r/2pac

Are they still around today and why did they do it?

Why him & not LL Cool J? Did he have enemies, cause it by attacking a rival gang member in Las Vegas & why couldn't they save him as he had been shot before? Why was the Notorious BIG also shot & not Public Enemy? Just those two.

So the 2pac trial just started and i think this should be an easy conviction. They convicted people for crimes that happened years ago and this guy wrote a book and did interviews about it. This should be an easy conviction. If not then there is something wrong with the system. I will be shocked if he is found not guilty

Also, i think making money out of a man he had a hand in killing is next level lowlife imo

I've listened to this album twice now. The first time, me and two friends listened to it, whilst smoking and drinking, the second time was just now, after I'd come home from a night out, and was a little drunk. Both listens gave me different insights, but I can say I prefer this to 2Pacalypse Now, and look forward to hearing it again, in different contexts.

Whilst there were less immediate playlist adds, I feel that, over time, more and more of this album will grow on me. Some songs felt like filler, not necessarily bloat, but more that they were there to serve the album. With time, I could see any of these being fun to listen to in their own right, but they didn't all stand on their own as much as they served the larger picture that was Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…. The album's sound, in general, was far more upbeat than 2Pacalypse Now, and I'm a real fan of the style Pac is developing with his rhymes - aggressive delivery, and punchy flows, with a fair amount of relentless, multi-syllabic writing, honestly.

On my first listen to the album, I felt like I wasted Holler If Ya Hear Me, because we were just settling into the vibe of the album, but I know this is a classic, and it's one that I've decided to add to my playlist upon re-listening. A major point of discussion during the first listen with friends was how heavily the beats were carrying this album - though many would consider Pac to be one of the greatest lyricists of all time, and I would agree, I can't deny that the production was a huge part of the appeal here, with every instrumental giving the record an infectious feel, overall. This is what I'm talking about when I say I like ‘90s hip-hop.

I liked the two interludes, early on in the tracklist, as they helped me immerse myself more into the world of this album, and I liked the way that certain phrases became motifs over a short run of tracks. There were a lot of features on this album (that was a takeaway both times) and I didn't mind because it made the album feel like a collection of voices, but one track where it really stood out was Last Wordz: Ice Cube and Ice-T, on a track with 2Pac, and if it didn't feel like the ‘90s yet, it did now. Cube in particular has a hard, moreish flow, but all three of them complimented each other fantastically on this one, honestly.

It wasn't until the second listen to this album that I learned Soulja, with the deep voice, is an established alter ego for Pac, and Peep Game was a fun one. The irreverence in his writing is super compelling, but I'm also beginning to notice themes of paranoia creep in. At times, though, his writing is just super relentless, and fun, and I love that - he is becoming more of an entertainer than just a political radical, and I love it. There was a verse on Representin’ 93 where he just listed shoutouts, which was dope.

I was already familiar with Keep Ya Head Up, and liked it, but listening to this album in full helped put into perspective just how good a song it is: the beat is fantastic - like, really, whatever sample that is is marvellous - and the verses are beautiful. It's really 2Pac the poet, which sounds corny, but I know I'm not the first one to describe him this way, and I think certain songs exemplify it more than others. The title track, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z… was another dope one for my playlist - you can often guess that, if a song is the longest on the record, or the title track, it will be one of, if not the, strongest on the tracklist, and this song was both.

By the time I Get Around came on, my friends were saying I was drunk, but I think it was more that I just felt compelled to move to the music. I probably would have said I preferred this to Keep Ya Head Up anyway, because it's more danceable, but once again, the flows on the verses were elite in a way that I've only really heard from the old school, and the instrumental was gorgeous. Not all of the rap music I like makes you want to physically move, but this does.

Papa’z Song was dark, in a way that made my friends uncomfortable, but I think it was one of the best written (and best sounding) on the album, and another one for the playlist. My second listen solidified this evening further. 5 Deadly Venomz was a bit of an abrupt closer, and I found it quite jarring, but I was super excited to hear Treach. I've not listened to much Naughty By Nature, and I couldn't call Treach one of my favourite rappers, but Feel Me Flow was my song of the summer, one year, and I was excited to hear him pop up, since I didn't expect it.

I'm super excited for Me Against the World, which I've heard is his best album, but I also think All Eyez on Me will be incredible. I'm particularly interested in paranoia, as an artistic theme, and Pac’s descent into a rougher, harder life is fascinating to me, so I think The 7 Day Theory could be right up my street, but for now, I'm glad to have doubled the amount of Pac I can bump, and to have finally re-unlocked two of my all-time favourites.

I listened to this album in a beautiful rural spot with my sister, as it got dark. I actually think we nailed the atmosphere for this album, because it was late (near enough pitch black by the time we finished), there were no houses around, so we could have whatever volume we liked, and she wasn't chatty enough to distract me, but she locked in far more than I expected from someone who doesn't like rap. Every now and then, a train would pass, and it would drown out the audio, to be honest, but it was okay, because it wouldn't last that long, and she liked it because she felt it added to the atmosphere.

As I said in my last write-up, I was very excited for this album, as well as the next one (All Eyez on Me), having become a 2Pac fan off the back of his first two. It will take me a few relistens to decide if this was all it was cracked up to be, but as of now, I've already listened to it twice and it's thoroughly playlist worthy (besides the intro). At first, I was unsure if I'd regret adding the whole tracklist, and tried to restrain myself, but on relisten, it's clear that these were all strong songs, and all had their own identity.

If I Die 2Nite and Me Against the World were both fantastic in the writing department, and were good early-album songs, to set the tone. They opened the doors to some subject matter that became quite repetitive, but was tolerable because it was concentrated on this album. I criticised 2Pacalypse Now for being the same general political angle for most of the songs, and thought Pac’s whole discography would reflect that, but he's since started mixing it in with some much more personal themes, such as paranoia, fame, relationships and money, as well as alcohol abuse, drug use and his upbringing, along with the many little kids growing up like him, who he seems to be warning.

My favourite new song (I already knew Dear Mama) was easily So Many Tears. Its subject matter was just as good as any other song, but it also felt the most musical, especially with that harmonica, sampled from Stevie Wonder. Temptations made my playlist, even on the first listen, because, as a single, it's one of the more iconic, but honestly, I don't think it holds up as well as a song like Young Niggaz, with a faster, more engaging delivery, on the verses, and more poignant subject matter. The features here (or, at least, the rap features) didn't stand out as being as strong as Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…, but that may be because Pac’s rapping was more consistently shining; they were all very good.

I remember every song on this album. Heavy in the Game was good. Lord Knows was one that I initially didn't add to my playlist, but said I could see becoming a favourite, as its subject matter was slightly deeper. A lot of the songs were good for similar reasons, such as Pac’s exceptionally developed pen, his flows, his charismatic delivery, and his densely stacked (but tastefully used) rhymes. The beats were all good, above average quality, but they weren't good enough to take away attention from Pac’s rapping, and that's not a slight on the beats. The alliteration on If I Die 2Nite was insane, and is a skill I feel is underutilized by rappers.

I made my sister lock in for Dear Mama, because I already knew it was a beautiful song, and thought she'd like it. She did appreciate it, but I had a moment to that song. Sometimes hearing that one song you recognise makes the album, and it did help ground the experience for me, so I wasn't so lost in the new music. As I said, the atmosphere on this first listen was gorgeous, and Dear Mama fit right in, perfectly. That will be my definitive memory listening to this song.

I don't have too much to say about It Ain't Easy, or Can U Get Away, despite appreciating them. My biggest praise would be that a song like Can U Get Away isn't redundant, and filled a place on the album that no other song did. That's a pretty big thing, to me: I don't mind you having two similar songs, if they're both good, but if you can make every song on the album as different as possible, and stand out, then I love you. Old School was him doing Representin’ 93, but executing it better, and I really enjoyed that. This was around the time I had to get up and move to the music.

My sister did a piss to fuck the world, whilst I was enjoying the attitude, and throwing middle fingers up in no particular direction. Death Around the Corner is the only one I really don't have much to say about, but I'd say its place on the album automatically grants it a place on my playlist - I don't want to have one song sitting out, and I trust that it's good because it didn't stand out negatively. I've said I'm interested in his paranoia, and this song addresses that, so I'm happy. Finally, Outlaw was dope, and my sister expressed a similar sentiment to me, when one of the features rapped particularly fast. It's not that fast rap is better, but it stood out against the rest of the track, and gave it a nice texture.

There seems to be a lot of debate over whether All Eyez on Me is better than Me Against the World. I was under the impression Me Against the World was going to be the best, whilst All Eyez on Me would be the biggest (The 7 Day Theory could be my favourite). I'm excited to find out what I think, and if there's anything that can beat out Me Against the World’s introspection, it'll be spectacle, and grand sounding bangers that are instantly accessible and timeless. I think All Eyez on Me will deliver that.

I've listened to other double albums before (Songs in the Key of Life, The White Album, HIStory: Past, Present And Future - Book I), and they often get draining, even if the quality's there. Two hours is a long time to listen to music, especially if you're locked in, but I've been enjoying Tupac’s music so much that I don't think I'll care. After Me Against the World, I was more than ready to lock in and listen to another album, and as long as All Eyez on Me is on a similar level, having a larger quantity of material could actually increase my opinion on it.

I have plans to listen to this with friends, and make a night of it, so even if the experience is a step down, I think that, as an event, it will be hard, regardless, but it does mean the music will have a more distracting environment to compete with. This protects me from getting bored, which would hurt my opinion on the record, but I'm really hoping the music will grab me enough that I don't have to rely on my company to entertain me. I'm super excited to step into his final statement piece and see what all the hype is about, because I know this was his most commercial album, and see what he's talking about in the final year of his life.