Happy 25th Anniversary to 2Pac’s fourth studio album All Eyez On Me, originally released February 13, 1996.
Tupac Shakur was a man of many dimensions. 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.
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.
2Pac’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.
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.
His merger with the notorious Los Angeles based label made Pac’s West Coast card official. 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. West Coast” rivalry in hip-hop, with Death Row Records at the center of the tension.
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. 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.
As at home as Pac’s voice was alongside and over Dr. 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. Pac holds his own with the lines, “They tell me not to roll with my Glock, So now I gotta throw away / Floatin' in the black Benz, tryin' to do a show a day / They wonder how I live with five shots / Niggas is hard to kill on my block.”
Another significant statement evidenced throughout All Eyez On Me is that it’s a star-studded extravaganza, but 2Pac remains the show’s marquee performer. 2Pac’s previous LPs maintained an organic feel, relatively lite on the famous guest spots, excluding “Last Wordz” from his sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z… (1993) which featured West Coast icons Ice Cube and Ice-T. Even recognizable producers seemed sporadic on 2Pac’s previous work, but for All Eyez On Me we see 2Pac effortlessly rhyming alongside some of the most revered of his peer group, and over beats curated by some of the biggest names in hip-hop production.
Daz of Tha Dogg Pound, for instance, produces five of the fourteen songs on disc 1. Not only does Pac exude confidence when rhyming toe to toe with Snoop, but he also branches out for one of the effort’s biggest surprises in “Got My Mind Made Up” featuring Daz (who also produced the track), Kurupt, Method Man and Redman. Unafraid to spar or contend with any lyrical opponent, Pac offers another formidable verse amongst the all-star lineup, further reinforcing the stamina of his competitive spirit.
Pac’s frequent collaborator Johnny “J” holds the distinction of producing the greatest number of songs on the album, claiming eleven of the twenty-seven tracks overall. Along with Daz, Johnny’s production helped season many of the most memorable songs on the LP. Although the third single “How Do U Want It,” which features K-Ci & JoJo, is a party song, Pac pauses from the celebration to address some of his critics including activist C. Delores Tucker and Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator Bob Dole with the lyrics, “Bill Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole / you're too old to understand the way the game's told / you're lame, so I gotta hit you with the hot facts / once I'm released, I'm makin' millions, niggas top that / they wanna censor me, they'd rather see me in a cell / livin' in hell, only a few of us'll live to tell.”
Lastly, 2Pac does stick to his traditional ground game of vivid street narrations. Although the “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Dear Mama” side of 2Pac was less prominent during this period, All Eyez On Me does showcase the matured melancholy of “So Many Tears” with songs like “I Ain’t Mad At Cha” and “Life Goes On.”
Whatever 2Pac’s expectations were for All Eyez On Me, they were surely exceeded. The album stands in the elite class of hip-hop albums to both receive a diamond certification from the RIAA and top the Billboard 200 albums chart. With each statement contained therein, All Eyez On Me cements 2Pac’s rightful status among the greatest of all-time conversation and is seen by many as the definitive Tupac Shakur album, sitting comfortably alongside Dr. Dre’s The Chronic (1992) and Snoop’s Doggystyle (1993) as Death Row masterpieces that help define West Coast hip-hop in the ‘90s.
Most importantly, All Eyez On Me lives up to its ambitious title. 2Pac knew that with all of the controversy engulfing him at the time, he was on the brightest stage of his career, and what does he do? Enlist an all-star supporting cast and deliver a blockbuster. Even the biggest 2Pac hater in 1996 presumably listened to All Eyez On Me, if for no other reason than to discover if he mentioned their favorite rapper. The album is one of those unforgettable moments that mark time if you were around to experience its initial release. You remember where you were when you first heard it and how you and hip-hop culture weren’t the same afterwards.
Tragically, we lost 2Pac only six months after the release of All Eyez On Me, and since his passing, he has gone on to become the most duplicated and imitated artist in all of hip-hop. What can’t be duplicated is the monumental impact 2Pac had not only in hip-hop, but American pop culture more broadly, in just a five-year span and with the immediate impact of what is arguably his magnum opus, All Eyez On Me.
There hasn’t been an artist before or since that has set up an album with this level of controversy, boastfully title the album knowing he had garnered the world’s attention, then confidently rhyme amongst some of the biggest names in the industry at the time. These were all bold statements by Mr. Shakur, who eerily seemed to have the foresight that he had a very short window to secure his spot alongside the musical immortals.
Enjoyed this article? Read more about 2Pac here:
2Pacalypse Now (1991) | Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993) | Me Against The World (1995)
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