2Pac — 2Pacalypse Now

After doing the roadie and the backup dancer in the group Digital Underground, Tupac Shakur made his debut with the group in "Same Song", track presents in the EP "This Is a EP Release" and in the soundtrack of the 1991 film "Nothing but Trouble", and in the same year he embarked on a brilliant solo career by releasing his first studio album. Thanks to the group manager and his performance in the song, 2Pac manages to sign a contract with Interscope Records. He carried out the entire project in the studios of Interscope, a Time / Warner branch, initially focusing on the party songs he had seen performing with the Digital Underground, before later turning to more political and social issues. The production is made by Digital Underground, which provides a simplistic funky sound: the music is simply decent and is the weak point of the whole project, stopping it almost in the bud without allowing it to become a political classic, the rhythms are minimal, skeletal, dirty and essentially functional to the MC lyrics, they force you to pay more attention to the 2Pac bars.

The excellent lyricism brought by the rapper in his tracks compensates for the musical flaws of his debut: he addresses topics such as injustice and corruption in society, struggles and problems of the life of the poor, racism, crime, drugs, violence, adolescent motherhood, the apparent invisible captivity of the ghetto and the corruption and brutality of the police, touching socio-conscious, Afrocentric and pro-black themes with an excellent narrative. He's clearly inspired by the major contemporary hip-hop acts, in particular by Chuck D, Ice Cube and also KRS-One, he delivers these solid songs with a rough, aggressive and raw rapping style, also managing to carve some classics at the expense of unfavorable production: 2Pac doesn't give up more carefree choices, but his record remains a heavy listening for being a 1991 hip-hop album, a powerful introduction to a great emerging talent in the rap game. It's one of the first political acts on the West Coast, hardcore and intelligent, solid, compact and angry, despite being an irregular effort, it starts the career of one of the most influential artists ever in the world of music. It also achieved moderate commercial success in 1992, reaching the margins of the top ten among hip-hop albums, obtaining the gold certification and a little attention at a national level when the album is denounced by the vice-president of United States Dan Quayle after a guy killed a policeman claiming to have been inspired by "Soulja's Story".

It isn't the forgotten classic that stans want you to believe, but it remains an unmissable listen.

Highlights: "Trapped", "Soulja's Story", "I Don't Give a Fuck", "Violent", "If My Homie Calls", "Brenda's Got a Baby". Produced by Big D and Underground Railroad, it presents the guest voice of the R&B singer Dave Hollister; classic cut par excellence and one of the most important songs of the nineties, all genres, is deservedly hailed as one of his best tracks ever.

Rating: 8/10.