2Pac - Me Against The World (Review)
What up one & all. Sky Bento here on the check-in once again. Big Bento Energy is most definitely in full effect. Hope you & yours are doing good & well. Drinking water, protecting your mental health, knowing the vibes & all.
So let’s talk about 2Pac. Obviously, one of the most influential rappers of all time. Could even say one of the most influential Black men of all time and that really all comes down to one thing, mentality. The way the man thought was thought-provoking. Arguably even more interesting it the way he changed over the course of his career. While he died way too young, he was in the public eye long enough for us to see him go from fun loving Digital Underground roadie, to millitant-minded Black Panther reincarnate, to public enemy number one and reveling in every minute of it. The turning point was this album right here. While All Eyez On Me might be the more iconic work, with it’s high profile features and the machine of Death Row Records behind him, Me Against The World is Pac at his realest and most vulnerable. Let’s take a quick dive into my favorite 2Pac album, shall we?
As always, these are just MY opinions and do not reflect the views of TDN as a staff, brand or a m***********g crew. Feel free to crucify me on Twitter @plzsaythebento. Iight, let’s get to it.
So full disclaimer, I’m going to do this one a little bit differently. I’m going to forego the traditional track by track review and just talk about the energy of this record. And it’s totally not because I’m being lazy (at least not completely). As I started to do a track by track I made it about 5 songs in before I realized I was starting to say the same thing over and over and 2Pac deserves better than that. So let’s take it back to 1995 real quick. Three albums deep, naturally 2Pac had become more and more of a star with each new release. But where many artists may disconnect as they gain more star power, Pac actually got more and more tapped in. Not only that, but he saw his star rise more with controversy than his actual music. Granted, it helped that he was an actor as well so more people knew the name than just the average hip-hop fan. But that’s got to do something to the son of a Black Panther who came into the game with poems about the issues plaguing his community.
The intro fittingly starts off booming and bapping with some typical 90’s flavor as news clips of 2Pac’s recent “controversies” (i.e. being set up and shot & assault charges from shooting off-duty police officers). Earlier in his career, he faced sexual assault charges. He’s been targeted and marred with controversy ever since he stepped up and tried to do the right thing - report on his reality. This might make some resentful and selfish, but not Pac. At least not completely. No, he turned inward and looked at the situation in a very vulnerable way. “Don’t shed a tear for me n**** I ain’t happy here”. Even though he’s living what many would consider the American dream, and even did it on his own terms, none of that matters at the cost of the constant paranoia Pac struggled with.
In a lot of ways, Me Against The World is a prototypical album much in the same vein as Illmatic. Whereas Illmatic covers life in the projects with a unique sincerity, Me Against The World covers the mind of Black man forced to struggle and face constant adversity right as his dreams come true. Easily Pac’s most introspective album, when people think of Pac they’re likely thinking of him around the time of this album. While the Death Row days of Pac being a loose cannon, completely unhinged and nearly unphased by criticism were fun and iconic in their own right, Pac is known much more for being cerebral. I think that goes back to the legacy of this album. While moans of “famous people problems” have only become more and more common in rap (especially since Drake beat the concept to death), prior to Pac rappers mostly only complained about life pre-stardom and acted like it was all good once they became successful. Pac not only subverted this, but dove deeply into the trauma he carried with him up until this point and how the other side of success ain’t all glitz and glamour itself.
Many outlets have described this album as blues. But for the sake of relating it to today’s climate, I’m going to be bold here and call it emo. Emo as it was, Pac was still a leader and this shines through. His final verse on the title track is full of proverbs designed to resonate with those who can relate. Shocking I know. But again, this is Pac bemoaning the fame and acknowledging that as much as he cares to fight to save the world, he acknowledges that it’s pretty much him against the exact same world he’s trying to change. Which is to say, change won’t be easy. It comes with directly confronting your own brain. It comes with acknowledging that sometimes, you may just want to give up. Pac raps on multiple occasions throughout this album about not wanting to be alive anymore, a catalyst for the reckless, wild persona we’d associate with him upon linking with Suge Knight. But this album is the moment that makes everything after it makes sense. Many a MC after Pac would scoop up his “IDGAF" attitude for their own personal gain. Very few would actually provide the background of what brought them to that point in the way that Pac did.
Pac acknowledged his own pain to the point of forgiving and apologizing to his own mother on wax in the greatest hip-hop Mother’s Day song of all time. That wouldn’t have come without acknowledging that he’s not the only one who’s dealt with the immense pain he has, which is the spark to him being so vulnerable. He knew many young brothers could relate. And when the tracklist contains other gems like “So Many Tears”, “If I Die 2Nite”, “Lord Knows”, “Death Around The Corner” and of course the aforementioned title track, it’s hard to say this album isn’t relatable even still today. And that’s why I wanted to revisit this record. My birthday just passed, and with it came a lot of stress about the years to come and the years that have been. I’m older now than 2Pac ever got to be. And I still find wisdom to be gained in this album. “Don’t settle for less. Even a genius asks his questions". Simple as it may be, Pac’s voice delivers it directly to your soul in a way that very few could. So I’m going to leave you with one final quote from the title track:
“Through every dark night, there’s a bright day after that. So now matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep your head up, and handle it.”
You can.