Dre, Shakur is obviously preoccupied with his mortality. Rapping over the beats provided by Easy Mo B and samples of 'Tonight is the Night' by 70's R&B singer Betty Wright, 'Tonight' by 70's funk band Kleeer, and 'Deep Cover (187)' by Dr. This brings the album to the hard-hitting 'If I Die 2Nite', the strongest track on the album and perhaps my favourite 2Pac song of all time. He doesn't need to spend tracks showing what a thug he is, he's living that life and it's all over the news. This accomplishes two things: one, it shows his third album won't be the same angry opus as 2Pac's previous album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., and it maintains Pac's street cred. Somber hip-hop beats begin the album, backing news reports of his shooting and legal troubles. If there's any question where Shakur's head is at recording this album, the intro answers that. He recently narrowly escaped a bloody death and was facing prison time, and looked inside himself to re-examine his life. It is easily Tupac's most personal album, for the most part free of the cocky grandstanding that fills much of his catalogue and the genre in general.

Released just after Shakur's being sentenced to four and a half years for sexual abuse (for which he'd serve about eight months), and recorded after his near-fatal shooting (he was shot five times and robbed in a still-unsolved case), Me Against the World shows the reflective, artistic side to the Thug Life icon. Of Shakur's albums, Me Against the World was always my favourite. I bought the albums as they came out, and managed to stay with it for a few posthumous efforts, after finally abandoning the 2Paxploitation efforts sometime after 2001's Until the End of Time double disc release.

I know it's become fashionable nowadays to be a big Pac fan, even amongst kids who were in diapers when he was killed, but I was a fan when he was alive, dammit. I tracked down everything involving him I could, even if an album merely featured a guest verse by him (ahh, the wasteful days before downloading).

Of all the artists and bands I was into back in the day, 2Pac was always my favourite. I've since sold off most of the collection, but managed to keep the best ones, and have decided to review one now.

I bought the popular stuff, and the underground stuff, and a whole lot of one-hit wonders. From junior high until I'd say 4 years ago, I listened to hip-hop and R&B exclusively, amassing a collection of well over 400 CDs. It may seem strange now, since I've become indie rock guy, but growing up I was all about the hip-hop.

Me against the world album art