It’s kind of weird that after giving such a glowing review to
\nTupac Shakur’s last album released before his 1996 murder,
\nAll Eyez On Me<\/i>, it’s taken me this long to pick up anything
\nelse from his discography. Although I do enjoy rap, I’d be
\nhard-pressed to say that there are certain tapes I must run out and
\npurchase the day they come out, like some rock groups I like.<\/p>\n
Like my last 2Pac purchase,
\nMe Against The World<\/i> was an impulse buy, and turned out to
\nbe an incredible album. Where
\nAll Eyez On Me<\/i> occasionally seemed bloated because of a
\ncouple of filler cuts,
\nMe Against The World<\/i> is solid throughout, with maybe one
\nslip through the album’s 15 tracks.<\/p>\n
Shakur gained some positive press for this album thanks to the
\ntrack “Dear Mama,” which could very well be the best rap song I
\nhave ever listened to. A song which breaks away from the vulgarity
\nand violence that is often found in gangsta rap, Shakur takes the
\ntime to thank the person who gave him life, even admitting his own
\nfaults as he grew up. It is a touching, surprising moment on this
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
For that matter, I counted a total of two or three tracks that
\ncould have gotten airplay with either minimal or no bleeping at
\nall. “Can U Get Away” shows the rapper’s concern for a female
\nfriend (lover?) who is trapped in an abusive relationship, while
\n“Temptations” is simply an enjoyable track. Could this have
\nsymbolized a change of style for Shakur following the shooting
\nwhich almost took his life?<\/p>\n
One word: Nope. Tracks like “Outlaw,” “F*** The World” (not my
\ncensoring of the name) and “Death Around The Corner” show that
\nShakur hadn’t renounced the thug life. Of these tracks, only
\n“Outlaw,” the album’s ending track, is a minor disappointment.<\/p>\n
One thing I especially liked on
\nMe Against The World<\/i> was the limited use of guest rappers on
\nthe tracks. Only two guests are listed: Dramacydal (who guests on
\ntwo tracks) and Richie Rich (on one). This is a refreshing change;
\nas I’ve said before, if I pay money for a 2Pac album, that’s who I
\nwant to hear most of the time. (The only thing which grated on my
\nears was the Jamaican rants on “Heavy In The Game,” though I’m not
\nsure who provided those.)<\/p>\n
Hearing albums like
\nMe Against The World<\/i> make me feel all the worse that Shakur
\ndied so violently and so young. One wonders had he not lived the
\nthug life he proclaimed so boldly in his music if he would be the
\nmost influential rapper. The fact that his two posthumous albums
\nhave sold so well is a sign to his longevity. Plus, there were
\nrumors that Shakur was tiring of the thug life; had he done an
\nalbum completely in the style of “Dear Mama” and “Can U Get Away,”
\nhe would have been a definite crossover superstar.<\/p>\n
\nMe Against The World<\/i> is another album in the rap genre that
\none could call a “must-own,” and serves as yet another sad reminder
\nof how big a talent the genre lost when Shakur was gunned down in
\nLas Vegas two years ago. This arguably is his best album – and it
\nmakes me all the more committed to checking out the other titles in
\nhis catalog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5679],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-35944","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-2pac","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35944"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35944"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}