Published on Mar 12, 1997
Note: The following review was originally written in
December 1996 for publication on HitsWorld – long before the
shooting death of Tupac Shakur’s rival, The Notorious B.I.G. The
review was scheduled to run on “The Daily Vault” before I learned
of Biggie Smalls’s death.
Rap music is rap music, no matter what coast it came
off of. Killing “rival” rappers doesn’t solve anything – it only
depletes the genre of talented musicians, and I’m tired of shedding
tears for these acts of stupidity.
Stop the violence – please.
Like many people, I became interested in the music of Tupac
Shakur not long after his murder. However, I’ve been faced with one
tremendous challenge: How does one put aside the violence of
Shakur’s life and death and give an unbiased review?
The answer was simple: listen to the music, and let it do the
talking. Shakur’s last release before his death,
All Eyez On Me, is undoubtedly one of the best rap albums
I’ve ever listened to – which makes the circumstances of his death
all the more tragic.
From the opening melodies of “Ambitionz As A Ridah”, with its
haunting, sparse backbeat, Shakur almost immediately lets the
listener know that this isn’t going to be a half-hearted,
half-baked, half-assed work. He is going to make the listener think
– put them in his shoes, as it were. And for the better part of two
hours, Shakur succeeds.
The production work is incredible on
Eyez, and the samples, long regarded as one drawback to rap,
are brilliantly used – and do I detect a little originality in the
music? This is a welcome change.
As for the music, Shakur sets a standard of excellence that
rarely is broken on this album. From commentaries regarding the
first attempt on his life to braggadocio about the “Thug Life” that
would eventually take his, Shakur was probably the best
spokesperson of his genre. Cuts like “All Bout U,” “No More Pain,”
“Only God Can Judge Me” and “Holla At Me” show off one of the best
rap performances ever.
Probably the best performance on this set is “Wonda Why They
Call U B____,” which doesn’t cut down women in Shakur’s community,
but rather tries to give them a more positive message and image
about themselves. Although Shakur ends up disrespecting the person
he’s sending his message to in the song, there is a lesson in it
that people of all races and backgrounds can learn from Shakur.
There are only two minor problems with
Eyez. First, there are far too many guest rappers on the
album – it seems like almost every track has someone backing
Shakur. While artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg are very talented in
their own right, if I wanted to hear them, I’d buy their album.
Second, and to a lesser extent, there are a few clunkers on this
album that either could have been left off or that needed maybe
another coat of paint. Cuts like “Picture Me Rollin” don’t hurt the
power of the album, but they’re quite easy to fast forward
through.
With 2Pac still coming out with new product (under the name
Makavelli) and word of one or two more albums in the can, Shakur’s
presence should be felt within the rap community for some time.
All Eyez On Me is a powerful portrait of this young man’s
talents, and serves as a fitting remembrance to Shakur.