Dre’s stellar production for “California Love,” his back-and-forth with Snoop Dogg on the song “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” is even more impressive. The two top-tier emcees who had been known to have a friendship for years trade bars, perfectly in sync, exuding a chemistry to rival EPMD’s Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. we wearin' Chucks, not Ballys (yeah, that's right) / dressed in Locs and Khaki suits, and ride is what we do / flossin' but have caution: we collide with other crews” depicts what the world had fallen in love with about urban California since the late ‘80s.Īs at home as Pac’s voice was alongside and over Dr. Whatever your assumptions of 2Pac’s motivation were, there was no denying that having spent the latter part of his formative years and launching his musical career in the Golden State gave 2Pac enough inspiration to pen an exceptional tribute to the lifestyle that became the center of pop-culture’s fascination. His lyrics “Only in Cali where we riot, not rally, to live and die / In L.A. West Coast” rivalry in hip-hop, with Death Row Records at the center of the tension. Even the album cover famously captures Pac holding up the “westside” hand symbol. The album’s lead single “California Love” has endured as one of the premier party anthems, particularly for West Coast hip-hop. Granted, this concept was greeted with some contempt and perceived as antagonistic by some on the opposite coast, as late 1995 was still the apex of what was then called the “East Coast vs. His merger with the notorious Los Angeles based label made Pac’s West Coast card official. The album’s next and possibly biggest statement was that it was a product of Death Row Records. Although it was largely known that Tupac was born in New York City and raised in Baltimore, MD, he began his career as a California Bay Area rapper and was largely accepted as a West Coast emcee. Throughout his career, 2Pac’s music would express an uncanny sense of empathy rooted in his youthful yet introspective observations of the ills experienced while living amidst urban decay and poverty, an acute appreciation for the desire to change one’s conditions while sometimes succumbing to the surrounding temptations, and an understanding of the psychological effects of experiencing inner-city trauma. It’s beyond debate that whatever 2Pac’s subject matter, he spoke with an unparalleled passion and poignancy, which helped to solidify his legacy and cement him as arguably the most recognizable voice of the hip-hop genre.ĢPac’s fourth and final studio album released while he was alive makes several statements, beginning with its apt title, All Eyez On Me. Recorded during mid-late 1995, following Pac’s release from prison and the now infamous 1994 Quad studio shooting, All Eyez On Me seems to be the direct culmination of all of 2Pac’s controversies. There’s moments of celebration, heightened paranoia, anger, and street-bravado. 2Pac’s triadic approach to celebrity-music, film, and controversy-captured and sustained everyone’s attention, and this double LP served as the brightest stage for Pac to address both his fans and detractors. When we were originally introduced to his music in 1991, he immediately carved his own path within hip-hop culture. With his record “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” we heard a young man, barely out of adolescence, painting a vivid verbal canvas of urban blight, with a tenderness rarely offered in hip-hop. What set him apart was that merely a few tracks down the 2Pacalypse Now (1991) track list, Pac addresses other class warfare issues like police brutality with an unapologetic militancy that caught the attention of government officials, including then-Vice President Dan Quayle.
Tupac Shakur was a man of many dimensions. Happy 25th Anniversary to 2Pac’s fourth studio album All Eyez On Me, originally released February 13, 1996.