Webster’s dictionary defines the word iconic as; widely recognized and well established or widely known and acknowledged for distinctive excellence.
Twenty-Two years ago on this day the late Tupac Shakur released/unleashed hip-hop’s first major double disc cd aptly titled All Eyez On Me.
While most hip-hop and Tupac aficionados frequently point to his 1995 pre-prison and Death Row classic Me Against The World, it is hard to dispute that All Eyez On Me vaulted Tupac into iconic hip-hop lore; arguably the biggest icon hip-hop has ever seen.
While Michael Rapport had to go white chocolate unchained last month in disgust at a plethora of ‘black’ contemporary radio stations who failed to know and/or acknowledge the 50th birthday of Rakim, the man many consider the greatest to ever pick up the mic, (Tupac and myself included); Pac has never suffered the fate time has cruelly dealt his other legendary and often more skilled contemporaries.
Today at A2HH, we revisit the tour de force of a double disc that still reverberates to this day.
My initial thoughts after listening to Eyez 1 and 2 in order song for song is that this album has held up ridiculously well. Other classics from this era (and year)-sound like they are from that era (Reasonable Doubt, The Score, It Was Written),
Eyez still sounds and feels surprisingly fresh. The production mostly handled by Daz and Johnny J stand out even more because at the time, and still today, Dr. Dre tends to receive the lion’s share of the credit whenever his name floats on the project. Dre only contributed two tracks on AEOM and I still have no earthly idea why the all-time great production job done on the single version of “California Love” was left off for quite frankly a sub standard version. Count Tupac as the first emcee (sorry Kendrick) to have Dre and not need him at all to craft out classic material. This was also the album where the production actually held up against Pac’s deep, authoritative, soul wrenching voice.
All respect due to the likes of Slick Rick, Method Man, 3000, and Biggie; Tupac Shakur has the best voice in the history of rap-and his vocals, vitriol and outright angst bordering on lunacy on this album(s) make Django unchained look like Ben Carson, no bullshit. I truly forgot how totally to the limit Pac was; and his demise upon reflection, seemed imminent and self inflicted in some respects. And speaking of Biggie, listening to this album again lends some credence (musically, and only musically) to Pac’s thoughts that Biggie got his blueprint from him.
The adolescent that I was during the release of Life After… always perceived Big’s double disc classic as more of an album made in the vein of Nas’ 1996 come up It Was Written competitively speaking. However, it is eerie how the template of street anthem, followed by hit single for the ladies, followed by another street anthem, followed by hit single for the playas is all over both these classics. But, one was released in 1996 (Pac) and the other in 1997 (BIG). You do not have to eat the food on the table, it exists there none the less. Debate amongst yourselves-with me if your reach is long enough.
The album begins with the first song he recorded upon release from Clinton Correctional Facility “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” where Pac’s factual steez is on a hundred thousand trillion. “Was born rough and rugged, addressing the mass public/My attitude is fuck it cuz muthafuckas love it/“ Hashtag Facts, you want wizardry bars, go play Illmatic or Aquemini, or Enter The Wu-Tang. Pac is the raw and the real, metaphorical nuances need not apply… but he got those too just not in spades like his counterparts he is frequently grouped with.
Although hit records like “How Do You Want It” feat. K-Ci and JoJo do not hit with the thunder they once did, Pac’s charisma still shines forever. Tupac urban legend moment: Pac supposedly wrote and sung the hook solo only to have Suge, pull a Suge and strong arm the Jodeci brothers on the track. This album is littered with those urban legend moments like Snoop having to go home and write some shit because he was not up to snuff on “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted”.
I have and will always maintain that All Eyez On Me Book 1 is one of the greatest rap albums ever and if “Picture Me Rolling” would have been slid over to Book 1 as the closing or bonus track, we could argue not just its classic status, but its placement among the greatest hip-hop records ever made. Where time has stood still in regards to the classic feel of Book 1 I must say and admit that the real joy of listening to this album(s) again is how Book 2 has grown on me. The after mentioned “Picture Me Rolling” is still an instant classic but other gems I did not always rock with like “Shorty Wanna Be A Thug” & “Rather Be Ya N***a” have stood the test of time quite well.
As we celebrate hip-hop’s most controversial figure and his most controversial album (which is saying a lot), affirms Tupac Shakur’s status as a cultural hip-hop icon. He still remains the embodiment of the great, good, bad, and ugly of the inner city angst on which hip-hop is based. Maybe one day hip-hop will have a logo (a la Jerry West for the NBA) and my vote would be for the late great Mr. Shakur. Thug Life on the chest “scars and tattoos” and all. Twenty Two years later, it’s still all eyez on him. The greatest album of this current generation, TPAB, appropriately ends with a conversational back and forth with King Kendrick and his idol, the icon.
