord Knows"

It's something sensational, almost tearful, beautiful. The soundscape is produced by Brian G, these are all boys I've never heard of, nor could you have heard, yet they have created some of the best beats of the season and overall, one of the best hip-hop albums ever. For this song there's a sample from a wonderful piano scale in "All I Ask" of The Blackbyrds, wailing synths, lively vibrating midtempo drum machine, fantastic bass. This is one of the best beats on the whole album and one of the coolest boom baps of 1995. 2Pac, cleverly, lets it breathe for half a minute, and he's right, it really deserves it. It follows a frightening, hardcore entry, forerunner to a superlative and dominant delivery of the artist, who recites one of his deepest lyrics concerning the main theme of this LP, the death, the death of his friends and the depression that continues to haunt him and from which he takes refuge by smoking weed and drinking. The soul hook is performed perfectly by Natasha Walker of Y?N-Vee.

9. "Dear Mama"

At the center of the album, based on an accelerated sample of Joe Sample's "All My Wildest Dreams", or rather, on his interpolation played live, is "Dear Mama". A deep, powerful, extraordinary bass and a dry and shiny midtempo drum form the artist's strongest and most personal ballad, institutionalizing the sentimental rap song for mom through a great anthem, painted in a slow, calm and thoughtful rapping style and illuminated by an iconic hook that interpolates The Spinners' "Sadie".

10. "It Ain't Easy"

The tenth track is "It Ain't Easy", 2Pac wonders if he'll be free or he'll end up in prison at the end of his trial — the process started during the recording of the disc — and explains how his life isn't easy, dwelling once again on grim and personal topics such as depression, paranoia, the disappearance of his friends, police brutality, life in the ghetto and drug dealing as the fastest, most profitable and unique way out of poverty. The beat is beautiful, there's a sublime sample straight from "Float On" of The Floaters, intertwined with wonderful synths along with a thin midtempo drum.

Tony Pizarro does something great throughout the whole record, he only has three tracks, the intro, "Dear Mama" and this track, yet it's quite incomprehensible how he often remains excluded from the speeches about the best hip-hop producers ever and the related lists of specialized magazines, this guy made history with three iconic beats and deserves a place there. His work is impressive. Tupac lets himself be enveloped by this "lulling" beat that gives ballad vibes, reciting his lyrics with a calm, regular and silky style, he creates the ninth gem out of nine, he doesn't miss a thing.

11. "Can U Get Away"

This track is often considered the weak point of the record and it's difficult to understand how it is. Here the artist dedicates a song to a girl who has an abusive relationship with her partner, you can easily read between the lines that it's strongly inspired by the relationship between Left Eye, a friend of 2Pac, and Andre Rison. Mike Mosley is credited behind the keyboards for this track: meager midtempo drum, fantastic glossy sample from "Happy Feelin's" by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, ballad vibes, excellent boom bap, slow and smooth delivery by Shakur, simple hook by Anya Pinto, uncredited, she's great.

12. "Old School"

It's a tribute to Tupac's youth, a tribute to his favorite artists, a hymn to New York. The Danish beatmaker Soulshock makes this soundscape, and it's the most New York beat on this album, which truly has a New York soul in its music. Soulshock chooses "We Share" by The Soul Seachers as a sample, brings out a powerful bass and a shiny, hard and skeletal midtempo drum: Brand Nubian hook, 2Pac's calm, velvety, serene delivery that for a moment, for at least five minutes, it seems to shake off all the problems that he has lived through up to now and that he has faced on this album, to light up yet another joint, sip some Tanqueray, and immerse himself in a bathtub of hot past that, for once, can't hurt him and instead relaxes him. The man is completely laid-back in this nostalgic cut, pays homage to all boroughs and all possible old school hip-hop artists, that flute loop is heavenly, there's no other way to put it, Soulshock is a genius.

13. "Fuck the World"

The next track is "Fuck the World", originally the title track for this LP: the media portrayed 2Pac in the worst possible way, feeding this portrayal to every controversy the artist became entangled in, and impoverishing his reputation. The young rapper decides to respond with four stanzas inviting the media to, to put it mildly, review their positions towards him. Shakur attacks the rhythm from the first moments with a hardcore style and carves out yet another immortal pearl of his best effort ever. Production is to be commended: Shock G realizes what sounds like one of the best Digital Underground beats ever, it's perfect, hard midtempo drum, powerful bass and lively funky sounds.

14. "Death Around the Corner"

This is considered a prophetic track, in the words of the same emcee, «this is not an album, it's a prophecy», as he predicts for various events, including his legal problems and, in the case of this track in particular, his premature violent death. Look where we come from. In order, Tupac paid homage to his mother ("Dear Mama"), feared for his freedom and reflected again on his personal problems ("It Ain't Easy"), virtually hugged a friend ("Can U Get Away"), happily rethought his childhood by paying homage to the greats of the past ("Old School") and sent the racist media to hell for describing him as a dangerous criminal ("Fuck the World"). Now, he returns intensely paranoid and reflects on his own eventual death, "seeing" it from the first to the last line.

Shakur delivers three stanzas in a quick, fluid, and urgent style on an Academy Award-winning worthily musical carpet provided by Johnny J: deep and vibrant bass, uptempo drum machine, sample from "Winter Sadness" by Kool & the Gang, and audio clips from the mafia films "The Untouchables" (De Palma, 1987) and "King of New York" (Ferrara, 1990) for the outro.

15. "Outlaw" (ft. Dramacydal)

"Outlaw" is the fifteenth and final song. Moe ZMD builds a wonderful beat, with sleek piano keys, synths keyboard, lean downtempo drum, and booming bass to support the 2Pac bars, in a thug track together with Dramacydal (Yaki Kadafi, Kastro, EDI Mean and Napoleon; this is the original lineup of the Outlawz group).

Final Thoughts

It's necessary to start from this precise point. This is the album of an artist who's aware that he's very close to death. There's a lot of darkness, gloom, nihilism, even in his moments of greatest carefree, as when he remembers his past, it's impossible to overlook the veil of sadness and the patina of melancholy that surrounds and envelops those moments. This is a final album, it's an artist's definitive record. It's an opera omnia. It's by far the best album of him and one of the best albums ever in all musical genres. From every point of view, it's a complete and crystalline record, energetic and powerful, magnificent. Tupac Shakur renounces the major arguments that have characterized his so far short but intense musical career, like political themes and gangster themes, to make room for an incredibly personal and overwhelming record, that comes directly from his soul and into which he pours all his emotions and his thoughts, his fears and his hopes, sadly stating several times throughout this disk that he sees no future in front of him.

"Me Against the World" fully legitimizes 2Pac as one of the best performers of his genre. In these sixty-six minutes he shows up at its peak and shines on a deeply somber and dark CD, shines everywhere without making any apparent effort, technically indisputable, with an impossible-to-hate rapping, a flow smoothness like velvet, great personality, an innate natural talent for standing in front of the microphone and for the art of reciting lyrics, and one of the best voices on the circuit. The production is created by ten different guys and is among the best of the nineties in a hip-hop album, extremely cohesive, inspired by East Coast sounds, flawless and immaculate: the rhythms are excellent, Tupac adapts to each beat and highlights its greatest strengths, inventing several spectacular and compelling songs, describing his narratives with skilful use of the elements of poetry and from a perspective that makes him fully deserve the nickname of «street poet», providing some of the best lyrics he has ever written.

Published by Interscope while the artist is in prison, the album is first on rap records and first on the Billboard 200 for a month in a row, no hip-hop album had made it in four years, other than being his first chart-topping LP. He's nominated for a Grammy for Best Album and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Dear Mama", losing both. The three singles extracts ("Dear Mama", "So Many Tears", "Temptations") get good sales success, nevertheless, critics don't welcome the album with the same enthusiasm and prove to be incredibly pretentious and squalidly snobbish. Only the holy retrospective puts this stellar project back where it belongs, in the firmament of hip-hop. 10/10.