“What’z Ya Phone #”, a sexually charged song featuring Death Row singer Danny Boy, follows Shakur as he navigates a sea of double-time hi-hats and futuristic synth patterns. “ K-Ci & Jojo, Eric B, Sway and King Tech, Johnny J…” The latter producer, Shakur's friend and frequent collaborator who would later work on his posthumously released albums, before his own death in 2008, happened to be behind one of the most divisive tracks on All Eyez On Me. That was the first time that Jon B met Shakur, as well as a who’s who of hip-hop. Whether it’s breaking down the harsh realities of street life (“Life Goes On”), tackling the word “b****” and its use in rap music ("Wonda Why They Call U B****”), or examining his own mortality (“Only God Can Judge Me”), All Eyez On Me sees Shakur turn street preacher at numerous points. “California Love”, a straightforward party anthem, might be his fourth album’s biggest hit, but there are deeper messages peppered throughout. But one rapper’s cast-off is another one’s hit: Shakur ended up using the instrumental to underscore a rallying cry for artists affected by censorship, name-checking politicians including Bill Clinton and former US senator Bob Dole.Ī common misconception about All Eyez On Me is that 2Pac did away with the socially conscious rap of his two previous albums, 2Pacalypse Now and Me Against The World. “I didn’t want it to seem like I was copying him,” he says. “2Pac ended up taking the verse off.” Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck was another artist who missed out, his verse failing to be included due to some misplaced tapes and a misunderstanding between Dillinger and Dr Dre.Įlsewhere, there were happy coincidences: KXNG Crooked, then 19, says he was initially offered the beat for “How Do U Want It” but turned it down because his older brother had already used the same “Body Heat” sample, originally by Quincy Jones, on one of his own tracks. “She was on there doing some hard s*** but unfortunately she didn’t want to be a part of it,” Dillinger alleges. Not everything ran smoothly: rapper The Lady of Rage reportedly pulled out of her spot on “Got My Mind Made Up” because she was uncomfortable with the number of male rappers on the track (Method Man, Redman, Dillinger, Kurupt).
“And if it wasn’t a song a day, it was a couple of songs a day.” “Prince would literally do a song a day and that’s how 2Pac was too,” he says during a Zoom call. Once you get in a creative zone like that, nothing can stop you.” Jimmy Jam, one half of the legendary R&B songwriting duo with Terry Lewis (behind hits for Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Usher and George Michael), compares the late artist’s output to Prince. “But then you realise it was his passion fuelling the urgency. “I always wondered if he had the entire album written while he was in prison,” says California rapper KXNG Crooked, speaking on the phone from LA. It was evident he had a lot to get off his chest, having just been released from prison and keen to turn public opinion around. The fact that it was recorded in just two weeks after he was released from prison astounded everybody. Tragically, All Eyez On Me would be the last album to be released during his lifetime, though it created a sonic boom that would be felt by the music industry for years to come. In fact, all of Shakur’s predictions became true far sooner than anyone could have guessed – he was killed in a drive-by shooting just two years later when he was 25 years old. It was about defiance, women, paranoia, ego, and anger – and going out in a blaze of what he imagined to be glory.” “But his life was about juggling plums while bullets nipped at his ankles.
“Like most American heroes, Tupac Shakur had glide in his stride, big guns, and leather holsters,” music critic Danyel Smith wrote in Vibe’s biography of the late artist. Months later in his cell, he would wake up from his nightmares convinced that he was being fired at again. Fast-forward to 1994, the night before Shakur was convicted of sexual assault and sent to prison, he was shot five times in the lobby of a New York recording studio during an alleged attempted robbery. His stepfather, Mutulu, an activist, was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. His mother, Afeni, was eight-months pregnant with him in 1971 when she was acquitted – along with 20 other members of the Black Panther Party – of more than 150 charges stemming from an alleged bomb plot. The rapper, one of the most recognisable names in hip-hop, had grown up in East Harlem surrounded by persons of interest. All his life, Tupac Amaru Shakur knew he was being watched.
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