While Tupac Shakur is in prison, Interscope releases his third studio album, "Me Against the World", which turns out to be a great success. For critics it's just a good album like any other, will soon be considered one of the best hip-hop records in history. It's the best-selling rap CD of the year and the third best-selling rnb/hip-hop album of 1995, behind only Mary J. Blige's "My Life" and TLC's "CrazySexyCool". At the end of the year it's certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Shortly before, in February 1995, a song was released that was destined to rewrite the history of hip-hop: Puff Daddy and The Notorious B.I.G. release an alternative B-side to "Warning" for the single "Big Poppa" from Biggie's album "Ready to Die" (1994), and this song is "Who Shot Ya?". On a wonderful brilliant production by Hitmen Nashiem Myrick for which Puff Daddy (who coordinates all the production of the song since its birth and supervises it) are also credited and Poke of Trackmasters (in charge of strengthening and improving the drum), Biggie Smalls completes what was originally a Myrick instrumental for an interlude that Puffy had asked him to make to include on Mary J. Blige's "My Life" album, which at the end of 1995 will be the best-selling rnb album of the year.
At first, Biggie Smalls contributes to that interlude, however, due to his excessive lyrics which would lead to the parental advisory sticker, Puff Daddy decides to replace his verse with that of another rapper, calling Keith Murray to participate in Mary J. Blige's album. Although the piece was recorded and completed well before November 1994, period in which 2Pac suffers the infamous ambush in New York, in the studio lobby where Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy are also recording, “Who Shot Ya?” is released three months after the Quad Studios shooting, while 2Pac is in prison, and features controversial lyrics that seem aimed directly at him, although Shakur is never mentioned throughout the track.
A few months after the release of "Me Against the World", the artist is still in prison in New York State and gets married to his long-time girlfriend, divorcing after three months: through the woman, 2Pac gets in touch with Death Row Records owner Suge Knight, who meets the rapper in prison in early August. A few days later, the Source Awards arrive in New York, on one of the most infamous nights in hip-hop history. Unexpected events broadcast on national TV lead to an exponential growth in the rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast and a resulting negative popularity for rap.
During the evening, the East Coast is represented by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records and award-winning artist The Notorious B.I.G. — Best New Solo Artist, Best Lyricist, Album of the Year, Best Live Performer —, as well as Craig Mack who takes home single of the year with "Flava in Ya Ear" and the aforementioned Mary J. Blige, awarded R&B Artist of the Year. The West Coast is represented by Suge Knight's Death Row Records and artist 2Pac, not yet tied to Knight, and by Snoop Dogg (Best Artist) and Dr. Dre (Best Producer, Video of the Year with Ice Cube in "Natural Born Killaz"). Furthermore, Death Row wins the award for best soundtrack of the year with "Above the Rim". The other artists awarded are the Wu-Tang Clan (Best Group), Ice Cube (Acting Performance, Video of the Year with Dr. Dre), Mad Lion (Best Reggae/Hip-Hop Artist), Run-DMC (Pioneer Award), Eazy-E with a posthumous award and Atlanta's OutKast as Best New Group, greeted by boos from the audience who were in favor of the East Coast artists.
The evening runs smoothly for about an hour, until the OutKast awards ceremony and up to the one for the best soundtrack, won by Death Row with "Above the Rim". When Suge Knight begins his acceptance speech, he makes one of his most famous statements, throwing barbs at Puff Daddy, whom he accuses of being excessively present in the songs and videos of the artists of his label Bad Boy, encouraging any artist dissatisfied with this to move to his Death Row label, consequently antagonizing the public. Subsequently, the evening's presenter John Singleton tries to defuse the tension for the following awards ceremony, that of producer of the year, but without success, because the award went to Dr. Dre, soon joined by Snoop Dogg on stage, both received poorly by New York audiences.
The evening ends without further incidents, but it unleashes a series of events that will lead to increasing conflict until the death of its two most representative artists. At the evening's after party, Puff Daddy asks Suge Knight for explanations, the Death Row owner reiterates that he wasn't referring to Puffy, but to Jermaine Dupri. Nonetheless, during his time in New York, Suge Knight visits Uptown Records studios, where Puff Daddy had started his career in the industry a few years earlier, and manages to steal Jodeci, DeVante Swing and Mary J. Blige from the label, convincing everyone to sign with his management company. A month after the Source Awards, Suge Knight and Puff Daddy meet again at Jermaine Dupri's birthday party in Atlanta: on this occasion, Knight slaps Puffy and later, Suge Knight's bodyguard Jai Hassan-Jamal Robles dies in a shootout in a case that remains officially unsolved. Knight blames Puff Daddy for the murder and the relationship sours further.
2Pac is still in prison even in September 1995, in this period of time he dedicated himself to reading, becoming passionate about various Renaissance authors, in particular Niccolò Machiavelli, from which he took his future moniker Makaveli and which inspired him to write the screenplay for a film that was never made. The following October, Suge Knight returns to prison to visit 2Pac and the two agree to pay the $1.4 million bail in exchange for the rapper's contract with Knight's Death Row Records for three albums. Tupac Shakur released his only three solo studio albums in the span of four years, so the owner of Death Row Records plans to keep the rapper for many years to come as one of the jewels of its label. Instead, the Oakland-raised MC thinks he can get out of his contract after a few days.
Released from prison, 2Pac flies with Suge to Los Angeles, joins Death Row Records and begins recording music in order to get out of Suge's contract as quickly as possible. By the end of the next two weeks, the boy had recorded so many songs that he could release ten albums (the labels would release most of these CDs after the rapper's death). The sessions go on at a hellish pace, Tupac gives a huge and unrepeatable opportunity to anyone around him to finish (with a bit of luck, even a couple of times) in one of the most successful records of the nineties, in exchange he imposes a time limit on his writing process and to that of his collaborators, in particular his group Outlawz, in such a way that when he decides to record the track the guests are not ready, they remain outside of the song. If they are ready, they enter the cabin and don't kill it, they are cut anyway. For these reasons, the entire double LP is recorded in one take without any possibility of correcting or adjusting the verses, not by the guests, at least, barring exceptions.
The artist changes his lyrics and moves in a more gangsta direction than in the past, abandoning political themes and building party, sexual, criminal and aggressive tracks. Putting together the best, it's decided that Tupac Shakur's new project will be the first double album in the history of hip-hop — excluding Esham's "Judgement Day", released in 1992 — and therefore coincides with two of the three albums included in the rapper's contract with Death Row Records. Four singles were released ("California Love", "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", "How Do U Want It", "I Ain't Mad at Cha") and the album is scheduled to be released Christmas 1995, however, 2Pac continues to shoot music videos for his tracks and the release is pushed back to mid-February 1996. 27 similar frayed tracks emerge and put together without a precise order and without a concept, for a total of over 136 minutes of material. There's no time to rearrange the tracklist, check the lyrics, cut similar tracks, nor to correct the titles or to find a cover that isn't incredibly ambiguous like this one.
The guests include Death Row roster members Jewell, Michel'le, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Dr. Dre, CPO and Danny Boy, 2Pac's newborn group Outlawz Immortalz aka Outlawz, Dramacydal (a group already close to 2Pac who also participated in the previous album, now included in the Outlawz), Dru Down, Rappin' 4-Tay, Richie Rich, B-Legit, C-Bo, D-Shot, E-40, Redman, Method Man, Roger Troutman, George Clinton, K-Ci & JoJo. Several singers are uncredited such as Nanci Fletcher, Stacey Smallie, Barbara Wilson, Danette Williams and Natasha Walker.
The group Outlawz makes its debut on this album and is made up of ten members, who take different monikers inspired by the Wu-Tang Clan's Wu-Gambinos alternate personas: as well as 2Pac himself aka Makaveli, there are also Bruce Edward "Hussein Fatal" Washington Jr. & Yafeu "Yaki Kadafi" Akiyele Fula as Fatal-N-Felony, some members of 2Pac's previous group Thug Life who are brought into the new group such as Tyruss "Big Syke" Himes aka Mussolini and Maurice "Mopreme" Harding aka Komani, and members of the group Dramacydal, an act previously linked to 2Pac and composed of the trio Malcolm "Big Malc" Greenidge aka E.D.I. Mean, Katari "K-Dog'" Cox aka Kastro and Mutah "Lil Mu'" Beale aka Lil Mutah aka Napoleon, as well as Donna "Storm" Harkness and the tenth member of the group Rufus "Young Noble" Cooper III, friend of Yaki Kadafi who doesn't participate in this album and took part in the Outlawz on Shakur's next album. The members of the group take their monikers from some of history's greatest leaders, Sadam Hussein, Gaddafi, Mussolini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Fidel Castro and Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite the creation of the new group, Dramacydal are also credited as guests and some of the Outlawz members are credited as solo guests including Hussein Fatal, Yaki Kadafi, Big Syke aka Syke, Napoleon aka Mutah and Storm.
Production is primarily handled by Johnny "J" and Daz Dillinger. Other beats are credited to Dr. Dre, 2Pac, DeVante Swing, DJ Quik (who due to his contract with Profile Records cannot use his stage name and is credited with his biographical name), Doug Rasheed, Harold Scrap Freddie, Mike Mosley, Rick Rock, Bobby "Bobcat" Ervin, DJ Pooh and QDIII. DJ Quik handles mixing for much of the project.
Book 1
1. "Ambitionz Az a Ridah"
Suge Knight sets 2Pac back on the loose and one of the first things he does is take him straight to the studio to have him record something. Pac has embraced a grittier thug persona than he's ever done before. He brings his new character from the first song, where he introduces this persona. "Ridah" synonymous with gangster, is someone who is ready for anything. This is believed to be the first song created after the artist was released from prison along with "I Ain't Mad at Cha". This is the first Death Row Records CD not to have an intro, if we don't take into consideration the numerous soundtracks released by the label.
2Pac's entrance is spoken sing-along with no beat, then the beat comes in, dissonant piano keys, 2pac keeps crooning/talking in the hook, then a soulful female voice arrives, a sparse line of synths arrives, sparse and metallic drum, mobb vibes. Slow delivery, 2pac sing-along rapping on a production that doesn't exactly sound solid, it's light-hearted, frayed, it seems like it needs to be put together like a puzzle, but somehow it works, great credit to Shakur who, with his flow, manages to glue together the elements that make up this messy production by Daz Dillinger.
Mike Tyson used this track as his entrance song for his boxing matches. This fact is also honored and parodied in The Simpsons, where the local Tyson-inspired boxer, Drederick Tatum (in an episode where, coincidentally, Tatum had also just been released from prison after having pushed his mother down the stairs), enters the ring with Redman's (guest on this album) track, "Time 4 Sum Aksion".
2. "All About U" (ft. Dru Down, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Yaki Kadafi & Hussein Fatal, the last two uncredited)
Fantastic production by Johnny "J" and 2pac, the boys take Cameo's "Candy" for the beat, creating one of the few cheerful and carefree rhythms on the album. The lyrics focus on the groupies and gold-diggaz that surround hip-hop artists, in one of the funniest songs with 2Pac. The theme comes from Nate, Snoop and 2Pac talking about girls while filming their music video. Dru Down recites the intro together with 2pac with whom he exchanges a few lines. Beautiful g-funk beat with great synths, hard dry drum, crisp bass, dope rapping by 2Pac, fresh chorus by Nate. Makaveli returns for the second verse with one of his best flows, wonderful on a slick production. Hussein Fatal and Yaki Kadafi of Outlawz, both officially uncredited, exchange short verses, they both get hardcore and deliver with a regular style, they don't seem to feel the pressure of being on the album of one of the best of all time and it's one of his best records. Snoop totally relaxed after second hook, he comes in almost as if he were still sleeping or he had just woken up, he goes into spoken word to deliver his contribution, which coincides with the outro of the piece.
There's a video for the song even though it's not released as a single. There's also an alternative version of the tune created specifically for the music video: this version, titled "All Bout U" for whatever reason, features a third verse by 2Pac, a Snoop Dogg verse replaces his outro and no contributions from his friends Outlawz (or Outlawz Immortalz). The song ends up on 2Pac's posthumously released "Greatest Hits", however, due to Snoop Dogg's departure from Suge Knight's Death Row and the subsequent conflict between the two, Suge decides to replace Snoop with another rapper, launching the career of unknown Compton emcee Top Dogg, which imitates the style of the most famous Dogg in this version alongside 2Pac.
3. "Skandalouz" (ft. Nate Dogg)
Beautiful production by Daz Dillinger for this cut for women, the second in a row in the first three songs of Pac's new album. Beat g-funk with great synths, hard dry drum, vibrating bass held in the background, great live instrumentation to support 2pac's smooth slow rapping; Nate Dogg delivers another simple chorus that works wonderfully.
4. "Got My Mind Made Up" (ft. Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Method Man & Redman)
Method Man (and Redman) are in California and are welcomed to Daz's house, where everyone spit bars on this production, even The Lady of Rage and Inspectah Deck (maybe even RBX), but not 2Pac, who is still in prison. The piece was originally intended for Dogg Pound's debut album, nevertheless, Tupac asks for the song to be included in his new project and gets it, recording his verse and cutting those from The Lady of Rage and Rebel INS.
Daz Dillinger places a dry, hard drum that resembles an East Coast drum, then Daz himself opens with a regular, flowing style, clean on a production that remains West Coast, with a spectacular synth that falls when 2Pac touches the mic. Piano keys hovering over the beat, great bass, sensational rhythm; Shakur soars across this soundscape. Method Man from the Wu-Tang Clan for the spoken word chorus, Kurupt performs the third verse with a smoothness, dirty, fantastic flow, humiliating everyone surprisingly, Pac included, and completes Dogg Pound duo on this track. Method Man delivers the fourth verse, fluid, good flow, spectacular, even though it seems like he's not putting effort into this track, reciting a text that is censored even in the explicit version. With this guest spot, Johnny Blaze becomes the only artist in history to guest on both a Biggie Smalls album and a 2Pac album. Redman closes after Meth, with a good velvet, liquid, energetic flow. On the sixth verse there would also be Inspectah Deck by Wu-Tang Clan, but his verse is cut and the result is a sort of curious outro with just a few bars. The track therefore has two groups, Dogg Pound and the future duo Meth & Red who will publish their first collaborative LP a few years later.
5. "How Do U Want It" (ft. K-Ci & JoJo)
Another sexual choice in which Pac drops light-hearted party verses without giving up socio-political stings. Opening soul rnb chorus by K-Ci and JoJo, good funky beat, with a dry hard drum and relaxed g-funk synths mobb vibes, good solid and sunny rhythm by Johnny "J", ideal sound carpet for the regular execution of 2Pac. It's chosen as the third single of the double album, reaching the top of the Hot 100.
6. "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" (ft. Snoop Dogg)
Suge Knight strongly insists on having a collaborative track between 2Pac and Snoop Dogg, the two biggest names on Death Row at the time, and still today two of the biggest names ever in hip-hop. Snoop was sent to prison and acquitted of murder charges against him in February 1996, while Shakur had been released by Suge a few months earlier, in October 1995. An obligatory, I would say forced, connection emerges between the two, even if you wouldn't know it from the final result: the Long Beach emcee is the only one who doesn't respect the one take rule and is allowed to return to the studio a second time to complete his contribution on different days, something that 2Pac didn't grant to any of his other guests on this album.
Dark and minimal production by Daz, thundering bass in the background, dark piano keys, dark vibes, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg go back and forth with short verses and great flows, even the boy from Long Beach is trying harder than usual here, 2Pac flies on this spooky production from Daz. While Snoop delivers his signature style effortlessly loose and fluid, Shakur delivers bars with a sharp, hardcore, forced style. The song becomes the second single of the album and does well in the charts.
7. "No More Pain"
After twenty minutes, Shakur returns solo and remains without guests for a dozen minutes. The production of Devanté aka DeVante Swing of Jodeci isn't at the level of the previous ones, but it's still not bad. There's some good dark sound from a keyboard to aid 2Pac's hauntingly devastating rap, the rhythm is minimal, clayey, has dance vibes, there's a functional hook in which 2Pac pays homage to Method Man's "Bring the Pain" (he and RZA are credited as co-writers of the song) in this festive track.
8. "Heartz of Men"
Crazy production, sick trumpet, dark and deadly obscure choirs in the background, like a cemetery, while 2Pac delivers bars with a slow, confident, sharp, silky style, supported by a strong drum and piano keys as light as feathers, graceful, more dissonant piano keys, thumping bass in the background. DJ Quik created a masterpiece with this g-funk beat, which recalls his best productions for his solo album released the year before. The producer also inserts sketch samples from Richard Pryor's comedy albums, replacing them with the song's natural hook. Enthralling, gritty, angry rhythm, which combines with Pac's aggressive and powerful rapping. Iconic bridge. The album maintains an incredible quality after this amount of tracks, unreal. At the end of the track the rhythm breathes for half a minute, deservedly so.
9. "Life Goes On" (ft. Stacey Smallie & Nanci Fletcher, both uncredited)
Fantastic track. Dreamy female choir in the background, heavenly rhythm by Johnny "J". Slow, smoothness, great delivery from 2Pac inventing yet another classic from an artistic career far beyond the ordinary. Johnny J here creates a sensational beat for this enveloping 2Pac ballad in one of the few solo songs on his double CD. Song that pays homage to the rapper's deceased friends and reflects on his own life and potential death, themes already addressed by Pac in the past, especially in his previous album "Me Against the World".
10. "Only God Can Judge Me" (ft. Rappin’ 4-Tay)
Solid production also for the tenth track, beat beautifully executed by Doug Rashead: tough hard drum, thundering bass, good samples, sick and shrill but somehow melodic g-funk synths. 2Pac goes all out on this production. Shortly after the hook there's the sound of hospital machinery jumping from ear to ear, while 2Pac delivers the second verse with one of his best flows ever, silky, clean, crisp, unstoppable. Crazy album. Obviously the cut will go down in the story much more than was foreseeable: together with the guest, Shakur thinks back to the aftermath of the 1994 shooting at Quad Studios in New York and describes his own state of mind, with a lyricism defined as introspective, rigid, direct, paranoid, angry, also confused, son of the tracks released on his previous LP. Short bridge in spoken word, then the album welcomes a guest again after a dozen minutes, Rappin' 4-Tay arrives, the last one was Snoop Dogg. The boy presents himself with a slow, sing-song style that adapts very well to the rhythm, nice contribution, he's a funny guy, he was right for the track, even if his contribution has nothing to do with what the landlord is saying, it's way off topic. 2Pac goes back for the chorus and completes the track.
11. "Tradin’ War Stories" (ft. Dramacydal, C-Bo & Storm)
Pac comes to this track after playing the entire album at Death Row studios, so he goes back to record a new track (this one) with everyone in the studio, despite there being no producers ready, except Rick Rock and Mike Mosley. While the boys wait for the arrival of a producer and some recording material, Rick Rock puts on one of his beats from his MP-1200 and that's the one chosen for this track. Golden showcase for 2Pac homies, this is a dramatic gangsta cut in which the performers discuss near-death situations on the streets, claiming to be alone, abandoned by the state and their relatives. Also, this is one of the first songs where Tupac refers to himself as Makaveli.
Sensational intro, truncated sample by the producers Rick Rock and Mike Mosley of Mobboss, which combines a fresh, young and sparkling drum with a loop of dark and melancholic strings, excellent bass. A melancholy beat arises to support 2Pac's dark, crisp, velvet flow. The guests' verses follow, which are not at Pac's level, but who is in 1996? Kastro flies on this fabulous production, hardcore, energetic, in a crazy cut. EDI Mean picks up the mic and continues hardcore, energetic, fluid, smooth, excellent flow. C-Bo recites the fourth verse with a confident, regular, crisp, clean, inspired rapping style, certainly at his career best, he knows he can shine here. Napoleon is hardcore and clear in his execution, lucid, impeccable. The rapper Storm closes the cut on the sixth verse with a slow and melodic rapping style. Endless hook from Pac, which he ends with an outro.
12. "California Love (Remix)" (ft. Dr. Dre & Roger Trautman)
The song is a hymn to California and the Golden State lifestyle, there are two different versions with two different music videos: this is the second version, the first is included in Tupac's "Greatest Hits" compilation. The first version has a sample of Joe Cocker's "Woman to Woman", this sampled Kleer's "Intimate Connection". The video of the first version, which pays homage to "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" and is directed by Hype Williams based on an idea by Jada Pinkett Smith, it's considered one of the ten best videos of all time by MTV. The second music video continues that of the first, and is made to celebrate Shakur's arrival on Death Row.
Roger Trautman introduces the piece by saying the title, then he delivers that sick hook over an even sicker bass, sparse midtempo drum, bells and tambourine rattles. Dre delivers the first verse in a slow, hardcore, incessant style. Trautman hook with the talk box with sample from "Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson & The Street People, another Trautman hook in which he interpolates himself into the Zapp single "Dance Floor". Shakur comes in hardcore and eats the cut. The piece would have ended at 3 minutes, but goes on until 6. Two hooks performed by Trautman, outro by Dre and Pac, in which they pay homage to the State, Snoop's native Long Beach, Pac's native Oakland (he grew up there as a teenager) and the other major cities of the Golden State, another Trautman outro that pays homage to other cities. Barbara Wilson, Nanci Fletcher and Danette Williams sing in the background and are uncredited.
The song originally features three verses by Dr. Dre with a hook sung by Roger Troutman and is intended to be a single for Dre's album "The Chronic 2: Poppa's Got a Brand New Funk". The album never came out. When Death Row welcomes 2Pac to their roster, Suge chooses to feature the artist on two tracks produced by Dr. Dre, including the original version of California Love, for this reason the track is marked as a remix. It's probably 2Pac's most famous song, first track published after his release from prison.
13. "I Ain't Mad at Cha" (ft. Danny Boy)
Intro in spoken word by 2Pac, on some piano keys. Then comes Daz Dillinger's resounding beat: twangy bass, sparse midtempo drum, sample from DeBarge's "A Dream" (also sampled by Backstreet Boys and by the Children of the Corn on one of Big L's group's most famous performances, "American Dream", both songs released in the same year; McGruff went strong there, props to him), eclectic piano in the background which makes the mood of the track more relaxed and laid-back in this sort of ballad. Hook of Pac and singer Danny Boy. Spectacular delivery from Shakur, slow, smoothness, calculated, thoughtful, dope. Danny Boy rnb chorus. Two more verses from Pac to complete a classic cut, an absolute masterpiece in his catalogue. The song has an official video, released after the artist's death, and shows Pac being killed.
14. "What'z Ya Phone #" (ft. Danny Boy)
This is probably the only bad beat on the 27-track album. Johnny "J" is wrong here. 2Pac is also credited in production, the beat is bad, messy, chaotic, terrible. If it wasn't already an easy weak point of the double disc, Shakur adds a useless sexual skit that goes on too long. Bad ending for the first CD.
Book 2
15. "Can't C Me" (ft. George Clinton & Nanci Fletcher, the latter uncredited)
Dr. Dre opens the second CD of 2Pac's double album with strong, warm funk production. Thundering bass, melodic g-funk synths, tough drums, good sample, 2Pac's hardcore, confident, careful rapping. Amazing beat by Dre. Excellent hook by George Clinton, who originally contributed to a song by Dre and Snoop Dogg (Dre and Ice Cube or Dre and Tha Dogg Pound according to other sources). Suge decides to give the cut to Makaveli, who adds his verses and brings him to the record, creating an aggressive gangsta cut.
16. "Shorty Wanna Be a Thug"
Splendid funky beat made by Johnny "J" with a sick jazz sample (from Hank Crawford's "Wildflower"), great bass, heavy midtempo drum, sick loop of piano keys in the background. Slow, thoughtful, careful delivery by 2Pac, reciting bars about street life and the dangers of that life in what is a rare socio-conscious cut on his double LP. G-funk synths that randomly fall into the middle of the tune and work, remaining in the track and never leaving along with that jazz sample, great job by the guy behind the keyboards.
17. "Holla at Me" (ft. Nanci Fletcher, uncredited)
Nanci Fletcher (Jewell, according to other sources) sings the hook introducing the piece, solid funk production by Bobcat (Pac's friend), good bass, poor drums, mild loop, interesting backdrop for 2Pac's fast hardcore rapping, unstoppable on this cut, he destroys the beat, crazy. This is one of the rapper's most personal choices in these two hours. The first verse seems to be addressed to his former friend Stretch, the second is directed to the other ex-friend Biggie, the third instead is directed at the woman who accused him of the violence in 1994.
18. "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch" (ft. Jewell, uncredited)
When Tupac Shakur is released, for some reason Faith Evans becomes the biggest groupie of the rapper around the same time she's still the wife of Pac's rival The Notorious B.I.G. Originally, the song is made together with the girl, but Bad Boy Records doesn't give permission for the release of the track and Faith is replaced by Jewell. Robust funky production by Johnny "J", crisp bass in the background, tough hard drum, curious loop, background chorus and hook by Jewell, uncredited. The hook is performed alongside 2Pac. Hardcore verses from Shakur who kills the cut.
19. "When We Ride" (ft. Outlaw Immortalz)
Dark and graceful production by DJ Pooh, wonderful work. Thundering bass in the background, sparse and melodic g-funk synths, dry piano keys, hard midtempo drum, great rhythm. 2Pac's hardcore delivery, the guests are a little lighter and ruin the mood of the album with an amateur and weak rapping style, even the female choir in the background somehow manages to play "over" the rap of these guys, partially obscuring them, I don't know how that's possible. Only Pac manages to deliver worthily over some wonderful light production from DJ Pooh. Inside the complete Outlawz, in order Hussein Fatal, Kastro, Napoleon, Mussolini, EDI Mean, Yaki Kadafi and Mo Khomeini. There's a Pac hook between Napoleon and Mussolini's verses and one at the end of the track before his outro. Discreet posse, not excellent.
20. "Thug Passion" (ft. Jewell, Dramacydal & Storm)
Probably one of the best productions on the album. Johnny "J" surpasses himself and invents a classical, cold, glacial, very clean, beautiful instrumental. It sounds like a beat for an early eighties disco hit. 2Pac dedicates the song to an alcoholic drink he invented, Alizé mixed with Cristal. Inside Jewell certifies the status of the song with a spectacular sung chorus, 2Pac could send this song into the genre firmament, instead he decides that this song must be a posse track with friends and adds Dramacydal and Storm. These guys are doing absolutely nothing to increase the already very high level of the song, and indeed, they hold back its potential and that's a shame.
Storm is also among them, her delivery is fine, but her rapping style clashes with the vibes of the rhythm. It could also have been one of the best songs of Pac's career, who comes in after three minutes and kills the piece with a paranoid rap, it's a shame there are other guys who lower the level of the track both from a lyrical point of view, with frayed lyrics, both from the point of view of rapping, with effortlessly poor lackluster flows that are unfortunately not exciting. A version with just Jewell as guest would have been a perfect cut on a heavenly production.
21. "Picture Me Rollin'" (ft. Danny Boy, CPO & Big Syke)
Johnny "J" also produces this track and comes up with one of the coolest beats on the record. Fantastic bass in the background, snappy, lively, youthful, dry, hard drums, excellent guitar licks, 2Pac soars on this production delivering gangsta lyrics with some of his best flows. As in other choices, he decides that there must be some friendly guest to extend the track even when it's not necessary. Inside CPO (Death Row rapper) and Big Syke, as well as Danny Boy who sings the hook well. Shakur returns for the outro where he mocks the corrupt cops and the district attorney who put him in prison. This is one of the best tracks from the second disc of this double LP.
22. "Check Out Time" (ft. Kurupt, Big Syke & Natasha Walker, the latter uncredited)
Johnny "J" seems to no longer want to make mistakes even as a joke on this album, after that crappy production for the final track on the first CD. Thundering bass in the background, dry, shiny, cleaned drums, keyboards, good synths, hardcore delivery of 2Pac who eat the track, also includes the underrated Kurupt, probably one of the best ever on the West Coast, it also kills the cut with an excellent smoothness, fluid, silky flow, Big Syke is also inside to complete the sexual choice with his raw, rough voice. Beautiful hook by Natasha Walker, uncredited.
23. "Ratha Be Ya N.I.G.G.A." (ft. Richie Rich & Stacey Smallie, the latter uncredited)
Fabulous dreamy production by Doug Rasheed, great beat. Tight bass, sparse dry downtempo drums, good melodic samples with a extract from Bootsy Collins' "I'd Rather Be With You", slow confident delivery thought by Makaveli together with Richie Rich, already guest on Shakur's previous album, who here assists him on a melancholic, sad, extraordinary rhythm by Rasheed, sensational work for this latest sexual song. Excellent hook from an uncredited girl (Stacey Smallie, possibly), forgettable lyrics from the performers.
24. "All Eyez on Me" (ft. Big Syke)
Johnny "J" behind the keyboards. Another immortal classic in 2Pac's discography, repeating the title for the hook. Phenomenal bass, relentless heavy dry drum, excellent sample, the same as Nas' "Street Dreams". Tupac starts his verse and never stops with an unstoppable flow, one of his finest ever. Amazing. Big Syke soars in the second verse, he's at his best ever, does a nice job of keeping pace with Pac, who comes back in the third verse and destroys the song.
25. "Run tha Streetz" (ft. Michel'le, Napoleon & Storm)
Robust funky production by Johnny "J", thundering bass, hard dry drums heavy downtempo, g-funk synths, good melodic samples, rnb hook by Michel'le, already linked to Dre and Death Row, Suge's future wife. 2Pac drops hardcore, slow, silky, good flow, together with him in this umpteenth unnecessary sexual choice, there are still the guys from Dramacydal such as Mutah aka Napoleon and Storm: both dropped bars with a slow style and somewhat amateurish flow, it's the rhythm that carries the piece forward.
26. "Ain't Hard 2 Find" (ft. E-40, B-Legit, D-Shot, C-Bo & Richie Rich)
Many wonder what E-40 and his group The Click have to do with this album: 2Pac reciprocates a tribute that the Vallejo rapper had paid him a few months earlier, when E-40 shot a music video wearing a "Free 2Pac" shirt for a song on his 1995 album "In a Major Way". So, once free, Shakur takes him on his new album with the whole family. Excellent production by Mike Mosley and Rick Rock, lively bass in the background, midtempo clean shiny dry drum, g-funk synths distant in the background, good melodic samples. Inside everyone: 2Pac, E-40, B-Legit, C-Bo, D-Shot and Richie Rich in what is the last posse of the album. E-40 is strong, the others are less strong. C-Bo is fine. Richie Rich is good. 2Pac dominates.
27. "Heaven Ain't Hard 2 Find" (ft. Danny Boy)
Cheerful, funky, solid QDIII rhythm, good bass, dry hard midtempo drums, honest g-funk synths, melodic rhythm. Slow, smooth delivery from 2Pac on this latest effort of the album along with an rnb hook from Danny Boy, Pac brings a disappointing end to this great effort, the first double album in hip-hop history.
Final Thoughts
Tupac Shakur's fourth solo studio album, coincides with the first hip-hop double album and with the fourth studio album in the Death Row Records catalog. 2 CDs, 27 tracks, 35 guests, 13 producers, 137 minutes of music. The production is among the finest on the artist's records, presenting a clean, accessible, fresh and sometimes dark g-funk sound, the result of excellent work performed by Johnny "J" and Daz Dillinger. The lyrics focus on the main themes of gangsta rap, money, drugs, weapons, sex: due to the incredible speed with which the author decides to make this enormous effort, the product is penalized from a lyrical point of view, with lyrics that sound all similar to each other and are one of the rare weak points in a record with few obvious flaws. In any case, 2Pac manages to handle this handful of topics for over two hours thanks to superlative rapping, delivering verses with some of his most satisfying flows, and thanks to a stellar cast of guests and friends.
The project starts out strong and starts to wane after about half an hour, maintaining a good standard of quality and then giving way a little more evidently in the second CD, when concentrating a series of solo cuts with no real support to the lead emcee, with the first guest outside Tupac's circle of friends who arrives only after eight tracks and responds to the name of Kurupt. The second and practically last is E-40, at the penultimate song. For the rest of the time Makaveli is supported by his friends from the Outlawz, who fail to add much despite their efforts, and by performers who sing the hook, sweetening the tracks, making them more accessible and giving the product a more commercial aspect.
For some reason "Hit Em Up" is off the tracklist and it's a crazy awesome cut, released as the B-side of the single "How Do U Want It", it becomes one of the most famous diss tracks in history and for many the most lethal diss track in hip-hop. Pac picks on everyone here. Johnny "J" invents another masterpiece, the beat is taken directly from rivals Junior MAFIA's single "Get Money", the boys take Lil Kim's voice to build the intro and outro. This way, if Makaveli could keep Faith Evans' contribution to his track, he would have Biggie Smalls' two girls on his album, sensationally. The producer adds a magical bass line and this song goes down in hip-hop history as the most memorable diss ever, one of the most appreciated and the most famous in the period of the rivalry between East Coast and West Coast. The song is in fact a revenge for "Who Shot Ya?" by Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy (mentioned in the incipit of this too-long review), in which 2Pac calls up a couple of Outlawz friends (Hussein Fatal, Yaki Kadafi and EDI Mean) to launch a heavy attack against the East Coast scene, insulting The Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy, the Bad Boy, Junior MAFIA (Lil Cease and Lil Kim in particular), Mobb Deep and Chino XL.
Overall, the record is an orgiastic gangsta party that represents the culmination of the West Coast at its best, a sort of swan album for the whole West Coast and Death Row, quickly becoming one of the most influential rap albums in history. Covered by huge publicity, published by Death Row and Interscope with PolyGram distribution, the album destroys the charts and sells over 5 million physical copies in its first two months of release. The double CD is also the last project he released during his lifetime, because Tupac Shakur dies a few months after the album's release, the following September in a drive-by shooting. At the end of the year, "All Eyez on Me", whose original title was "Euthanasia", then changed for commercial reasons, it's the second best-selling rap album of 1996 with over seven million physical copies (they will increase to nine certified by the RIAA in 1998 after the release of "Greatest Hits") behind the Fugees' debut album "The Score", the third among the hip-hop/rnb albums (also behind the "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack) and twelfth among all genres. The album enters the charts of half of Europe and is one of the best-selling of the year in Germany.
It becomes Tupac's second album to finish at number one on the rap and pop albums charts, driven by hit singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love" which both ended their run at the top of the rap singles chart. "California Love" becomes a worldwide success also reaching number one in Canada, Italy and Sweden, at the end of the year it was one of the best-selling singles in the world. The album won the Rap Album of the Year award at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards and at the AMAs Tupac is posthumously awarded Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist, while at the Grammys the album was nominated for Best Rap Album.
Lukewarmly received by music critics upon release, the album automatically rose to classic double album status soon after 2Pac's death and is still regarded by some professionals as his best work, obviously it's not the artist's best album. It's not a classic, although there's a lot of excellent material spread throughout these two hours and twenty minutes and it's definitely one of the best hip-hop projects to come out in a big and abundant season such as 1996 was.
Rating: 9/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment