2pac “California Love” hit #1

California Love 2pac with Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman

Writer(s): Tupac Shakur, Andre Young, Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Mikel Hooks, Norman Durham, Ronald Hudson, Woody Cunningham, Joe Cocker, Chris Stainton, James Anderson (uncredited) (see lyrics here) Released: December 3, 1995 First Charted: February 9, 1996 Peak: 12 US, 2 CB, 31 GR, 35 RR, 6 RB, 6 UK, 51 CN, 4 AU, 25 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.4 US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 284.66 video, 586.14 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Tupac Shakur was born in 1971 in New York City but lived in Baltimore and eventually the San Francisco Bay Area. Both his parents were political activists and members of the Black Panther Party. His “revolutionary pedigree was one of his big selling points” SG when he launched his solo career in 1991 with the album 2Pacalypse Now. In 1993, he scored a pair of top-20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Get Around” and “Keep Ya Head Up.” He was also becoming a movie star and finding himself in legal trouble. In 1993, he was arrested after a gunfight with two off-duty cops in Atlanta. He shot and wounded both of them, but claimed self-defense and the charges were dropped. While on trial for sexual assault, he was shot five times. He was convinced it was set up by former friend and rapper Biggie Smalls and the subsequent rivalry between them “mushroomed into the East Coast/West Coast feud, which became the dominant narrative in rap music in the late ’90s.” SG While in prison for the assault charge, his third album Me Against the World debuted at #1, making him the first incarcerated artist to top the Billboard album chart. SG He would also land his first top-10 hit with “Dear Mama.” Suge Knight, the “the notorious co-founder of Death Row Records,” SG arranged for 2Pac’s bond and appeal in exchange for him signing with Death Row, a move which furthered the East Coast/West Coast rivalry. 2pac’s label debut was the double album All Eyez on Me in 1996. It debuted at #1 and has since been certified diamond for ten million in sales. The double A-side single “How Do U Want It” and “California Love” topped the Billboard Hot 100. The latter “might be the anthem that filled up the air in the summer of 1996.” SG It “might not be the best 2Pac song, and it may not be Pac’s definitive song” SG but “so much about ‘California Love’ is just perfect. There’s the Dr. Dre production with the royal horn-fanfares and the stabbing pianos. There’s computer-funk wizard Roger Troutman slathering his voicebox bleat all over everything…There’s Pac himself, bringing unreal levels of charisma to his verse.” SG Dre built the “celebration fo the California hip-hop lifestyle” SF on a sample from Joe Cocker’s 1972 song “Woman to Woman” and incorporates Troutman’s 1981 song “So Ruff, So Tuff.” Dre and 2Pac “rap about the vibrant activity and creativity they constantly encounter, but also warn about the gang violence, crime and social ills.” SF Less than two months later, 2Pac was murdered after a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. “After he died, he became a symbol for a lot of things — Black pride, defiance, outlaw romance, unresolved internal conflicts, senseless slaughter.” SG The case remains unsolved. Resources: SF Songfacts SG Stereogum (4/18/2022). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 272. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/7/2023.

2pac hit #1 with All Eyez on Me

All Eyez on Me Tupac (2pac) Shakur

Released: February 13, 1996 Peak: 12 US, 13 RB, 32 UK, 11 CN, 19 AU Sales (in millions): 5.89 US, 0.30 UK, 8.90 world (includes US and UK), 24.66 EAS Genre: rap

Tracks, Disc 1: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Ambition Az a Ridah All Bout U (with Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nair Dogg, & Dru Down) Skandalouz (with Nate Dogg) Got My Mind Made Up (with Dat Nigga Daz, Kurupt, & Redman) How Do U Want It (with K-Ci & JoJo) (6/4/96, 12 BB, 13 RB, 17 UK, 24 AU) 2 of Americaz Most Wanted (with Snoop Doggy Dogg) (5/7/96, 26 BB, 10 RB) No More Pain Heartz of Men Life Goes On Only God Can Judge Me (with Rappin’ 4 Tay) Tradin’ War Stories (with Dramacydal, C-BO, Storm, & CPD) California Love (with Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman) (12/3/95, 12 BB, 2 CB, 31 GR, 35 RR, 6 B, 6 UK, 51 CN, 4 AU, 26 DF) I Ain’t Mad at Cha (with Danny Boy) (4/6/96, 58 BB, 18 RB, 13 UK, 47 AU) What’z Ya Phone # (with Danny Boy) Tracks, Disc 2: Can’t C Me (with George Clinton) Shorty Wanna Be a Thug Holla at Me Wonda Why They Call U Bitch When We Ride (with Outlaw Immortalz) Thug Passion Picture Me Rollin’ (with Jewel, Dramacydal, & C-BO) Check Out Time (with Kurupt & Big Syke) Rather Be Ya Nigga (with Richie Rich) All Eyez on Me (with Big Syke) Run tha Streetz (with Michel’le, Mutha, & Storm) Ain’t Hard 2 Find (with E-40, B-Legit, & C-BO) Heaven Ain’t Hard 2 Find Total Running Time: 132:20

Rating: 4.286 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: 2pac’s third album, Me Against the World, was released while he was serving a prison term for sexual abuse. It made him a superstar, reaching the pinnacle on the Billboard album chart and going double platinum. All Eyez on Me became the rapper’s second album to debut at #1 and sold even more copies than its predecessor. It was his first release after signing with Death Row, a label helmed by Suge Knight “that dealt exclusively in…gangsta rap.” TB Unlike some of his peers, 2pac “really did come from the background of bleak, inner-city violence he rapped about.” TB It showed him “hardened and hungry” AM as he “unleashed all his pent-up frustrations into creating a larger-than-life gangsta rap persona.” CQ “Nobody was going to rep the West Coast harder than he was, as demonstrated by the unadulterated aggression of Ambitionz Az a Ridah.” CQ Throughout the album, he rapped “about his experiences in poverty and in luxury.” WK He was eager “to throw down a monumental epic whose sheer scope would make it an achievement of itself.” AM It was “the first double-disc album of original material in hip-hop history.” AM This album finds him “backing off the sober self-recognition of Me Against the World. Sure, there are a few reflective numbers and dead-homiez tributes, but they’re much more romanticized this time around. All Eyez on Me is 2Pac the thug icon in all his brazen excess, throwing off all self-control and letting it all hang out – even if some of it would have been better kept to himself.” AM As implied by the title, 2pac’s fourth album reflects how “he’d been affected by several years of living in the spotlight. He sounds somewhat paranoid, quick to draw conclusions about people and their motives; on Only God Can Judge Me, he muses, ‘Perhaps I was blind to the facts, stabbed in the back / I couldn’t trust my own homies, just a bunch of dirty rats.’” TM “Among Shakur’s enduring contributions to hip-hop is his effective use of R&B-style hooks, repetitive and often sung catchphrases. These offset the brutality of the All Eyez raps with basic structure. Can’t C Me, one of several tightly wound Dr. Dre productions, features the sepulchral vocals of George Clinton doing a P-Funk thing; All About U contains a refrain sung by Nate Dogg over a beat that flirts with disco.” TM “The production of Dre, DJ Pooh, DJ Quik, and Johnny J round out All Eyez on Me by finally offering Pac a soundtrack that could fully match his talents.” CQ It is “easily the best production he’s ever had on record.” AM Johnny J’s work is most notable on the club smash How Do U Want It AM and Dr. Dre “contributes another surefire single in California Love (which, unfortunately, is present only as a remix, not the original hit version). Both hits are on the front-loaded first disc, which would be a gangsta classic in itself.” AM This is “an accurate depiction of what made him such a volatile and compelling personality.” AM “From the social commentary of the still-relevant Brenda’s Got a Baby to the unbridled rage of Hit ‘Em Up and everything in between, Tupac’s range as a rapper remains unparalleled.” CQ “Other highlights include the anthemic Snoop Dogg duet 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted, All About U (with the required Nate Dogg-sung hook)” AM “and the introspection of I Ain’t Mad at Cha,” CQ “a tribute to old friends who’ve gotten off the streets.” AM There are also “showcases for his group The Outlawz like Thug Passion.” CQ The two-hour-plus “ode to the gangsta lifestyle isn’t without its warts.” CQ “Despite some good moments, the second disc is slowed by filler and countless guest appearances, plus a few too many thug-lovin’ divas crooning their loyalty. Erratic though it may be,” AM “Pac’s burning passion elevates the album to another level.” CQ All Eyez on Me is “carried off with the assurance of a legend in his own time, and it stands as 2Pac’s magnum opus.” AM Sadly, it was his last album (other than posthumous releases). He was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996.

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Steve Huey CQ Consequence.net (9/12/2022). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 789. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 283. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 4/17/2008; last updated 7/15/2025.