2pacalypse Now [PA] by 2Pac

Remember when 2 Pac was "clowning with the underground?" Remember when he wasn't a Death Row representive that hated Brooklyn's Notorious B.I.G? Remember the 1st album? Well a good bit of you can answer yes to these questions, but do you remember 2 Pac's debut in '91? Let the 2Pacalypse begin.....

Tracklisting (Disc 1)
1)Young Black Male-$$$$$
2)Trapped-$$$$
3)Soulja's Story-$$$$1/2
4)I Don't Give A F***-$$$$$
5)Violent-$$$1/2
6)Words Of Wisdom-$$$$$
7)Something Wicked-$$
8)Crooked A** N*gga-$$
9)If My Homies Call-$$$$$
10)Brenda's Got A Baby-$$$$$
11)Tha' Lunatic-$
12)Rebel Of The Underground-$$$1/2
13)Part Time Mutha-$$$$$


The album kicks off with a "Young Black Male" a funky driven instrumental that supports Pac's lyrics describing the stereotypes of a...You guessed it, a young black male. First thing you should notice is that Pac had a very fast flow and his voice wasn't quite as powerful. Nice short track to kick off the album right."Trapped"is a track where he complains on how he is a black man trapped in today's society due to police harrasing him. Pac's lyrics aren't exactly impressive, but he did a good job telling the details of how he really is trapped. In the 3rd verse he does a Slick Rick and tell a story of how he made a wrong choice of killing someone and he must make a getaway. The beat is old school smooth.

Pac plays two characters in "Soulja's Story". They slow his voice down to play a older thug who led the street life until he got busted. Then Pac's regular voice is the thug's younger brother. Unfortunately, the younger brother got killed with a single head shot. The story and beat is slightly haunting, but it's Pac limited lyrical power that gives it a perfect bank score. Pac's storytelling continues with the classic "Brenda's Baby", the single that he was recognized for when it came to his compassion. The most different produced track on the whole album. In case you somehow slept on this classic when it came out or MISS THE WHOLE CONCEPT, Pac tells a story of a young girl named Brenda who got impregnated by an abusive boyfriend that later left her and she raised the baby all by herself since her family won't support her. She became a prostitute to support the baby, but sadly, she was killed. Many artists copy this formula(Ja Rule,Nas, just to name a recent few)to create the same magic Pac did with this track. But with the perfect fluid male and female vocals and Pac's apparant passionate feel of the track, it's hard to beat.


"I Don't Give A F*ck"is a track I'm sure you heard or heard of. Pac goes NWA on the FBI, CIA, LAPD, and many others in this angry track. Pac taunts his victims by teasing him that their children is his number 1 fan and their wives want a black male anyway. He does a "F*ck off" as he calls it, a roll call that he says "F*ck you" to. Better believe Pac caught a lot of heat for this. Pac's rage continues on with "Violent"where he claims he has to be violent because the police gets violent with him. He tells a tale of how the cops that pulled him over tried to frame him, so he made them pay. The instruemental doesn't stand out to the rest of the already simliar sounding tracks.

Pac has it's own interpertation of the "Words of Wisdom"where he states the everybody else try to wipe the the ghetto youth out of the planet. He then says that n*gga doesn't mean ignorance, but Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished. I like that meaning if you ask me. Pac hit some good points here with this sample verse:

This is for the masses the lower classes
The ones you left out, jobs were givin', better livin'
But we were kept out
Made to feel inferior, but we're the superior
Break the chains in out brains that made us fear yah
Pledge a legiance to a flag that neglects us
Honour a man that who refuses to respect us
Emmancipation, proclamation, Please!
N*gga just said that to save the nation
These are lies that we all accepted
Say no to drugs but the governments' keep it
Running through our community, killing the unity
The war on drugs is a war on you and me
And yet they say this is the Home of The Free
But if you ask me its all about hyprocracy
The constitution, Yo, it don't apply to me
Lady Liberty still the b*tch lied to me
Steady strong nobody's gonna like what I pumpin'
But its wrong to keeping someone from learning something
So get up, its time to start nation building
I'm fed up, we gotta start teaching childern
That they can be all that they wanna to be
There's much more to life than just poverty

Pac at his best...

I like how they did the hook of "Something Wicked". The hook is said backwards. Sadly, the instrumental isn't wicked, it's just terrible as it sounds TOO similiar to previous tracks. This is not even a real song as it serves as like an interlude. "Crooked A** N*gga" serves no important purpose as he basically downgrades "crooked n*ggas" with some weak lyricism. The beat is cool though, sounds very scratchy due to a turntable.

One of my favorite 2 Pac song and video of all time, "If My Homies Call", where he says even though his homies chose the dope game and he chose the rap game,if any of them needs help. he'll be right there. The beat stands out like a rose in a concrete with the beat changes a little when it times for the hook. Pac shows his loyalty to the homies he grew up with. He falls down with "Tha' Lunatic" where he describes the killer in him, and the beat is so seldom it's suprising it's even being noticed. Pac just talking tough gangsta ish..

He makes a comeback beat-wise with "Rebel of the Underground"that iniates the smooth put together of some old school claps and keyboard playing and some horns. Pac boasts about what a bad a** he is and he does a good job of doing so lyrically on the first verse, but falls on the later 2.

Dig the funk! "Part Time Mutha"is another one of Pac's storytelling, except this girl name is Cindi who is more of a crack fiend than a mother. He raps that even though he embraces the thug style with much pride, Cindi doesn't even care.(Pac is playing the son) Daughter of Cindi who is played by an unknown female rapper(sounds like Trina, wonder if she been rapping back then...) talks about how the dad keeps raping her and Cindi doesn't believe her when she tells. On the last verse he raps about how he got a girl pregnant and now she pays for everything and he ends up being a part time mother. Great storytelling.

Best Track(s):Brenda's Got A Baby, Part Time Mutha, If My Homies Call
Worst Track(s):Something Wicked, Tha' Lunatic, Crooked A** N*gga
Best Guest:Unknown rappers....
Worst Guest:......


Well there you have it. 2 Pac's debut did have some classic storytelling and good poetic tracks. Problem is some production just sounded too similar, weak lyricism, and repetitive subject matter I still recommend the cd because you always have to have the debut of a favorite artist, and the positives do outweigh the negatives.