When it comes to introspection, hip-hop has a reputation for morbidity, and 2Pac certainly furthered that, but his refusal to sugarcoat the harsh realities of urban life was part of his appeal. In many ways, it was a first for Pac: It was his first double album, his first to be released since being bailed out from prison and signing with Death Row Records, and his first album to be certified Diamond (one of the few rap albums to earn that distinction). Amid all this chaos and his looming prison sentence, 2Pac started laying the groundwork for the album.Ī morbid preoccupation with his own demise is expressed most explicitly on two tracks that more or less bookend the album, “If I Die 2Nite” and “Death Around the Corner.” Both songs present Pac’s fear of death as a persistent, gripping force that looms over every lyric, a fatalistic reality that can only be dealt with an ambivalent approach to mortality. All Eyez On Me is the fourth album by Tupac Shakur, released on February 13, 1996. Me Against The World’s introduction sets the stage for this worldview, featuring a string of news broadcasts that are equal parts truth and fiction, recounting robberies, shootings, court drama, and the media storm that followed. Nearly a quarter of a century later, 2Pac’s death is still one of the most impactful events in hip-hop history – arguably the root cause of the music’s wider paranoia and obsession with death. But despite the press labeling his lifestyle (and its harsh consequences) a persona, 2Pac knew better than anyone the realities of thug life, and Me Against The World found him coming to terms with them.
Heading straight to No.1 in the US, it also made 2Pac the first star to top the album charts while in prison. Hitting the shelves while he was still in prison, the album helped shift his image from that of gangsta rapper to more of a gangsta poet, setting the stage for 2Pac to become one of the most famous MCs in the world. He deserves to have all eyes - and ears - on him.Released on March 14, 1995, Me Against The World was 2Pac’s most introspective effort to date. Even as a garden-variety thug, 2Pac shows more skill than most. This sort of confessional, sentimental track has been attempted by a lot of lesser rappers, rarely with the same success. The hypnotic “Got My Mind Made Up,” with Dat Nigga Daz and Kurupt (both of Tha Dogg Pound), Redman and Method Man stands out, as do tracks with Snoop Doggy Dogg. Guests joining 2Pac include Zapp’s Roger Troutman and the new R&B crooner Danny Boy, as well as members of Jodeci. Dre, Death Row’s producing genius, turns out two songs - the grooving single “California Love” and the riotous “Can’t C Me,” with George Clinton - that prove to be two of the LP’s best for sheer melodic inventiveness.
He moves easily between an angry staccato, as on “Holla at Me,” and a slower, more melodic drawl, as on “Life Goes On.” Dr. His new crew has given him badass beats, rolling choruses and funky quirks, and 2Pac, with his appealing voice and distinctive delivery, makes the most of this foundation. This is an enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia. Dre and Roger Troutman, and 'How Do U Want It,' featuring KC and JoJo, were both nominated for the 1997 Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. The lyrical content may be less original, but the sound is better. ALL EYEZ ON ME was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. “What’d I tell ya I was gonna do, nigga, when I got out of jail?” he calls out on the introductory “Heartz of Men.” “I’s gonna start diggin’ into these niggas’ chests.”īut if 2Pac has traded in his complex persona for a place in the Death Row camp, the payback, as they say, has been a muthafucka. Stream songs including 'Ambitionz Az A Ridah', 'All About U (feat. There’s no equivalent to “Dear Mama” on this record, unless you count the vaguely affectionate “Wonda Why They Call U Bytch.” Now everything’s about (expensive) booze, bitches, cash, cars and contempt for his enemies. Listen to All Eyez On Me by 2Pac on Apple Music. Rendering himself a cardboard cutout of a “playa,” 2Pac has surrendered wholesale to his thug side. Sadly, those intriguing conflicts have now vanished. He wrote some of the most woman-positive songs in rap, “Keep Your Head Up” and “Dear Mama,” while throwing down rhymes about ho’s and bitches. What made him interesting in the past was his contradictory nature: He would play the thug one second and exude vulnerability the next. Most important, All Eyez on Me marks 2Pac’s new allegiance with the West Coast’s powerhouse rap dynasty, Death Row Records.Īll this drama was bound to affect 2Pac’s music. It comes barely a year after he was shot.
This two-disc set comes just four months after he was released on bail pending appeal on his conviction for sexual assault. The title of 2PAC’s fourth album, All Eyez on Me, is not just a reflection of his usual arrogance and paranoia - people are watching 2Pac.
0 kommentar(er)
