Celebrating the 20th anniversary of 2Pac’s fourth studio album
On Feb. 13, 1996, Death Row Records unveiled Tupac Shakur’s penultimate album, All Eyez on Me. Spearheaded by the Dr. Dre-produced hit single “California Love,” the double album debuted at number one and would remain an omnipresent rap blockbuster throughout the remainder of the year, which would eventually turn into one of the biggest hip hop albums of the ‘90s. Listening to the album 20 years after its original release, All Eyez on Me remains a captivating listen as an aural snapshot of the rap legend at his exhilarating peak.
The dramatic saga of All Eyez on Me began in late 1994, when Shakur (also known by his stage name 2Pac) was incarcerated for sexual assault and later survived an attempt on his life in a New York City recording studio. After nine months in jail, a silver lining would come in the form of West Coast rap mogul Suge Knight, who put forward 2Pac’s million dollar bail in September 1995. Selling his soul to Knight’s Death Row label, 2Pac would soon set to work on his fourth studio album—a sprawling double LP which embraced Death Row’s “gangsta” image while celebrating the West Coast party lifestyle.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…a brief window into 2Pac’s life…[/pullquote]
The world 2Pac paints on All Eyez on Me is, like the real world, a hierarchal one run by money. A self-proclaimed “natural born hustler,” 2Pac had transcended negative circumstances growing up in segregated poverty in Oakland and Baltimore to become one of the most successful rappers in the game. In the song “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” Shakur boasts of being a “homie livin’ lavish,” and indeed, All Eyez on Me provides a brief window into 2Pac’s life as he indulged in his personal vision of the American Dream, complete with “five double-oh benz(es)” and “hoochies screaming,” before the violence that dogged his life would bring his career to a tragic and premature end.
Today, Shakur is comparable to Elvis Presley in being an artist more talked about than actually listened to. However, his imprint on popular culture remains as strong as ever. Just last year, Shakur was portrayed by actor Marcc Rose in the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton, while an old interview with 2Pac was used to simulate a conversation between him and Kendrick Lamar on the track “Mortal Man” off of Lamar’s hit album To Pimp a Butterfly. Ultimately, both Black History Month and the 20th anniversary of All Eyez on Me mark an appropriate time to revisit the vital and influential body of work that Shakur left behind.