Me Against the World [PA]

Performer: 2Pac
Artist: Thug Life; Dramacydal; Digital Underground; Lady Levi; Richard "Richie Rich" Serrell; Natasha Walker; Puff Johnson
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Personnel: 2Pac, Dan O'Leary, Debbie Hambrick, Sarah Diamond, Jay Jensen, Jill Rose (vocals); Darryl Crooks, Eric "Kenya" Baker, Ronnie Vann (guitar); The Piano Man (keyboards); Stretch, Moe Z.M.D., Eboni Foster, Killa, Milia, L. Tyler, G. Money, Kim Armstrong, Kenyatta Forman, Reggie Green, Rah Rah, "Sweet Franklin" (background vocals); Thug Life, Dramacydal, Digital Underground, Lady Levi, Richard "Richie Rich" Serrell, Natasha Walker, Puff Johnson. Producers include: Tony Pizarro, Easy Mo B., SoulShock, Shock G, Moe Z.M.D. Engineers include: Tony Pizarro, Jay Lean, Paul Arnold. ME AGAINST THE WORLD was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Dear Mama" was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance. Personnel: 2Pac (vocals); Jill Rose (vocals); Ronnie Vann (guitar); Reggie Green, Eboni Foster, Richard Serrell, Kim Armstrong, Natasha Walker, Puff Johnson (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Kevin "KD" Davis; Jay Lean; Jeff Griffin ; Paul Arnold; Tony Pizarro. Recording information: Enterprise Studios; Mobboss Studios, Fairfield, CA; Pure Studios; Quad Studios, New Zealand; SoundCastle; Unique Studios. Recorded following his near-fatal shooting in New York, and released while he was in prison, Me Against the World is the point where 2Pac really became a legendary figure. Having stared death in the face and survived, he was a changed man on record, displaying a new confessional bent and a consistent emotional depth. By and large, this isn't the sort of material that made him a gangsta icon; this is 2Pac the soul-baring artist, the foundation of the immense respect he commanded in the hip-hop community. It's his most thematically consistent, least-self-contradicting work, full of genuine reflection about how he's gotten where he is -- and dread of the consequences. Even the more combative tracks ("Me Against the World," "Fuck the World") acknowledge the high-risk life he's living, and pause to wonder how things ever went this far. He battles occasional self-loathing, is haunted by the friends he's already lost to violence, and can't escape the desperate paranoia that his own death isn't far in the future. These tracks -- most notably "So Many Tears," "Lord Knows," and "Death Around the Corner" -- are all the more powerful in hindsight with the chilling knowledge that he was right. Even romance takes on a new meaning as an escape from the hellish pressure of everyday life ("Temptations," "Can U Get Away"), and when that's not available, getting high or drunk is almost a necessity. He longs for the innocence of childhood ("Young Niggaz," "Old School"), and remembers how quickly it disappeared, yet he still pays loving, clear-eyed tribute to his drug-addicted mother on the touching "Dear Mama." Overall, Me Against the World paints a bleak, nihilistic picture, but there's such an honest, self-revealing quality to it that it can't help conveying a certain hope simply through its humanity. It's the best place to go to understand why 2Pac is so revered; it may not be his definitive album, but it just might be his best. ~ Steve Huey Forget everything you've heard and assumed about rapper/actor 2Pac and think only of his music, which has always stood in the shadow of his lifestyle. ME AGAINST THE WORLD tries to make sense of all the stormy events that have surrounded the gifted vocalist--transforming 2Pac into the "rap star" he's always yearned to be--and turns out to be his best work yet. ME AGAINST THE WORLD seriously connects the rapper with his audience by remaining "real." Although much of the public is already familiar with the all-too politicized/publicized life of Tupac Shakur, the album disputes their perception and serves as his halo. "If I Die 2Nite" couples 2Pac's intense thoughts with the flava-in-ya-ear sound provided by hip-hop super producer Easy Mo Bee. 2Pac softens his tone on "Dear Mama," celebrating the one woman who has stuck by him through it all. The album also focuses on issues known and experienced not only by this "hip-hop outlaw," but by those who share his lifestyle. Many "thugs" have lost their homies and struggled to keep themselves alive in the hood, and so has 2Pac; and his mourning is manifested on "So Many Tears," which is enhanced by a sample of Stevie Wonder's harmonica. "Can U Get Away" carefully alerts women involved in abusive relationships, and labels 2Pac as their saviour. Giving props to the New York rap scene, "Old School" is a tribute to the founders of hip-hop and reminisces about "how it was." Musically, the comfortable tracks help convey positive messages ("Young Niggaz"), and lyrically, 2Pac is, as always, on point.

Rolling Stone (5/4/95, pp.68-70) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...ME AGAINST THE WORLD--by and large a work of pain, anger and burning desperation--is the first time 2Pac has taken the conflicting forces tugging at his psyche head-on..." Vibe (4/95, p.55) - "...lets go of his usual theme of thuggery-as- resistance....amid all his righteous venom...[2Pac] dispenses maxims....He seems, like this album, just schizo enough to be interesting, just crazy enough to be sincere..." The Source (4/95, p.79) - 4 Stars - Slammin' - "...ME AGAINST THE WORLD follows suit as [Tupac] releases his best work by far....a manisfestation of Tupac's talents becoming completely whole as they are mixed with the tracks that may, for a change, overshadow him..."

Beginning his career in the early 1990s as a member of the Oakland rap-funksters Digital Underground, 2Pac rose to become perhaps the single most controversial figure in rap music, easily equal in popularity and notoriety to Snoop Dogg on the West Coast and sometime rival Notorious B.I.G. out East. Taking his moniker from a South American revolutionary, 2Pac managed to embrace themes of black self-determination and social conscience without dulling the edge of his thug image. Achieving almost unrivalled popularity while alive, 2Pac had a penchant for religious and iconic motifs, ensuring his status as a rap martyr after his murder in 1996.

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