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spookyspemilyreid · 4 years

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Happy Anniversary “Meteora”! (March 25, 2003)❤️

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, following Reanimation, a collaboration album which featured remixes of songs included on their 2000 debut studio album Hybrid Theory. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name. Meteora has a similar sound to Hybrid Theory, as described by critics, and the album took almost a year to be recorded. It is the first Linkin Park studio album to feature Dave Farrell after he rejoined the band in 2000.

Meteora debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 810,000 copies in its first week. Linkin Park released singles from Meteora for over a year, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", "From the Inside", and "Breaking the Habit". The song "Lying from You" was released as a promotional single. Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor Hybrid Theory .

Meteora has sold over 27 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is certified 7x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was ranked number 36 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Some songs from the album were remixed with some of Jay-Z's songs for the EP Collision Course (2004). "Session" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards.

Initial writing for a second album dated back to early 2001, while still touring in support of Hybrid Theory. The band had written around eighty different demos during their Hybrid Theory World Tour and LP Underground Tour, within the span of just eight months. Rough song ideas written then would find its way to the final album; notably the intro for "Somewhere I Belong". Bennington recorded guitar notes for it, but found it too folk rock sounding. However, Shinoda and Joe Hahn reworked it, adding effects to it, and then played it backwards, molding it into something the band was happy with. As explained by Shinoda: "Since I reversed it, it was playing 4-3-2-1. The chord progression was reversed. Then I cut it into four pieces, and I played it 1-2-3-4. And that's why it has that sweeping sound.

In early 2002, after the touring, the writing continued in Mike's home studio, pre-production of the album began there. The band worked in pairs during the writing process, whereas Shinoda was always involved in all the songs. The recording of the songs mainly used Pro Tools, whereas the band used the traditional method of writing, in main studio. In June, pre-production terminated and the band headed for main production. The band finalized Don Gilmore as their producer. When Reanimation was released, the band had started to write the main content. Rob Bourdon spent eight hours a day in the studio for the recording of the album. By August, the band entered NRG Studios as Bennington also began writing songs with the band.

Linkin Park had finished versions of many songs before the actual recording process had begun, but they majorly wrote the finalized songs included in the track list in the studio. By October the drums were finalized and guitar parts were introduced by Brad in the control room of the studio. By the end of October, the bass parts were introduced. Don Gilmore himself being a bass player helped Farrell in his recording. The sampling part by Hahn was introduced just a month before the deadline, thereby Mike finished the recording of "Breaking the Habit" with strings arrangement by David Campbell; the song had been worked on by Shinoda for five or six years. The vocal production started in November. The mixing process as well as the album itself was finished in New York City.

Lyrically the album contains elements including depressing emotions, anger, and recovery. Explaining to MTV, Bennington said: "We don't talk about situations, we talk about the emotions behind the situations. Mike and I are two different people, so we can't sing about the same things, but we both know about frustration and anger and loneliness and love and happiness, and we can relate on that level." In the same interview, Shinoda explained it as: "What we really wanted to do was just push ourselves and push each other to really find new ways to be creative." He continued: "We wanted each sample that was in each song to be something that might perk your ear – something that you might not have ever heard before." In a promotional interview, Rob Bourdon stated: "We wanted a group of songs that would sit well together because we wanted to make a record that you could pop into your CD player and, from beginning to end, there would never be a spot where you start daydreaming." In titling the album, Mike said that "Meteora was a word that caught my attention because it sounded huge." Dave, Joe, and Chester elaborated that just like how Meteora, the rock formations in Greece, is very epic, dramatic, and has great energy, the band wanted the album to have that same feeling.

Genre-wise, the album is categorized as nu metal, rap metal, rap rock, and alternative rock.

The promotion for the album began well ahead before its release, as pictures of the band recording were distributed to the media. To support the album, there were many photo shoots of the band on October 29 at the Ambassador Hotel, where the band took a break from recording the album for two days, for designing the cover art of the album. "The Flem" and "Delta" helped the band for the art works, for the album as well as for the singles spawned by it. A TV commercial for the album was premiered on January 1, 2003. "Somewhere I Belong" was released as the first single, premiering on US radio on March 18, 2003. Being released only nine days before the album release, it influenced the album sales performance worldwide. The second single off the album was "Faint", released before the band started its world tour. The third single "Numb" was released when Linkin Park performed it live in Madrid. "From the Inside" was released as the fourth single off the album before the North American leg of the world tour. "Breaking the Habit" was released while the band was in Indonesia. The album was released with various limited edition content for promotional purposes.

There is a special edition of Meteora, which includes the "Making of Meteora" DVD documentary. The special-edition package was packaged in a blue tinted case with the blue Meteora cover that can be found in some parts of Asia, United States, and more commonly in India. An alternate Indian version contains an alternate DVD and alternative cover that is packaged in a slimline case with the disc in original packaging. The "Tour Edition" of Meteora is packaged in a two disc set. The second disc, which is a Video CD, has the music videos for "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", and "Breaking the Habit". The tour edition is packaged in a standard Compact Disc case, rather than their trademark digipak case. The album was also released on a very limited quantity of vinyl records (spread across two LPs) under Warner Brothers. These are coveted by collectors and fetch high prices at auction. In 2014, Linkin Park released a demo version of Shinoda singing the song, on their 14th annual fan club CD, LPU XIV.

The band promoted the album with their Meteora World Tour and various other supporting tours. The world tour was supported by Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year. The band played shows at Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre on the day before the album release and on the release date. The shows were called "'Meteora' Release Show". The European leg was cancelled because Chester was having severe back and abdominal pains. As a result, half of the music video of "Numb" was shot in Los Angeles and the Czech Republic. The album was also promoted by the Projekt Revolution festival. A live album was released in support of the album titled Live in Texas. Linkin Park played various special shows worldwide, including "Reading Ireland", as well as performing during the Kerrang! Awards, "Livid", "X-103's Not So Silent Night", "The End's Deck The Hall Ball" and "KROQ Almost Acoustic X-Mas", in promotion of the album.

Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor, Hybrid Theory (2000). The overall Metacritic score is 62. E! Online rated it A, and expected it to "shoot straight for the stars". Entertainment Weekly described it as "radio-friendly perfection". Dot Music described it as a "guaranteed source of ubiquitous radio hits". Rolling Stone said the band "squeezed the last remaining life out of this nearly extinct formula". Billboard Magazine described Meteora as "a ready-made crowdpleaser". The New Musical Express said it had "massive commercial appeal" but left the reviewer "underwhelmed".

AllMusic described the album as "nothing more and nothing less than a Hybrid Theory part 2.", but added that the band "has discipline and editing skills, keeping this record at a tight 36 minutes and 41 seconds, a move that makes it considerably more listenable than its peers... since they know where to focus their energy, something that many nu-metal bands simply do not." Sputnikmusic writer Damrod criticized the album as being too similar to Hybrid Theory, but praised the album's production quality and catchiness, stating "the songs just invade your brain".

Blender described it as "harder, denser, uglier", while Q described it as "less an artistic endeavor than an exercise in target marketing." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, calling it a "thunderously hooky album that seamlessly blends the group's disparate sonic elements into radio-friendly perfection".

The song "Session" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2004.

In its first week, Meteora debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album sold at least 810,000 copies its first week of release. As of June 2014, the album has sold 6.2 million copies in the US, and over 27 million copies worldwide. The album was ranked number 36 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

#linkin park #meteora #march 25 #march 25th #3.25 #3.25.03 #3.25.2003 #march 25 2003 #march 25th 2003 #2003 #mike shinoda #brad delson #rob bourdon #joe hahn #dave phoenix farrell #chester bennington #2000s

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bounablog · 4 years

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Here this post i will talk about my role model is " Tupac Shakur ".

I still remember the first time i heard tupac song i was like 6 years old and his song was playing on the radio it was " ghetto gospel "

ever since this song i just can't stop loving him and get deep with all his songs🎧.

You know why? because all his song lyrics are so real and have meanings.

i call him my role model because he respect women, he want to make changes and he speak the truth he doesn't care what anyone say about him that's why i admire him a lot.

As he said

“I’d rather die like a man, than live like a coward.”

Fact About Tupac

Tupac Shakur, in full Tupac Amaru Shakur, original name Lesane Parish Crooks, bynames 2Pac and Makaveli, (born June 16, 1971, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died September 13, 1996, Las Vegas, Nevada). " but to be honest is still believe he is alive 🤪 "

American rapper and actor who was one of the leading names in 1990s gangsta rap.

In 1990 he joined Digital Underground, an Oakland-based rap group that had scored a Billboard Top 40 hit with the novelty single “The Humpty Dance.” Shakur performed on two Digital Underground albums in 1991, This Is an EP Release and Sons of the P, before his solo debut, 2Pacalypse Now, later that year.

In 1992 Shakur joined the ranks of other rappers-turned-actors, such as Ice Cube and Ice-T, when he was cast in the motion pictureJuice, an urban crime drama. The following year he appeared in Poetic Justice, opposite Janet Jackson, and he released his second album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. The album did not stray far from the activist lyricism of his debut, but singles such as “Holler If Ya Hear Me” and “Keep Ya Head Up” made it much more radio-friendly

In later 1995, after being convicted of molestationand becoming a victim of a robbery and shooting, Shakur became heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry.His double-disc album All Eyez on Me (1996) became certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas; he died six days later and the gunman was never captured. The Notorious B.I.G., Shakur's friend turned rival, was at first considered a suspect, but was also murdered in another drive-by shooting several months later. Five more albums have been released since his death, all of which have been certified Platinum.

Shakur is one of the best-selling music artists of all time having sold over 75 million records worldwide. In 2002, he was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.[16]Rolling Stone named Shakur in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Outside music, Shakur also gained considerable success as an actor, with his starring roles as Bishop in Juice(1992), Lucky in Poetic Justice (1993) where he starred alongside Janet Jackson, Ezekiel in Gridlock'd (1997), and Jake in Gang Related (1997), all garnering praise from critics.

School Years

In 1984, Tupac's family moved from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland.He did eighth grade at Roland Park Middle School, then two years at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. On transfer to the Baltimore School for the Arts, he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed Shakespeare's plays—depicting timeless themes, now seen in gang warfare, he would recall—and the Mouse King role in The Nutcracker ballet.With his friend Dana "Mouse" Smith as beatbox, he won competitions as reputedly the school's best rapper Known for his humor, too, he could mix with all crowds. Among his choice music as a teen were Kate Bush, Culture Club, Sinéad O'Connor, and U2.

At Baltimore's arts high school, Tupac befriended Jada Pinkett, who would become a subject of some of his poems. After his death, she would call him "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime."Yet otherwise, upon connecting with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA,he dated the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the Communist Party USA.[45] In 1988, Shakur moved to Marin City, California, a small, impoverished community, about five miles or eight kilometers north of San Francisco. In nearby Mill Valley, he attended Tamalpais High School, where he performed in several theater productions

In the end as i know he respects women because he raised around them with them.

It’s the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they’re gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it’s my turn to leave. - Tupac

#2pac #tupacshakur #2paclife #Rap #best #music

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andrewrosswatson1987 · 6 years

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COMMENTARY: PRINCE SCORED ONLY 9/36 FOR EMANCIPATION ALBUM. DISCUSS.

Prince released his ambitious triple disc album, Emancipation, which came out today (November 19) in 1996, released via labels, NPG/EMI. The prodigious musician had already put out Chaos And Disorder, his final album of new material with Warner Bros, and the soundtrack for the Spike Lee movie, Girl 6, that year. In 1994, Prince began to release albums in quick succession as a means of releasing himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros, appearing with the word “slave” written on his face. Emancipation was some way towards a concept album, celebrating his release from Warner Bros after eighteen years. Also his marriage to Mayte Garcia, too, who became his wife on Valentine’s Day earlier that year. This made the year one of the most prolific years for Prince, in terms of output. Certified Platinum by the RIAA, Emancipation is the first album with covers by Prince of songs of other artists: “One Of Us” (Joan Osborne); “Betcha By Golly, Wow!” (Thom Bell and Linda Creed); “I Can't Make You Love Me” (James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid); and “La-La (Means I Love You)” (Thom Bell and William Hart). Singles for this album were “Betcha By Golly Wow!”, “The Holy River/Somebody’s Somebody” and “Face Down”. I propose this triple disc project’s far too bloated, and below I list the nine songs, out of a massive thirty-six, they should’ve used for a single disc release. That’s twelve tracks on each of the three discs, each disc exactly an hour long. First track selection, “Jam Of The Year” chimes in before stomping bass and drum. Then the funk and horns kicks in. Prince, sensual as ever, weaves his soul all over the track with his feminine histrionics. “Ooh, everybody’s here/This is the jam of the year” is the hook, emphatically cool. Piano, jazzy in some respects, cunning and sly. Tasteful licks of guitar then take hold. Drums and a latter groove seeing the track out. Following track, “Right Back Here In My Arms”, has ringing piano chord like a statement of intent. Murderous and rumbling row like a West Coast rap track, arguably at the height of the coastal feud. Wavy, ethereal lines of synth weave mourning and gang violence above where you stand. He even raps, “No, no, no to the postman bringin’ me letters/You know a brother gonna feel much better”. Inviting you to test him if maybe naïve enough to ask if, the guy can even rap in the first place? Skip five tracks and you get “White Mansion”. This one quite sedate until the emphatic clap of drum and adjoining instrumentation take place. “Coming from the land of snow/I guess I’m kind of used to cold” a line maybe alluding to the white man, the man, and his cold hearted ways? More so in, “Back to Minneapolis, there you go/Can’t find your house underneath the snow”, like him coming back to his hometown with his tail between his legs. Five tracks later is “Sex In The Summer”. Oldschool drum heralds proceedings, helping things groove along nicely. Moody and oozing sex appeal. “Everybody’s got a black book in case of emergency” maybe an allusion to extracurricular rendezvous. The middle section’s quite calm, before a vocal refrain and minimal instrumentation. Wah-wah guitar and exotic percussion workout before noodling of all kinds. Seven tracks later and you get “The Holy River”. This has earnest piano and vocal, heart on the sleeve. “Putting your faith in things that only make you cry” like a statement upon materialism, a hollow life. “There you are, you think you’re high/You can’t ask yourself ‘cos you’d only lie/If you had a dollar for every time you tried” slightly more falsetto and vulnerable. The middle section, followed by, “…rise up everyday” has a bit more bite to it, fighting with self-determination. “I called my girl and told her I had something to give her; I asked her to marry me and she said yes, I cried” shifts the narrative slightly forward, perhaps a happy resolution. Things pare back to a vocal refrain and impassioned, rocking guitar solo. Joyous and, it would seem, crying tears of joy. Thereon is quite progressive, maybe muddled. But that’s just life, no? Next skip zero tracks for “Let’s Have A Baby”. This ticks like the time of fragile life. The soulful histrionics classy and not too over the top. “I can’t wait no more” like impatience to start a family, eager to start a family. “Let’s make love” like the prelude to human product. Reproduction. Next selection, skipping eight tracks, is “La, La, La Means I Love U”. A love song resplendent with strings, dreamy and washing over you, twinkling and infatuated. “I wanna be your man” a declaration of devoted intention. Next track, skip four, is “One Of Us”. This waves in ethereal before pulsing bass and echoing drum. Then the lead guitar line’s mournful and tinged with heady emotion, and inspires the descending slide of the bass into the song proper. Prince plays like Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen, just with so much soul and heart. Beyond noodling, guitar histrionics. Then the guitar solo, deep of feeling and passionate, plays from somewhere deep within. It even utilises chords for extra power and oomph, emotional hit to the solar plexus. Particularly in its latter moments. Emphatic hit of drum heralds the song’s ringing, triumphant end. Closing selection, which comes immediately after, is “The Love We Make”. This one, on the other hand, is quite sombre and wistful. This selection proves Prince could’ve at least condensed the three discs to a one disc album. I propose that this could actually be done in less than ten tracks. Yes, there are sizeable omissions from my proposed and reimagined single disc release of Emancipation but none too glaring. Giddy, feelings of freedom; but his sheer discography didn’t necessitate this? This selection butchers this ambitious triple disc album as we know it, only the first two tracks on the first disc remain intact. The only other selection on the first disc is latter track, “White Mansion”. Other than that, you’ve got the first track on the second disc before skipping six tracks and coming across couplet, “The Holy River” and “Let’s Have A Baby”. The next highlights are five tracks into disc three, “La La La Means I Love U”, plus third last and second last numbers, “One Of Us” and “The Love We Make”. Basically where some of the remaining tracks fall is that many of them are funk, rap or house workouts, just permutations of the same or similar themes. This seeks to avoid repetition. The one piece of symmetry here is the three highlights from each of the three discs. This one aspect aesthetically pleasing. These nine tracks would’ve earned Prince plaudits let alone the ecstasy of freedom. “Jam Of The Year” and “Right Back Here In My Arms” were two opening statements, with “White Mansion” perhaps a pop at emancipation from the man. “Sex In The Summer”, “Let’s Have A Baby”, “La La La Means I Love U” and “The Love We Make” maybe implying bliss with Garcia. “The Holy River” and “One Of Us” profoundly religious pieces, latter album highlight. Prince has never been afraid of hard work. Moving on from this point in his life was key to survival in the business, probably the most press scrutiny he was ever under, and not all for the right reasons. Prince’s Emancipation can be bought on iTunes, here.

#Prince #Emancipation #Chaos And Disorder #Spike Lee #Girl 6 #Mayte Garcia #One Of Us #Joan Osborne #Betcha By Golly Wow!#Thom Bell #Linda Creed #James Allen Shamblin II #I Can't Make You Love Me #Michael Barry Reid #La-La (Means I Love You)#William Hart #Eddie Van Halen #Edward Van Halen #Van Halen

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ugdigital · 2 years

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THE QUEEN! THE ICON! THE LEGEND, CHAKA KHAN SIGNS EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH Srg/ils, prepS new music for summer…..

Cleveland, OH - May 19, 2022 … OK, faithful readers, y’all know I’m falling out of my seat with excitement on this story!! The Queen, The Legend, Chaka Khan has joined in collaboration with SRG/ILS to release new music this summer!

The SRG/ILS group is honored to announce a new collaboration with one of the most iconic and recognizable voices in American music, Chaka Khan! A singer, songwriter, actor, and activist, Chaka Khan is one of the world’s most gifted and celebrated musicians the world has ever known. Impacting almost every popular musical genre and having sold an estimated 70 million records, Chaka Khan has influenced generations of recording artists.

“Chaka Khan is a beacon of light in our industry. Her spirit and her vocals soar. It is a pleasure working with her on this next chapter and we got a hot record here.” – Claude Villani, Founder and CEO of The SRG/ILS Group.

“I am very proud to be with The SRG/ILS Group, a company that is run by a real musician who understands the needs of artists that have been overlooked for years.” Chaka Khan

Her legendary career jump started when Stevie Wonder penned the now classic “Tell Me Something Good” for Chaka when she was lead singer of the R&B, Funk band Rufus in 1974. Both the song and the album, Rags To Rufus, topped the charts, were certified Gold and won the Grammy that year for Best R&B Vocal Performance.

After six albums with Rufus nearly all of which went Gold or Platinum, in 1978 Chaka Khan started her solo career releasing the all-time classic “I’m Every Woman” (Ashford and Simpson). Produced by iconic songwriter, arranger, producer, and executive Arif Mardin, the single and the album, Chaka, cemented Chaka Kahn as a force that was about to take over popular music.

After incredible success both solo and collaborative, in 1984 Chaka released the iconic album I Feel For You. The title track, a cover of a Prince song, was a gigantic pop hit on the radio and MTV and earned Chaka her second Grammy Award as a solo artist for Best R&B Vocal Performance. Alongside being a top selling chart topper, the song made history by being the first R&B song to feature a rap which was performed by Grand Master Melle Mel. That kind of forward thinking always kept Chaka Khan one step ahead of and praised by her peers. The late, great Miles Davis often said, “She [Chaka] sings like my horn.” And the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin said, “[Chaka] is a one- of- a -kind, premier vocalist.”

Alongside the hit albums and singles, Chaka Khan has appeared on stage and screen in such standout productions as The Blue Brothers movie, The Color Purple on Broadway, and Signed, Sealed, and Delivered a musical based on the music of her friend Stevie Wonder.

In 2022 the 10-time Grammy Award winner is about to chart a new path on all fronts of her record-breaking career. Chaka is continuing her hit making and chart-topping ways as she wraps up production of new music that is both contemporary and every bit classic Chaka Khan.

#chaka khan #music #legend #queen #icon #srg #ils #new music #news

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blackkudos · 6 years

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Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur (/ˈtuːpɑːk ʃəˈkʊər/ TOO-pahk shə-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and briefly as Makaveli, was an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His double disc albums All Eyez on Me and his Greatest Hits are among the best selling albums in the United States. He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone which ranked him 86th on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers ever, he was ranked number 2 by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006. 2Pac is also ranked as the most influential rapper of all time.

Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground, eventually branching off as a solo artist. The themes of most of Shakur's songs revolved around the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism and other social problems. Both of his parents and several other of his family were members of the Black Panther Party, whose ideals were reflected in his songs.

During the latter part of his career, Shakur was a vocal participant in the so-called East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, becoming involved in conflicts with other rappers, producers and record-label staff members, most notably The Notorious B.I.G. and the label Bad Boy Records.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died six days later.

Early life

Shakur, whose birth name according to relatives was Lesane Parish Crooks, was born on June 16, 1971, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, the 18th-century Peruvian revolutionary who was executed after leading an indigenous uprising against Spanish rule.

His mother, Afeni Shakur (born Alice Faye Williams), and his father, Billy Garland, were active members of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The infant was born a month after his mother was acquitted of more than 150 charges of "Conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York "Panther 21" court case.

Shakur lived from an early age with people who were involved with the Black Liberation Army and convicted of serious criminal offenses and who were imprisoned. His godfather, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a high-ranking Black Panther, was convicted of murdering a school teacher during a 1968 robbery, although his sentence was later overturned. His stepfather, Mutulu, spent four years at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list beginning in 1982. Mutulu was wanted for having helped his sister Assata Shakur (also known as Joanne Chesimard) to escape from a penitentiary in New Jersey. She had been imprisoned for killing a state trooper in 1973. Mutulu was caught in 1986 and imprisoned for the robbery of a Brinks armored truck in which two police officers and a guard were killed. Shakur had a half-sister, Sekyiwa, two years his junior, and an older stepbrother, Mopreme "Komani" Shakur, who appeared in many of his recordings.

At the age of twelve, Shakur enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Repertory Ensemble and was cast as the Travis Younger character in the play A Raisin in the Sun, which was performed at the Apollo Theater. In 1986, the family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. After completing his second year at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He performed in Shakespeare plays, and in the role of the Mouse King in the ballet The Nutcracker. Shakur, accompanied by one of his friends, Dana "Mouse" Smith, as his beatbox, won many rap competitions and was considered to be the best rapper in his school. He was remembered as one of the most popular kids in his school because of his sense of humor, superior rapping skills, and ability to mix with all crowds. He developed a close friendship with a young Jada Pinkett (later Jada Pinkett Smith) that lasted until his death.

In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life." Pinkett Smith calls him "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." A poem written by Shakur titled "Jada" appears in his book, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, which also includes a poem dedicated to Pinkett Smith called "The Tears in Cupid's Eyes". During his time in art school, Shakur became affiliated with the Baltimore Young Communist League USA, and began dating the daughter of the director of the local chapter of the Communist Party USA.

In June 1988, Shakur, then 17, and his family moved to Marin City, California, a residential community located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of San Francisco, where he attended Tamalpais High School in nearby Mill Valley. Shakur contributed to the school's drama department by performing in several productions. In an English class, Shakur wrote a paper "Conquering All Obstacles" where he said, "our raps not the sorry-story raps everyone is so tired of. They are about what happens in the real world. Our goal is [to] have people relate to our raps, making it easier to see what really is happening out there. Even more important, what we may do to better our world." He began attending the poetry classes of Leila Steinberg in 1989. That same year, Steinberg organized a concert with a former group of Shakur's, "Strictly Dope"; the concert led to him being signed with Atron Gregory. He set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the hip hop group Digital Underground in 1990.

Career

1991–93: Beginnings and rise to fame

Shakur's professional entertainment career began in the early 1990s, when he debuted his rapping skills in a vocal turn in Digital Underground's "Same Song" from the soundtrack to the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble and also appeared with the group in the film of the same name. The song was later released as the lead song of the Digital Underground extended play (EP) This is an EP Release, the follow-up to their debut hit album Sex Packets. Shakur appeared in the accompanying music video. After his rap debut, he performed with Digital Underground again on the album Sons of the P. Later, he released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. Though the album did not generate any "Top Ten" hits, 2Pacalypse Now is hailed by many critics and fans for its underground feel, with many rappers such as Nas, Eminem, Game, and Talib Kweli having pointed to it as inspiration. Although the album was originally released on Interscope Records, rights of it are now owned by Amaru Entertainment. The album's name is a reference to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

The album generated significant controversy. Dan Quayle criticized it after a Texas youth's defense attorney claimed he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now and its strong theme of police brutality before shooting a state trooper. Quayle said, "There's no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society." Shakur stated that he felt he had been misunderstood. He said, "I started out saying I was down for the young black male, you know, and that was gonna be my thang," Shakur said. "I just wanted to rap about things that affected young black males. When I said that, I didn't know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young black males, to be the media's kicking post for young black males. I just figured since I lived that life I could do that, I could rap about that." The record was important in showcasing Shakur's political conviction and his focus on lyrical prowess. On MTV's Greatest Rappers of All Time list, 2Pacalypse Now was listed as one of Shakur's "certified classic" albums, along with Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. 2Pacalypse Now went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. It featured three singles; "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped", and "If My Homie Calls".

His second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., was released in February 1993. The album did better than the previous one debuting on number 24 on the Billboard 200. The album contains many tracks emphasizing Shakur's political and social views. This album had more commercial success than its predecessor, and there were noticeable differences in production. While Shakur's first effort had an indie-rap-oriented sound, this album was considered his "breakout" album. It spawned the hits "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Get Around" and reached platinum status. On vinyl, Side A (tracks 1–8) was labeled the "Black Side" and Side B (tracks 9–16) the "Dark Side". It is his tenth-biggest selling album, with 1,366,000 units moved as of 2004.

1994–95: Acting and rise to prominence

In late 1993, Shakur formed the group Thug Life with a number of his friends, including Big Syke, Macadoshis, his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, and Rated R. The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 on September 26, 1994, which went gold. The album featured the single "Pour Out a Little Liquor", produced by Johnny "J" Jackson, who went on to produce a large part of Shakur's album All Eyez on Me. The group usually performed their concerts without Shakur. The album was originally released by Shakur's label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to criticism about gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. Among the notable tracks on the album are "Bury Me a G", "Cradle to the Grave", "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (which also appears in the soundtrack to the 1994 film Above the Rim), "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" and "Str8 Ballin'". The album contains ten tracks because Interscope Records felt many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release. Although the original version of the album was not completed, Shakur performed the planned first single from the album, "Out on Bail" at the 1994 Source Awards. Although the album was originally released on Shakur's label Out Da Gutta, Amaru Entertainment, the label owned by Shakur's mother, has since gained the rights to it. Thug Life: Volume 1 was certified Gold. The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared later in 1998 from 2Pac's Greatest Hits album.

His third album, Me Against The World, was very well received, with many calling it the magnum opus of his career. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential hip hop albums of all-time. It is his fourth biggest selling album with 3,524,567 copies in the United States as of 2011.Me Against the World won best rap album at the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards.

"Dear Mama" was released as the album's first single in February 1995, along with the track "Old School" as the B-side. "Dear Mama" would be the album's most successful single, topping the Hot Rap Singles chart, and peaking at the ninth spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified platinum in July 1995, and later placed at #51 on the year-end charts. The second single, "So Many Tears", was released in June, four months after the first single. The single would reach the number six on the Hot Rap Singles chart, and number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Temptations", released in August, was the third and final single from the album. The single would be the least successful of the three released, but still did fairly well on the charts, reaching number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and 13 on the Hot Rap Singles charts.

1996: Final recordings

All Eyez on Me was the fourth studio album by 2Pac, released on February 13, 1996 by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of 1990s rap music. It has been said that "despite some undeniable filler, it is easily the best production 2Pac's ever had on record". It was certified 5× Platinum after just 2 months in April 1996 and 9× platinum in 1998. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love". It featured 5 singles in all, the most of any 2Pac album. Moreover, All Eyez on Me (which was the only Death Row release to be distributed through PolyGram by way of Island Records) made history as the first double-full-length hip-hop solo studio album released for mass consumption. It was issued on two compact discs and four LPs. Chartwise, All Eyez on Me was the second album from 2Pac to hit number-one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. It sold 566,000 copies in the first week of its release, and was charted on the top 100 with the top one-week Soundscan sales since 1991. The album won the 1997 Soul Train R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year Award. Shakur also won the Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 24th Annual American Music Awards.

Makaveli – The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, commonly shortened to The 7 Day Theory, is his fifth and final studio album and was released under the new stage name Makaveli. The album was completely finished in a total of seven days during the month of August 1996. The lyrics were written and recorded in three days and mixing took an additional four days. In 2005, MTV.com rankedKilluminati: The 7 Day Theory at #9 on their greatest hip hop albums of all time list and, in 2006, recognized it as a classic. The emotion and anger showcased on the album has been admired by a large part of the hip-hop community, including other rappers.

George "Papa G" Pryce, former Head of Publicity for Death Row, claimed that "Makaveli, which we did was sort of tongue-in-cheek and it was not really to come out and after Tupac was murdered, it did come out. But before that it was going to be a sort of an underground [record]." The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the Billboard 200. The album generated the second-highest debut-week sales total of any album that year, was certified 4× Platinum on June 15, 1999.

Other ventures

Death Row Records

Upon his release from Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995, Shakur immediately went back to song recording. He began a new group called Outlaw Immortalz. Shakur began recording his first album with Death Row and released the single "California Love" soon after.

On February 13, 1996, Shakur released his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me. This double album was the first and second of his three-album commitment to Death Row Records. It sold over nine million copies. The record was a general departure from the introspective subject matter of Me Against the World, being more oriented toward a thug and gangsta mentality. Shakur continued his recordings despite increasing problems at the Death Row label. Dr. Dre left his post as house producer to form his own label, Aftermath. Shakur continued to produce hundreds of tracks during his time at Death Row, most of which would be released on his posthumous albums Still I Rise, Until the End of Time, Better Dayz, Loyal to the Game and Pac's Life. He also began the process of recording an album with the Boot Camp Clik and their label Duck Down Records, both New York – based, entitled One Nation.

On June 4, 1996, he and Outlawz released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a scathing lyrical assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the track, Shakur claimed to have had sexual intercourse with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the time, and attacked Bad Boy's street credibility. Shakur was convinced that some members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him beforehand due to their behavior that night and what his sources told him. After the attack, Shakur immediately accused Jimmy Henchman (an associate of Bad Boy CEO Sean Combs) of orchestrating the attack, according to a 2005 interview with Henchman inVibe magazine. After the attack, Shakur therefore aligned himself with Suge, Death Row's CEO, who was already bitter toward Combs over a 1995 incident at the Platinum Club in Atlanta, Georgia, which culminated in the death of Suge Knight's friend and bodyguard, Jake Robles; Knight was adamant in voicing his suspicions of Combs' involvement.

Collaborator Buckshot claimed in 2015 that Shakur defended him against Suge Knight, who had insisted that the East Coast rapper could not come with him to Las Vegas on the grounds of the ongoing hip hop rivalry. Shakur asserted that he would not board the plane unless accompanied by Buckshot and was described by the fellow rapper as looking "discomforted" while they recorded a song together in a studio after Shakur "tore up the plane tickets".

Outlawz

When Shakur recorded "Hit 'Em Up," a diss song towards his former friend and rival The Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie Smalls), he recruited three members from the former group Dramacydal with whom he had worked previously and was eager to do so again. Together with the three New Jersey rappers and other associates, they formed the original lineup of the Outlawz. When 2Pac signed to Death Row upon his release from prison, he recruited his step brother Mopreme Shakur and Big Syke from Thug Life. Hussein Fatal, Napoleon, E.D.I. Mean, Kastro, Yaki Kadafi, and Storm (the only female Outlaw) were also added, and together they formed the original lineup of the Outlaw Immortalz that debuted on 2Pac's multi-platinum smash All Eyez on Me. They later dropped the Immortal part of their name after the untimely deaths of 2Pac and Yaki Kadafi and moved on as Outlawz without the members of Thug Life. Young Noble was later added and appeared on 2Pac's second Death Row release The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. It was on 2Pac's Makaveli album that Outlawz first came to the greater rap community's notice, appearing on a few songs. The idea behind the group was for each member to have a rap name coinciding with the names of various tyrants or enemies of America, past and present. Outlawz chose in later years to make a backronym out of the letters of their group name Operating Under Thug Laws as Warriorz although it does not stand for the group's name and is used infrequently.

On forming the Outlawz, Shakur gave each of them a name of a dictator/military leader or an enemy of America.

Yaki Kadafi, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

Hussein Fatal, after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein

Mussolini (formerly Big Syke), after Italian dictator Benito Mussolini

Komani (Shakur's half brother Mopreme Shakur), after Iranian Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Kastro, after Cuban leader Fidel Castro

E.D.I. Mean, after Ugandan dictator Idi Amin

Napoleon, after military strategist and leader Napoleon Bonaparte

For himself, Shakur created the alias "Makaveli" from Renaissance Italian philosopher and strategist Niccolò Machiavelli, whose writings inspired Shakur in prison, but who also preached that a leader could eliminate his enemies by all means necessary. He mentioned Makaveli Records a few times before his death. This was supposed to be a music label for up and coming artists that Shakur had an interest in developing or potentially signing, and his own future projects would have also been published through it as well.

Acting career

In addition to rapping and hip hop music, Shakur acted in films. He made his first film appearance in the motion picture Nothing but Trouble, as part of a cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the film Juice. In this film, he played Roland Bishop, a violent member of the Wrecking Crew, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure". He then went on to star in Poetic Justice and Above the Rim. After his death, three of his completed films were released:Bullet, Gridlock'd, and Gang Related.

Shakur had been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' film Menace II Society, but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting Allen Hughes as a result of a quarrel. Director John Singleton mentioned that he wrote the script for Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the lead role. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death. The film features a mural of Shakur in the protagonist's bedroom, as well as featuring the song "Hail Mary" in the film's score.

Artistry

Shakur's music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and world entities, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism, egalitarianism, and liberty.

Shakur's love of theater and Shakespeare also influenced his work. A student of the Baltimore School for the Arts where he studied theater, Shakur understood the Shakespearian psychology of inter-gang wars and inter-cultural conflict. During a 1995 interview, Shakur stated:

In a European interview music journalist Chuck Philips said that what impressed him the most about Shakur was that he was a poet. Philips said "I like sacred texts, myths, proverbs and scriptures. ... When Tupac came along, I thought he was quite the poet... It wasn't just how cleverly they rhymed. It wasn't just the rhythm or the cadence. I liked their attitude. It was protest music in a way nobody had ever thought about before. ...These artists were brave, wise and smart – wickedly smart. The thing about Tupac was he had so many sides. He was unafraid to write about his vulnerabilities."

Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality on songs "Brenda's Got a Baby", "Trapped" and "Part Time Mutha". His style on this album was highly influenced by the social consciousness and Afrocentrism pervading hip hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. On this initial release, Shakur helped extend the success of such rap groups as Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, X-Clan, and Grandmaster Flash, as he became one of the first major socially conscious rappers from the West Coast.

On his second record, Shakur continued to rap about the social ills facing African-Americans, with songs like "The Streetz R Deathrow" and "Last Wordz". He also showed his compassionate side with the anthem "Keep Ya Head Up", while simultaneously putting his legendary aggressiveness on display with the title track from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. He added a salute to his former group Digital Underground by including them on the playful track "I Get Around". Throughout his career, an increasingly aggressive attitude can be seen pervading Shakur's subsequent albums.

The contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled aggression, compassion, playfulness, and hope all continued to shape Shakur's work, as witnessed with the release of his incendiary 1995 album Me Against the World. In 1996, Shakur released All Eyez on Me. Many of these tracks are considered by many critics to be classics, including "Ambitionz Az a Ridah", "I Ain't Mad at Cha", "California Love", "Life Goes On" and "Picture Me Rollin". All Eyez on Me was a change of style from his earlier works; while still containing socially conscious songs and themes, Shakur's album was heavily influenced by party tracks and tended to have a more "feel good" vibe than his first albums. Shakur described it as a celebration of life, and the record was critically and commercially successful.

He had enjoyed and had been influenced by the work of contemporary English and Irish pop musicians as a teenager such as Kate Bush, Culture Club, Sinéad O'Connor and U2.

Personal life

Shakur never professed following a particular religion, but his lyrics in singles such as "Only God Can Judge Me" and poems such asThe Rose That Grew from Concrete suggest he believed in God. This means many analysts currently describe him as a deist. He believed in Karma, but rejected a literal afterlife and organized religion. Shakur has had several family members who were members of the Black Panthers; Mutulu Shakur, his step-father; Assata Shakur, his step-aunt; Billy Garland, his biological father; and Afeni Shakur, his mother. Shakur publicly spoke out against interracial marriage in an interview with Source magazine in 1994, but later retracted these comments.

His bandana tied into rabbit ears struck mythic chords and remains one of hip-hop's most recognizable style flourishes to date.

He was also engaged to Kidada Jones.

Legal issues

In October 1991, Shakur filed a $10 million civil suit against the Oakland Police Department, alleging they brutally beat him for jaywalking. Shakur received approximately $43,000 in settlement money, much of which went to pay his lawyer.

On April 5, 1993, Shakur was charged with one count of felonious assault. He was accused of attempting to hit rapper Chauncey Wynn from the group M.A.D. with a baseball bat at a concert at Michigan State University. The incident reportedly began when Shakur became angry and threw a microphone. Shakur pleaded guilty on September 14, 1994 to a misdemeanor in exchange for the dropping of felony assault charges. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 20 of which were suspended, and ordered to perform 35 hours of community service.

In October 1993, in Atlanta, two brothers and off-duty police officers, Mark and Scott Whitwell, were with their wives celebrating Mrs. Whitwell's passing of the state bar examination. The officers were drunk and in possession of stolen guns. As they crossed the street, a car with Shakur inside passed by them or "almost struck them". The Whitwells argued with the driver, Shakur and the other passengers, which was joined by a second passing car. Shakur shot one officer in the buttocks and the other in the leg, back or abdomen, according to varying news reports. Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Shakur's car and later lying to the police during the investigation. Shakur was charged with the shooting. Prosecutors dropped all charges against the parties.

In early 1994, he was found guilty of assault on Menace II Society co-director Allen Hughes and served 15 days in jail.

1992 shooting

On August 22, 1992, in Marin City, Shakur performed at an outdoor festival, and stayed for an hour afterwards signing autographs and pictures. A confrontation occurred and Shakur drew a legally registered Colt Mustang, and allegedly dropped it. As it was picked up by a member of his entourage, a bullet discharged. About 100 yards away, Qa'id Walker-Teal, a 6-year-old, was pedaling his bicycle at a school playground nearby when a bullet struck him in the forehead and killed him. Although the gun was matched by police to a .38-caliber pistol registered to Shakur, and his stepbrother Maurice Harding was initially arrested on suspicion of firing the weapon, no charges were filed. Marin County prosecutors have said they were stymied by a lack of witnesses. Charges were dropped when Shakur agreed to pay a $300,000–$500,000 settlement to the parents. The police "rescued" them and took the two into custody, who were soon released without charge for lack of evidence.

In 1995, a wrongful death suit was brought against Shakur by Qa'id's mother. The defense attorney acknowledged that the bullet that killed Qa'id was traced by authorities to a gun registered to Shakur. Shakur's record company settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, reportedly between $300,000 and $500,000.

1993 Sexual assault case

In November 1993, Shakur and others were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room. Shakur denied the charges. According to Shakur, he had prior relations days earlier with the woman that were consensual (the woman admitted she performed oral sex on Shakur). The complainant claimed sexual assault after her second visit to Shakur's hotel room; she alleged that Shakur and his entourage raped her. As a result of the trial, Shakur was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, and acquitted of the weapons and sodomy charges. The judge described the crimes during the sentencing of Shakur to 1½–4½ years in prison, as "an act of brutal violence against a helpless woman." While appearing on the Arsenio Hall Show, Shakur stated he was innocent of all charges and he was hurt that "a woman would accuse me of taking something from her" when he was raised by and was surrounded by females. Shakur, did however, admit that he should have been more responsible with the people he surrounded himself with.

In October 1995, Shakur's case was on appeal but due to his considerable legal fees he could not raise the $1.4 million bail. After serving nine months of his sentence, Shakur was released from the Clinton Correctional Facility due in large part to the help and influence of Suge Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records, who posted a $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction in exchange for Shakur to release three albums under the Death Row label.

On April 5, 1996, a judge sentenced him to serve 120 days in jail for violating terms of his release on bail.

1994 Attack at Quad Recording Studios

On the night of November 30, 1994, the day before the verdict in his sexual abuse trial was to be announced, Shakur was robbed and shot five times by three men in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan. Shakur stated that he believed the robbery to be a setup for the attack wondering why they would take jewelry and leave his Rolex watch.

Shakur checked out of the Bellevue Hospital Center against doctor's orders, three hours after surgery. In the day that followed, he entered the courthouse in a wheelchair and was found guilty of three counts of molestation and not guilty of six others, including sodomy, stemming from his 1993 arrest for sexual assault. On February 6, 1995, he was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on the sexual assault charges.

In a 1995 interview with Vibe magazine. Shakur accused Sean Combs, an associate of Combs named Jimmy Henchman and Biggie among others of setting up the Quad Recording Studios attack. Vibe changed the names of the accused assailants upon publication. Later evidence did not implicate Biggie in the studio assault. When Biggie's entourage went downstairs to check on the incident, Shakur was being taken out on a stretcher, giving the finger to those around.

On March 17, 2008, Chuck Philips wrote in the Los Angeles Times about an alleged order for an attack on Shakur. The article was retracted by the LA Times because it partially relied on FBI documents supplied by a man convicted of fraud which turned out to be forged. In 2011 Dexter Isaac admitted to attacking Shakur. Following Isaac’s public confession, Philips named Isaac as one of his unnamed sources for the retracted article.

1995 Prison sentence

Shakur began serving his prison sentence on sexual assault charges at Clinton Correctional Facility on February 14, 1995. Shortly afterward, he released his multi-platinum album Me Against the World. Shakur became the first artist to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. Me Against the World made its debut on the Billboard 200 and stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks. The album sold 240,000 copies in its first week, setting a record for highest first week sales for a solo male rap artist at the time. While serving his sentence, he married his long-time girlfriend, Keisha Morris, on April 4, 1995; the couple divorced in 1996. Shakur stated he married her "for the wrong reasons".

While imprisoned, Shakur read many books by Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and other works of political philosophy and strategy. The works inspired his pseudonym "Makaveli" under which he released the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album presents a stark contrast to previous works. Throughout the album, Shakur continues to focus on the themes of pain and aggression, making this album one of the emotionally darker works of his career. Shakur wrote and recorded all the lyrics in only three days and the production took another four days, combining for a total of seven days to complete the album (hence the name).

Death

September 1996 shooting

On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur attended the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match with Suge Knight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. After leaving the match, one of Knight's associates spotted Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, an alleged Crips gang member from Compton, California, in the MGM Grand lobby. Earlier that year, Anderson and a group of Crips had robbed a member of Death Row's entourage in a Foot Locker store. Knight's associate told Shakur, who attacked Anderson. Shakur's entourage, as well as Knight and his followers, assisted in assaulting Anderson. The fight was captured on the hotel's video surveillance. After the brawl, Shakur went with Knight to go to Death Row-owned Club 662 (now known as restaurant/club Seven). He rode in Knight's 1996 black BMW 750iL sedan as part of a larger convoy, including many in Shakur's entourage.

At around 11:00–11:05 pm (PDT), they were halted on Las Vegas Boulevard by Metro bicycle police for playing the car stereo too loudly and not having license plates. The plates were found in the trunk of Knight's car; the party was released a few minutes later without being fined. At about 11:10 pm (PDT), while they were stopped at a red light at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane in front of the Maxim Hotel, a vehicle occupied by two women pulled up on their left side. Shakur, who was standing up through the sunroof, exchanged words with the two women, and invited them to go to Club 662. At approximately 11:15 pm (PDT), a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac with an unknown number of occupants pulled up to the sedan's right side, rolled down a window, and rapidly fired gunshots at Shakur. He was hit in the chest, pelvis, and his right hand and thigh. One of the rounds went into Shakur's right lung. Knight was hit in the head by fragmentation, though it is thought that a bullet grazed him. The bodyguard, Frank Alexander, stated that when he was about to ride along with the rapper in Knight's car, Shakur asked him to drive the car of Shakur's fiancée Kidada Jones instead, in case they needed additional vehicles from Club 662 back to the hotel. The bodyguard reported in his documentary, Before I Wake, that shortly after the assault, one of the convoy's cars drove off after the assailant but he never heard from the occupants. After arriving at the scene, police and paramedics took Knight and a wounded Shakur to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. According to an interview with the music video director Gobi, while at the hospital, he received news from a Death Row marketing employee that the shooters had called the record label and threatened Shakur. Gobi told the Las Vegas police, but said they claimed to be understaffed. No attackers came. At the hospital, Shakur was heavily sedated, was placed on life support machines, and was ultimately put under a barbiturate-induced coma after repeatedly trying to get out of the bed. While in the critical care unit, on the afternoon of Friday, September 13, 1996, Shakur died of internal bleeding; doctors attempted to revive him but could not stop the hemorrhaging. His mother, Afeni, made the decision to tell the doctors to stop. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm (PDT). The official cause of death was noted as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with multiple gunshot wounds. Shakur's body was cremated the next day and some of his ashes were later mixed with marijuana and smoked by members of the Outlawz. However, E.D.I. Mean claimed in an interview in 2014 that despite believing that the ashes were those of Shakur at the time, he later found that the ashes did not in fact belong to Shakur. His fifth album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory was released two months later.

Aftermath

In 2002, the LA Times published a two-part story by investigative reporter Chuck Philips, titled "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?", based on yearlong research that reconstructed the crime and the events leading up to it. Information gathered by the paper indicated that: "the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of its members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once, briefly. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting." The article also reported the involvement of East Coast rapper Biggie, Shakur's rival at the time, and several New York criminals.

Before they died, The Notorious B.I.G. and Anderson denied any role in the murder. In support of their claims, Biggie's family produced computerized invoices suggesting that Biggie was working in a New York recording studio the night of the drive-by shooting. His manager Wayne Barrow and fellow rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd made public announcements denying Biggie's role in the crime and claimed further that they were with him in the recording studio the night of the event. The New York Times called the evidence "inconclusive", noting:

The pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called Nasty Boy on the afternoon Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace wrote half the session, was In and out/sat around and laid down a ref, shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. 'We would have heard about it,' Mr. Alfred said."

In 2011, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI released documents revealing its investigation of the Jewish Defense League for making death threats against Shakur and other rappers.

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?q=Tupac+Shakur&lang=en

#Tupac Shakur

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hiphopscriptures · 2 years

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Tupac's All Eyez On Me Album Anniversary

All Eyez on Me was the fourth studio album by 2Pac, released on February 13, 1996 by Death Row Records and Interscope Records. The album is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of 1990s rap music. It has been said that "despite some undeniable filler, it is easily the best production 2Pac's ever had on record". It was certified 5× Platinum after just 2 months in April 1996 and 9× platinum in 1998. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "How Do U Want It" and "California Love". It featured 5 singles in all, the most of any 2Pac album. Moreover, All Eyez On Me (which was the only Death Row release to be distributed through PolyGram by way of Island Records) made history as the first double-full-length hip-hop solo studio album released for mass consumption. It was issued on two compact discs and four LPs. Chartwise, All Eyez on Me was the second album from 2Pac to hit number-one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. It sold 566,000 copies in the first week of its release, and was charted on the top 100 with the top one-week Soundscan sales since 1991. The album won the 1997 Soul Train R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year Award. Shakur also won the Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 24th Annual American Music Awards. Read more about Tupac here.

#tupac #tupac shakur #2pac #all eyez on me #hip hop history #west coast rap #west coast hip hop #album anniversary

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anotherdainvisiblemansighting · 3 years

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It was on this date March 29th, 1988 @djjazzyjeff & @willsmith released their second studio album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper by hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. It was the first double album in hip hop music, in its original vinyl incarnation The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 1, 1995, and is the duo's most successful album. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums The album's first single, "Brand New Funk", was only released promotionally and, thus, failed to achieve any commercial success. However, the album's second single, "Parents Just Don't Understand", won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance and reached number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Although the album's third single, "Nightmare on My Street", which reached number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100, was considered for inclusion in the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, the producers of the film decided against its inclusion. As a result, later vinyl pressings of the album contain a disclaimer sticker that says, "[This song] is not part of the soundtrack...and is not authorized, licensed, or affiliated with the Nightmare on Elm Street films." This is Hip Hop Raised Me The Blog!!! Where is about The Knowledge, The Culture, & The Lifestyle!!! Where we celebrate the 47 years of the youngest genre of music which is Hip Hop!!! HIP HOP RAISED ME!!!! -------------------------------------------------------- Posted based on the "fair use" statute/ act. Strictly for Non-Profit and entertainment purposes only. Subject to copyrights( writing and teaching purposes #hiphopraisedme #hiphopraisedmeblog #hiphopraisedmetheblog #TheknowledgeTheCultureThelifestyle #blogging #vlog #blogs #news #reviews #journalism #entertainment #author #literature #music #fashion #modeling #culture #education https://www.instagram.com/p/CNBBeZUgrDl/?igshid=1sfi7jinsah49

#hiphopraisedme #hiphopraisedmeblog #hiphopraisedmetheblog #theknowledgetheculturethelifestyle #blogging #vlog #blogs #news #reviews #journalism #entertainment #author #literature #music #fashion #modeling #culture #education

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spookyspemilyreid · 5 years

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Happy Anniversary "Meteora"!❤😍(March 25th, 2003)

Meteora is the second studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 25, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by the band alongside Don Gilmore. The title Meteora is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name.

Meteora has a similar sound to Hybrid Theory, as described by critics, and the album took almost a year to be recorded. The main artwork was assembled by the band with help of various other graphic artists. Linkin Park released singles from Meteora for over a year, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", "From the Inside", and "Breaking the Habit". The song "Lying from You" was released as a promotional single.

Meteora is the most successful album in the history of the Alternative Songs chart. As of 2013, the album has sold over 27 million copies worldwide, and is certified seven times platinum by the RIAA. Meteora was also ranked number 36 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums of the Decade. The song "Session" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Some songs from the album were remixed with some of Jay-Z's songs for the EP Collision Course. It is the first Linkin Park studio album to feature Dave Farrell after he rejoined the band in 2000.

In 2000, Linkin Park worked with music producer Don Gilmore to record and release their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Initial writing for a second album dated back to early 2001, while still touring in support of Hybrid Theory. The band had written around eighty different demos during their Hybrid Theory World Tour and LP Underground Tour, within the span of just eight months. Rough song ideas written then would find its way to the final album; notably the intro for "Somewhere I Belong". Bennington recorded guitar notes for it, but found it too folk rock sounding. However, Shinoda and Joe Hahn reworked it, adding effects to it, and then played it backwards, molding it into something the band was happy with. As explained by Shinoda: "Since I reversed it, it was playing 4-3-2-1. The chord progression was reversed. Then I cut it into four pieces, and I played it 1-2-3-4. And that's why it has that sweeping sound."

In early 2002, after the touring, the writing continued in Mike's home studio, pre-production of the album began there. The band worked in pairs during the writing process, whereas Shinoda was always involved in all the songs. The recording of the songs mainly used Pro Tools, whereas the band used the traditional method of writing, in main studio. In June, pre-production terminated and the band headed for main production. The band finalized Don Gilmore as their producer. Rob Bourdon spent eight hours a day in the studio for the recording of the album. By August, the band entered NRG Studios as Bennington also began writing songs with the band.

In a promotional interview, Rob Bourdon stated: "We wanted a group of songs that would sit well together because we wanted to make a record that you could pop into your CD player and, from beginning to end, there would never be a spot where you start daydreaming."

In titling the album, Mike said that "Meteora was a word that caught my attention because it sounded huge." Dave, Joe, and Chester elaborated that just like how Meteora, the rock formations in Greece, is very epic, dramatic, and has great energy, the band wanted the album to have that same feeling.

Genre-wise, the album is categorized as nu metal, rap metal, rap rock, alternative metal, and alternative rock.

"Somewhere I Belong" was released as the first single, premiering on US radio on March 18, 2003. Being released only nine days before the album release, it influenced the album sales performance worldwide. The second single off the album was "Faint", released before the band started its world tour. The third single "Numb" was released when Linkin Park performed it live in Madrid. "From the Inside" was released as the fourth single off the album before the North American leg of the world tour. "Breaking the Habit" was released while the band was in Indonesia. The album was released with various limited edition content for promotional purposes.

Meteora received generally positive reviews, although critics noted that the album's musical style was similar to its predecessor, Hybrid Theory (2000). The overall Metacritic score is 62. E! Online rated it A, and expected it to "shoot straight for the stars". Entertainment Weekly described it as "radio-friendly perfection". Dot Music described it as a "guaranteed source of ubiquitous radio hits" Rolling Stone said the band "squeezed the last remaining life out of this nearly extinct formula". Billboard Magazine described Meteora as "a ready-made crowdpleaser" The New Musical Express said it had "massive commercial appeal" but left the reviewer "underwhelmed"

The song "Session" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2004.

In its first week, Meteora debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The album sold at least 810,000 copies its first week of release. As of June 2014, the album has sold 6.7 million copies in the US, and over 27 million copies worldwide. The album was ranked number 36 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

#linkin park #meteora #3.25.#3.25.03.#2003 #2000s #mike shinoda #brad delson #rob bourdon #joe hahn #dave phoenix farrell #chester bennington

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princedarien · 3 years

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Black History Month FYI: salutes a pioneer... One of the earliest Canadian rappers to achieve mainstream success, Maestro Fresh Wes is credited as the "Godfather of Canadian hip hop." His debut album, Symphony in Effect (1989), was the first certified platinum album by a Black Canadian artist. Wesley Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes) was born on March 31, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario to parents of Afro-Guyanese heritage. Wes is not only a rap artist, he is a record producer, actor, and author, who released his debut album, "Symphony in Effect" in 1989 on Attic/LMR Records in Canada. The album nearly went double platinum and remains one of the best-selling Canadian hip hop albums of all time. The first single "Let Your Backbone Slide" became the first hit single in Canadian hip hop history, appearing on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart. Maestro became the first black rapper in Canada to go platinum with the release of his debut single, A second single, "Drop the Needle" was released in 1990. Wes became the first rap artist to ever have a song inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. His legendary single “Let Your Backbone Slide” was the first rap recording to reach Gold and Platinum status and is also considered to be a seminal intergenerational classic. It remained the top-selling rap song for nearly 20 years, putting Canadian rap on the map. The Canadian Junos created the best rap recording category, which Wes Was the first to win. He won for his album Symphony in Effect. (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CL0FdpbDrNr/?igshid=sa07by23shyz

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talhaghafoor2019-blog · 5 years

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Making hits and history: Cardi B becomes first female music artist to have all her album tracks certified gold or platinum by RIAA - theGrio

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 29: Cardi B performs onstage during the 2018 Global Citizen Festival: Be The Generation in Central Park on September 29, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Cardi B is on a roll and shared some big news about music history she just made. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper is the first female music artist to have every song on an album be either certified platinum or gold. She achieved this feat with her debut album Invasion of Privacy.

While Nicki Minaj might want to call herself and her album Queen, Cardi seems to be the one reigning supreme.

Cardi took to social media to celebrate.

“BIG MOMMA BARDI !!! Im happy my album is amazing but I got sooo much pressure an anxiety cause I know I gotta kill with my second one,” she wrote on Instagram.

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space: nowrap;”>A post shared by CARDIVENOM (@iamcardib) on Dec 20, 2018 at 8:59am PST

Here’s the rundown:

“Bodak Yellow,” is seven times certified platinum

“I Like It,” which features J Balvin and Bad Bunny five times platinum.

“Bartier Cardi,” which features Offset, is double platinum.

“Ring,” “I Do,” and “Drip” certified platinum.

“Bickenhead,” “Money Bag,” “Get Up 10,” “Best Life,” “She Bad,” and “Thru Your Phone” are certified gold.

Cardi B’s bid for world domination is still picking up steam, with no signs of stopping any time soon.

This past April, she released Invasion of Privacy which was a follow up to her two previously released mixtapes: 2016’s Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 and 2017’s Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2.

Cardi B is officially having the greatest year ever.

Nominations are in for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, and the breakout star raked up noms in two rap categories.

The Bronx rapper’s history-making Billboard No. 1 hit “Bodak Yellow” is nominated for Best Rap performance and Best Rap song.

This is a major feat for the reality star turned rapper who rose to fame as a social media personality and cast member of Love & Hip-Hop: New York.

In February, Cardi signed a multi-million dollar recording contract with Atlantic Records. “Bodak Yellow,” her debut single, went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. She became the first female rapper to achieve this feat since Lauryn Hill—which was nearly 20 years ago.

This content was originally published here.

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kidsviral-blog · 6 years

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Meet Sage The Gemini, The Bay Area Rap Scene's Surprise Breakout Star

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/meet-sage-the-gemini-the-bay-area-rap-scenes-surprise-breakout-star/

Meet Sage The Gemini, The Bay Area Rap Scene's Surprise Breakout Star

The “Gas Pedal” rapper might be the first genuine pop-crossover star to come from this tight-knit, influential community. But if he looks like he’s not enjoying the ride, it’s because he’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Northern California.

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Photograph by Aylin Zafar for BuzzFeed

“Good luck, put some talcum powder on your nuts, and drink some water.” Sage the Gemini, a 21-year-old rapper from Fairfield, Calif., laughs as he reads aloud a text message from his friend IamSu, a fellow Bay Area rapper and producer named Sudan Ahmeer Williams. Su is only three years older than Sage, but he’s become an encouraging, older-brother-type figure in the past couple of years, and the two have recorded, performed, and traveled together as a part of HBK Gang (short for Heartbreak Gang), a crew of rappers, producers, and video directors that Su co-founded.

It’s late October 2013 and Sage — born Dominic Wynn Woods — is getting his hair cut in a greenroom backstage at BET before making his TV debut on 106 & Park. Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, Sage easily towers over most people, but his presence and movements feel more like that of an overgrown kid than anything intimidating. Toned and fit, he has the look of a heartthrob, and girls on social media coo over the jade-hued eyes that gave Sage his stage name. He’s joined in the room by his four dancers — Dmac, Chonkie, Liyah, and Wani — and his DJ, Lucci. Most of them are a bit younger than Sage, but they all grew up together in Fairfield and have been friends since high school.

Sage is the only member of the HBK crew with his own backup dancers — dance has always been an important part of growing up in the Bay, a crucial element of the area’s culture and energy, even if the best-known recent signature moves have come out of the L.A. hip-hop scene, where the “jerk” and “Cat Daddy” dance fads bloomed. But Sage’s two breakout hits, “Gas Pedal” and “Red Nose,” and their accompanying dances have resurrected dance in the Bay thanks to people uploading videos of their own routines to YouTube and Vine.

Seated around a TV screen in the BET greenroom, Sage’s crew watches his DJ Lucci check lighting and sound onstage. Lucci dances alone, turning side to side, his arms drumming up and down, like Sage does in the “Gas Pedal” video. Lucci’s hair is long, curly, and half-braided, and he’s unaware that his friends are watching him. “He just came out of the womb dancing!” Sage laughs. “The doctor ain’t even cut the umbilical cord, he’s already got it, swinging!” He jumps up and simulates coming out of the womb while dancing.

With his day-one friends, Sage is at ease — but he regularly alludes to a time when he was less comfortable and less accepted. “They used to call me Lil Bow Wow’s little brother when I was younger,” Sage tells his manager, Stretch, referring to the ‘00s kid rapper now known just as Bow Wow, and one of 106 & Park’s hosts. “Because I was light-skinned and my nose didn’t really fit my face. It was hecka funny because now those same people are gonna be watching and be like, ‘What the fuck?’”

Public appearances with famous people will be the norm for him over the next couple of months. He signed a major-label deal with Republic Records last summer, and since, his schedule has been filled with promo appearances at radio stations, tour dates with HBK, and performances at high schools, all pointing toward the March release of his debut album, Remember Me.

After a quick rehearsal, the group performs two songs during the show’s live taping: “Gas Pedal” — the single that caught Republic’s attention and has gone platinum since the label signed Sage, with almost 45 million views on YouTube. Justin Bieber even hopped on the official remix of the song for the album. His second hit, “Red Nose,” has been certified gold.

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Photograph by Aylin Zafar for BuzzFeed

After the performance, Bow Wow interviews Sage. He’s more self-deprecating than you might expect for a budding star, pointing out that he’s not “really rapping” seriously on “Red Nose.” “That’s just catchy stuff,” he says. He’s reluctant to step into the playboy role expected of good-looking, famous twentysomethings, but he’s also a confident romantic, telling Bow Wow that he’s ready to get married. “I been through a whole lot, and I don’t wanna just be runnin’ around on Twitter like, ‘Hey… come backstage,’ you know? I’ve been a loverboy since the seventh grade,” Sage tells Bow Wow.

Later, the crowd goes wild as Dmac teaches Bow Wow the “Gas Pedal” dance — a variation on the J12, a dance made up by a 19-year-old from Oakland, and which was popularized around the Bay Area by dance videos soundtracked by local rapper Clyde Carson’s song “Slow Down.” “Ahh, that was so cool!” one of the dancers, Wani, says as the crew leaves BET’s studio. As everyone else celebrates, Sage walks ahead, scrolling through Twitter on his phone. He says he wishes a few things were slightly different with his performance, but overall he’s happy.

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Photograph by Aylin Zafar for BuzzFeed

In early January, Sage, IamSu, and the rest of the HBK Gang take photos for a magazine feature story in the Berkeley Hills. That evening, after the HBK guys have gone home, Sage is sitting with his younger cousin Jodie and a handful of childhood friends at a Popeyes in Berkeley, everyone giggling as Sage walks back and forth across the restaurant, filling its small space with his long-limbed dancing. He does voices: impressions of friends, a wheezy Donald Duck. Later, pausing their conversation mid-sentence without skipping a beat, they tell an older woman she’s “very pretty” as she’s leaving. She’s flattered. Sage is charismatic, charming, and sweet, without it ever feeling over-the-top or disingenuous. He’s quick to compliment people, and he looks them straight in the eyes, earnestly, while he does it.

By having his first two singles sell really well, securing a nice major-label deal, and quickly recording an album that hasn’t been shelved, Sage flouts prevailing notions about what a rapper from the Bay Area can do. The region has long operated in its own kind of bubble, at the margins of the national hip-hop conversation. In the 1990s, “when people thought of ‘West Coast music,’ they’d think of L.A.,” says Sage’s manager Stretch. The Bay has produced a handful of nationally recognized acts over time, like the imaginative linguistic stylist E-40 and pimp-rap pioneer Too Short. More recently, labels flocked to the Bay in the mid ‘00s, signing acts like The Team and The Federation, who were associated with what was locally known as the hyphy movement.

None of those acts found enduring nationwide success, but you can still regularly hear hyphy-era tracks from Keak Da Sneak and E-40 on the radio in the Bay, where classics never go out of style and local tastes still rule the airwaves. “The Bay just marches to its own drum,” IamSu tells me on the phone in March. And, if uncredited, the influence of the Bay’s minimal, slapping production can be heard in today’s prevailing West Coast sound, the simple keyboard-plink productions of L.A.’s DJ Mustard. “That hyphy movement woke L.A. up,” E-40 tells me in December. But on the national scale it was always hard to get people to care. “We just get looked over [in the Bay].”

“Bay music has a lot more funk in it,” IamSu says. “It’s a lot looser … The whole movement is more expressive.” But if mid-2000s hyphy could sometimes veer goofy in its funkiness, Sage’s music is slick. He delivers his verses in a deadpan drawl and in a soft-spoken near-whisper. “Gas Pedal” is light and fun, but not at the expense of sounding sexy.

Clyde Carson, a former member of The Team whose 2012 Bay hit “Slow Down” inspired “Gas Pedal,” says that he immediately recognized a star quality in Sage — the kind that gives him a shot to break out of the Bay’s insular community. “I’m always hearing songs that kind of emulated our sound,” Carson tells me. “But it was something ‘bout him that I was like, this kid is … [With] this kid it might not just be the ‘Gas Pedal.’” Carson says Sage has a charisma that’s hard to come by for most artists. “His personality is big. I always tell him, ‘You have to go into acting and all that shit, man.’ I’m like, ‘Don’t waste that personality. Get your ass on TV and get all the money you can get.’”

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Courtesy of Sage the Gemini / Via instagram.com

Born in Hunter’s Point, San Francisco, Sage moved with his family to Fairfield in the North Bay when he was 7. “Everybody moved out because either we would’ve been dopeheads, dead, or in jail,” Sage told radio personality Sway last fall. In the suburbs, he found outlets for his showboat personality. In middle and high school, he recorded songs on his computer with a cheap plug-in microphone, acted in school and traveling stage plays, and made comedy videos that he posted to his own YouTube channel. “I would post a funny video, then another funny video, then a song. Then a funny video, then a song,” Sage says.

In high school, Sage and his little brother mowed lawns and cleaned garages to earn money to buy recording equipment, a detail he brings up on “Put Me On,” a song from Remember Me that’s dedicated to the naysayers in his hometown:

“I’m from Fairfield and n****s still mug me the hardest / Just because I can’t help you n****s be artists? / And got the nerve to tell me, ‘Don’t forget where I started’? / I know where I started / N***a, that’s the problem / Tryna buy equipment where money was the problem / I can outsmart ‘em / Me and my brother Cadence / Both 13, tryna clean n****s’ places / Just to buy a first microphone at Gordon’s.”

Fairfield is actually pretty remote; in the northeast corner of the Bay Area, up past Vallejo, it’s far from the center of the Bay’s rap scene. Sage grew up watching young crews of Bay rappers like The Team, whose 2004 single “It’s Gettin Hot” was a regional smash, and The Pack, the Berkeley crew of skater hippies from which enigmatic rapper Lil B emerged. Tucked away in Fairfield, watching other people rap like it was a team sport, he felt isolated and alone.

“People were just rude,” Sage’s cousin Jodie, who grew up acting in school and regional plays with Sage and learning about poetry from him, tells me in Berkeley in January. “They always had nice clothes and always had cars and money. We didn’t always have all of that. [We] couldn’t fit in with everybody.”

Sage was good-looking enough to model, even appearing in underwear campaigns. (He wouldn’t reveal what brands, but when I throw out Calvin Klein and Hanes, he says I’m “not far off.”) He remembers feeling ugly, and it seems he returns to this well of teenage frustration often, to propel himself. “Girls didn’t like me in school,” he says. “I didn’t have nice clothes.”

On Remember Me’s title track, he directs a taunting refrain at anyone who teased him: “Fuck the cool crowd, bitch, I’m a nerd.” And later: “They used to treat a n***a like a stepchild / I felt like that white dude on 8 Mile.” That Sage compares himself to Eminem doesn’t come off like a throwaway joke. Like Em, he dropped out of high school to focus solely on music, and now sees rap as a means to annihilate his opponents and prove doubters wrong. It seems that Sage wants to release a successful album, at least in part, to seek validation from the popular kids who brushed past him and the girls who dismissed him.

In 2012, after “Gas Pedal” started picking up steam in the Bay Area, Sage posted a video of thanks to his supporters on his YouTube channel. Sitting in the same bedroom where he recorded many of his comedy videos, shirtless, he dispensed some advice to young people looking to try to make it in rap. “For those who know me, you know my real name is Dominic Woods. I went to Clearwood, Dover, Fairfield High, and Rodriguez. If you was there with me, you would know a lot of people wasn’t with me,” he says earnestly into the camera. “If you’re out there and you want to rap and a lot of people isn’t with you, let ‘em go. Because take it from me, I got passed up by all the girls, all the n****s laughed at me when I wanted to get a collab and stuff — but we’re not here to talk about that, it’s all positivity.”

Now many of the naysayers who ignored Sage previously have emerged from the woodwork, as often happens at the dawn of someone’s success, asking for favors. On “Put Me On” from Remember Me, Sage raps about the pressure he feels from people who feel entitled to a piece of his success: “I can’t help you if I’m tryna help myself / Get off my chest, I can’t invest with no wealth / Like I said, most of y’all wasn’t there when I started / Might’ve ‘made it’ on paper / But I’m still ‘new artist.’”

Jodie says Sage wants people to work hard for themselves, not even giving Jodie, who’s pursuing an R&B career, a free handout to jump on his songs without first working for it. “They feel a certain type of way because he’s not saying, ‘Oh, yeah, let me put you on my song and help you get up there,’” Jodie explains. “But he did that to me, and I’m his own family. Because nobody gave him what he had,” Jodie says. (Sage later tells me that he’s kicked Jodie out of his house in an effort to motivate him. “He started getting too comfortable,” he says. “Eventually he can come back, but I want him to realize he needs to work for it.”)

Sage has been working at his music for years, and he fits right into HBK’s energetic group dynamic, but he’s still the new guy, and his popularity is a recent phenomenon. “He came up so fast, it’s crazy,” IamSu tells me later. “He was going through hella shit that took me years to find out, [and he went through it] in 10 months.”

“For [Sage] to be higher up than anyone in the Bay Area in such a short amount of time so quickly, it’s just amazing,” Jodie says, while stealing a French fry from Sage at Popeyes.

“I’m not bigger than Su, though,” Sage interrupts, shaking his head. That’s debatable — Su brought together HBK Gang and has landed several songs on the radio, but, on his own, he’s never released a single as successful as “Gas Pedal.” Still Sage sees him as his idol and biggest influence, even saying later that he still gets nervous around him.

So does Sage just not want to jinx it? He shakes his head again, looking down at the table: “I’m not bigger than Su.”

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Photograph by Aylin Zafar for BuzzFeed

Both Sage and Su have set themselves up to be big because they’re producers as well as rappers, according to Stretch, who’s been deeply entrenched in the Bay rap scene for well over a decade, most notably managing the late Bay legend hyphy icon, Mac Dre, in addition to acts like Mistah F.A.B. and Kreayshawn. “Hip-hop is moved by producers, and if you don’t have an identifying producer or an identifying sound, it’s not gonna work,” he says. “The problem you had before with the Bay Area was there were no set producers. Sage is a producer. Su’s a producer. They want to have more input and they helped shape the sound that we have today. It’s coming from a different place than just rapping on someone else’s beats.”

Sage and Su’s sound cherry-picks from mob music (the throbbing, slower sound that preceded hyphy in the Bay), hyphy’s up-tempo joyousness, and jerk music, the dance-driven L.A. sound that came after hyphy. And as Clyde Carson distinguishes it, Sage and Su’s sound has all the fun of hyphy’s original iteration, but none of its ties to violence. Sage seems to live by that philosophy. He doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, and he semi-jokingly calls himself a “safe thug.” He frequently talks about making music that will keep kids more interested in dancing than in handling guns. He was raised in the church and around women, he says, and it shows. He doesn’t allow girls backstage and has an almost old-fashioned, courtship-centric approach to relationships. In March, he told DJ Vlad that Kaylin Garcia, a model, dancer, and former cast member of Love and Hip-Hop, was his current love interest, but in subsequent radio interviews he’s revealed that they’ve met in person only recently. He tells me that the most special someone in his life is his daughter, Lai’lah, who’s 3.

Sage is betting that his underdog story and his update on the sounds of the Bay can appeal universally. But that mission comes with its own pressure. On the “Gas Pedal” remix featuring Justin Bieber, Sage hints at the weight placed on his shoulders: “It’s going up / No explaining the escalator / I’m tryna keep this alive / the Bay’s respirator.” And though Sage says that Republic hasn’t put any pressure on how his music is supposed to sound, the major label game still has rules: “It’s numbers. At the end of the day they want hits,” IamSu says. And Sage has a unique sense of just what in the Bay sound will resonate on a larger scale, he adds. He knows hits. “The kind of artist Sage is, he’s a superstar.”

Republic’s West Coast A&R Naim McNair, who signed acts like E-40, Clyde Carson, and The Federation to major labels years ago, signed Sage last year while scouting for new talent in the Bay. He says that the new generation may be laying a more lasting foundation than the prior hyphy movement. “I think other things come and go, but the kids from the Bay have definitely built a foundation in California that will last for a long time,” he says. “And there’s a lot of unity now.”

Yet there’s a natural star quality that his previous signees may not quite have had. “We definitely see him as someone who’s gonna push the needle, at this point he can do anything he wants. If he worked at it, he could play for the 49ers.” All that confidence, McNair says, stems from the years of hard work Sage endured in the isolation of his bedroom, and even still today. “He’s probably one of the most disciplined artists I’ve ever worked with.”

For as playful as he is in person, Sage is also his own harshest critic. With Remember Me, he tries to show he’s got the skill to stay in the game for more than two hits. “I’ll actually be rapping on [the album] instead of saying ‘spoon’ and ‘fork’ and ‘red nose.’ That catchy stuff that caught people’s attention; it’s like one of those things you have to do to break the atmosphere and get out into space.” But as much as he believes in his music, he’s still nervous and hesitant to boast or declare his album a success. He’s hesitant to make any assumptions about how his album will be received — or how he even feels about all of it — before there is a way to quantify its success. “I’ll see how the turnout is and then go from there.”

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Photograph by Macey Foronda for BuzzFeed

It’s Tuesday, March 25, the day of Remember Me’s release, and Sage is hanging out in the BuzzFeed’s New York headquarters — geeking out over seeing Law & Order star Christopher Meloni (who’s dropped by the office for an interview) and joking around with the life-size cutouts of celebrities around the office. He’s tired, though. It’s been a long day of promotional appearances and interviews and there’s more to go — a cycle that even seasoned veterans can struggle through, but is a true test for those new to the big-time. “It’s whatever,” he says. “I’ll be happy when I hit number one or I’m winning awards.” For Sage, there needs to be a clear metric to define just what that success looks like — haters can hate, but numbers can’t lie, and he made this album for the critics back home.

After taping a performance for David Letterman with IamSu, Sage zonks out in his hotel room. The last thing he wants to do is go out to a club, but there’s an album release party at trendy Meatpacking District spot 1 Oak that was arranged and put on his schedule. He’s performing two songs and there’s no way out of it.

1 Oak is bustling with groups of drunk out-of-towners, 19-year-old-looking city kids celebrating birthdays, and fashion models clad in skintight dresses and heels. A quick survey of the room reveals that no one is really there for the release party, nor do they know who Sage the Gemini is (at least not by name — they seem to recognize his songs later in the night). Robin Thicke bounds into the club with some young twentysomethings to join one of the groups near the small DJ stage. Sage shows up to the club around 1:50 a.m. with HBK rapper Kool John, their friend Rex, and Stretch. Kool John’s immediately having a good time, enjoying the drinks and orienting himself in the space, checking out a girl on top of a couch dancing against a wall. The crowd is getting down to a mix of twerk-friendly West Coast hyphy and ratchet songs, and the DJ takes the mic to announce that “Sage the Gemini is IN the buildiiiing!”

Sage, however, is sitting slouched over in the corner, his hoodie pulled over his head, absorbed in his phone. He hasn’t gotten much sleep in the past few days and he’s exhausted, and isn’t interested in talking to anyone. The juxtaposition between the debauchery and fun being had by Robin Thicke and whoever was willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a bottle of vodka and the lone Sage, whom the party was in honor of, is a little puzzling to watch.

Most 21-year-old rappers on the day of their debut would be reveling in all of this — if not the excess, then the spotlight. Sage stands behind the DJ booth on a small stage before he’s about to perform, observing the frenzy in front of him. He’s staring into space, cool and unaffected, and delivers his two hit songs with pitch-perfect tone and agility.

At the end of the set, Robin Thicke grabs a mic and starts chanting Sage’s name to the raucous crowd. Sage bursts into a huge smile, looking bewildered as he pulls out his phone to take a video of one of pop’s biggest stars not only acknowledging him, but giving him props. It’s one of those surreal moments that happen at the beginning of an artist’s career. Sage may not care about the perks and glamour, but he sure as hell cares about who’s paying attention.

View this image ›

Photograph by Aylin Zafar for BuzzFeed

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/azafar/sage-the-gemini-bay-area-interview

#bay area #hip hop #iamsu

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tamarovjo4 · 6 years

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Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Official Video)

Listen to the NEW mashup: https://MichaelJackson.lnk.to/scream_pl!ytp "Billie Jean" was the first short film made for 'Thriller,' the biggest-selling album of all time. The short film for this No. 1 single, directed by Steve Barron, made history as the first video by a black artist to receive heavy rotation on MTV, and was later ranked by the network as one of the 100 greatest music videos of all time. Buy/Listen to Thriller 25: Amazon - http://smarturl.it/mj_thriller25_amzn?IQid=ytd.mj.bj iTunes - http://smarturl.it/MJ_T25DE_OS?IQid=ytd.mj.bj Official Store - http://smarturl.it/MJ_T25DE_OS?IQid=ytd.mj.bj Spotify - http://smarturl.it/mj_thriller25_sptfy?IQid=ytd.mj.bj Written & Composed by Michael Jackson Produced by Quincy Jones for Quincy Jones Productions Co-Produced by Michael Jackson for MJJ Productions, Inc. From the album Thriller, released November 30, 1982 Released as a single January 2, 1983 THE SHORT FILM Director: Steve Barron Primary Production Location: Los Angeles, California Michael Jackson's short film for "Billie Jean" was the first of three short films produced for recordings from Thriller, which continues its reign as the biggest selling album of all time with worldwide sales in excess of 105 million as of June 1, 2016 and in December, 2015 became the first ever album to be awarded triple diamond status by the RIAA for US sales alone. The "Billie Jean" single reached No. 1 in 10 countries in the spring of 1983, including seven consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 - becoming the second-highest selling single in America that same year. "Billie Jean" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on April 4, 1983, and Platinum on February 4, 1989. The song won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance - Male, as well as an American Music Award for Favorite Single - Pop/Rock and was also named the Single of the Year on The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll in 1983. The short film featured a paparazzo attempting to photograph Jackson as he danced through an urban landscape. A specially created set featured steps and sidewalk tiles that lit up underneath Michael's feet. It is here that fans first saw some of Michael's best-known dance moves, such as spinning and landing on his toes. Many of Michael's steps and mannerisms in the video would become forever associated with The King of Pop. "hen the chorus hit.he sprung into this dance that was unlike anything I'd ever seen," director Steve Barron recounted of Jackson's choreography in the video. "It was just extraordinary, instinctive. 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drippeddaily · 6 years

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Album of the Year 2017 #18: 2 Chainz - Pretty Girls Like Trap Music

Artist: 2 Chainz

Album: Pretty Girls Like Trap Music

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Album Background

”It's always these beautiful girls who like this hustler – who you think would be attracted to a whole other type of music. But they like Migos, Future. You get with this girl, and you want to play Bryson Tiller. But she's like, "I want to hear Gucci." Shit. We're the pop stars. Trap rap is pop now. People's ears have adjusted to what we have to say and how we say it.”

-2 Chainz, Rolling Stone interview, June 2017

In July of this year, it was reported that hip hop and R&B music had officially surpassed rock ‘n’ roll as the most popular genre of music in the United States. Personally, I feel like rock had already been dethroned years ago and that rap’s dominance was only now made apparent by the implementation of streaming into the Billboard charting system, but nonetheless the shift has sparked debates over the relevance of the musical styles of generations past with millennials who, having grown up with rap and adjusting to it at a young age in a way their parents hadn’t, have essentially claimed the genre as the music of their generation. In the same way that my father’s generation chose Elvis and the Beatles over Frank Sinatra and the like, someone like 2 Chainz could be argued to have a more powerful hold on the youth culture of today than anyone with a guitar.

Like most people, my first experience with the man born Tauheed Epps was the Lil Wayne featuring “Duffle Bag Boy”, though as it was credited to Playaz Circle I didn’t realize it at the time. The rapper formerly known as Tity Boi made the shift to 2 Chainz not long thereafter, and by the time he released his T.R.U. Realigion mixtape in 2011 he was certifiably one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers in the world, a full decade and half after he’d started his career. The year after he released his major label debut Based on a T.R.U. Story, a platinum selling album in a pre-streaming era (no easy feat) with three major hit singles. History would dictate that Mr. Chainz would be able to ride off the success of this album to further hits and commercial viability in the years to come, and while his string of golden features on others’ tracks continued to flourish, his own solo material began to falter. B.O.A.T.S. II was released one year after its predecessor but sold less than half as many copies and failed to produce a top 40 single. For the next few years Tity released a few mixtapes and EPs, along with a collaborative project with Lil Wayne, but nothing seemed to resonate with audiences like his material in the early part of the decade had.

Suddenly, however, it became apparent that as trap music became more and more engrained into the mainstream consciousness, so too did 2 Chainz’s popularity begin to get a second wind of sorts. This is adeptly referenced in the title to his third studio album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music: it’s a testament to how far rap has come in its mission of taking over the airwaves in recent years and how, while the young women of yesteryear’s generation may have been more enamored with artists who were strictly pop, the more melodic style of trap music that has infiltrated the game this decade has taken pop’s place as the go-to music for the youth.

The general consensus surrounding 2 Chainz up until now was that he worked better as a feature and/or “punchline” rapper than a legitimate album artist. 2 Chainz perhaps recognized that, having fallen from his peak hype levels in the first half of the decade, he needed to put out something truly special to keep people interested in his music. As such, he chose to downplay the more humorous aspects of his verses on Pretty Girls and instead focus on the grittier, drug dealing aspects of his upbringing, along with the usual foray into pussy, money, weed and braggadocio that is almost a requirement for mainstream rap nowadays. He enlisted the help of prior collaborators Mike Will Made-It and Honorable C.N.O.T.E. to provide beats, alongside newcomers such as Murda Beatz and Buddah Bless and industry legends like Pharrell and Mike Dean, amongst others. There’s also a “who’s who” of 2017 mainstream rap on the features list, with Drake, Migos, Travis Scott, Swae Lee, Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Ty Dolla Sign and others all making appearances. He also utilized a unique promotional tactics for the record: he rented a “trap house” in Atlanta that he had painted completely pink and donned it with the album’s logo on the front, and also ran a “trap salon” for girls to get their nails done with song titles inspiring the designs.

Pretty Girls ended up becoming one of the biggest sleeper hits of the 2017 summer rap season. It sold over 100,000 album equivalent units in its first week in the United States and garnered 2 Chainz the highest critical praise he had received in his career up to that point. Less than 3 months after its release, it had been certified gold, his first RIAA certified record since his platinum selling debut. Pretty Girls has produced a run of hit singles that were mainstays on rap stations this year, and the album has been considered nothing but a success for Mr. Chainz.

But is it actually any good?

Review

Pretty Girls Like Trap Music begins with a few rapid piano hits and, ironically enough, a blazing guitar line that would be feel more at home in the rock music that trap artists like 2 Chainz had helped displace at the top of the charts. Tity uses the opener to reminisce about his past and the things he’s done to get him to where he is today. The subject matter fits the Mike Will production nicely and overall this serves as a great way to start the album off.

The title of the following track “Riverdale Rd” is a reference to a street in Atlanta, 2 Chainz’s hometown. The beat almost sounds like a trap reinterpretation of the Psycho soundtrack, courtesy of DJ Mano. Similar to the song preceding it, Tity makes reference in his lyrics to his younger days of hustling and drug dealing and how it contrasts with his life in the present day. This is undeniably one of the hardest tracks on the album.

“Good Drank”, the first official single that had previously appeared on 2016’s Hibachi for Lunch mixtape, follows next. This was the first song I’d heard off the project and it quickly became an obsession, mostly due to the damn near perfect synth lead that opens the song. The patented Mike Dean Magic™ is all over this thing: a beautiful concoction of drums and melodies that stick to your ear and refuse to leave. 2 Chainz’s verse follows the standard for what the majority of the album’s content will ultimately consist of: money, cars and drug dealing. Quavo’s hook is infectious (the “Nooo-ooo-ooo” melodies following the “no hot box” line are great in particular) and Gucci’s verse, while nothing spectacular, fits with the track.

The Travis Scott-featuring “4 AM” follows, with production from 2017’s most breakout producer Murda Beatz. Placing this woozy instrumental directly after “Good Drank” was a solid move as they almost feel like compliments to one another. Tity harkens back to the past again, “reminiscing ‘bout the trap, playin’ the first Carter” and references the projects he’s put out since B.O.A.T.S. II, namely a series of EPs and his collaborative project with Lil Wayne from the year before. La Flame’s performance on the chorus is pretty standard for him but given how awesome he generally is on hook duty this isn’t really a complaint. Could’ve benefitted from an actual verse from Travis but this is solid nonetheless.

“Door Swangin’” boasts the first of four Buddah Bless productions on the album. Pretty standard trap stuff on this one, both in terms of lyrics and music. The running theme of the album seems to be drug dealing first and foremost and that stays true here. The strings that come in from time to time sound really good too, but overall this one comes off as just decent.

The Nicki Minaj collaboration “Realize” follows next. To be honest, it’s getting difficult to write anything significant about 2 Chainz’s lyrics at this point. They fit the production and his voice and presence is commanding as ever, but the topics stick almost exclusively to talking about drugs, cars, money, etc, which can become tedious to write about after a while. The line at the end of his verse taking a shot at mumble rap was admittedly hilarious, though. Nicki’s hook goes well with the chilled out vibe of the production and her verse isn’t too bad either. Not incredible but it gets the job done.

With “Poor Fool” Mike Will Made-It continues to prove why he is in the upper echelon of hip hop producers at the moment with keyboard plinks in the beat that sound like a malfunctioning children’s toy and brooding synth lines underneath. Swae Lee hops on the chorus and it’s one of the best on the record, further cementing himself as one of the best go-to rappers for a hook right now. Swae and Chainz reference how their mothers reacted to their sons dealings in the street, even though the money they would have been earning through their hustling ways was what was helping to keep food on the table. All in all this shit bangs; a definite highlight.

“Big Amount” originally dropped on 2 Chainz’s 2016 mixtape Daniel Son; Necklace Don and the success of the track prompted him to include it on Pretty Girls as a bonus track for the digital version. Buddah Bless’s contribution is significantly better than the preceding “Door Swangin’”: as far as I can tell, this was one of the first contributions to the flute rap trend that wound up dominating most of 2017. Some of Chainz’s best lines on the album end up here (the “Shawty ride like an equestrian” line kills me every time) and Drake’s contribution works really well too. A solid track all around.

Arguably the biggest single off the album, “It’s a Vibe” was a staple on hip hop stations this year and it’s not hard to see why. Murda Beatz’s smooth mid-paced production features irresistible guitar licks and 2 Chainz flows over it flawlessly, lending one of his best verses on the album to this track. Ty Dolla Sign, Trey Songz and Jhene Aiko provide vocals to flesh things out. In comparison to the other singles I’d probably take “Good Drank” and “4 AM” over this one, but that just comes down to personal preference; it’s still a chill ass song regardless.

Honorable C.N.O.T.E. provides an absolutely gorgeous backdrop on “Rolls Royce Bitch”, once again employing the use of guitar. Next to “Good Drank” and two other tracks to be mentioned later, this may be my favorite beat on the entire record. Tity starts the track telling the listener to believe in themselves first and foremost and if they they can make their dreams come true. The rest of the record is spent describing his wealth and how he came to acquire it. This is an absolute pleasure to listen to and an easy highlight.

“Sleep When U Die” is another Buddah Bless production; this one sounds closer to “Door Swangin’” than “Big Amount”. Tity compares his clothing to Ric Flair’s and his hair to James Brown’s. Pretty standard trap here; nothing more to say.

Without even realizing it I sort of knew instinctually that “Trap Check” was probably a Buddah Bless beat before I checked the production credits, and sure enough that turns out to be the case. Again, this stuff is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as 2017 trap goes until the last 30 seconds, where the beat switches to the furious horns of T.I.’s “ASAP”, a welcome switch-up that finishes the track off nicely. More of the same content from Tity on the lyrical side of things, though the “I ain’t talkin’ Nike when I’m talkin’ bout a check” line always manages to get a smile out of me.

“Blue Cheese”, featuring rap’s hottest trio at the moment, boasts what is arguably the best beat on the entire album. K Swisha laces the track with a bed of hypnotizing synths that completely envelop the listener; the effect always gives me a feeling of being underwater for some reason. Quavo’s chorus here is just as irresistible as “Good Drank” was and everyone plays their part to make the song a success. There is one complaint to be made with this track, however: Tity only gets one 45 second verse at the start with Quavo, Offset and Takeoff dominating the rest of the cut. It feels more like a Migos song featuring 2 Chainz than the other way around, which is disappointing given it’s supposed to be a 2 Chainz album, but I digress.

Tity decides to go on an “OG Kush Diet” on the next track to cope with the death of his close friend (at least for the chorus, anyway; the verses revert back to his usual braggadocios, materialistic style). Production on this one is decent to start, but things change halfway through where the beat has a reggae-tinged switch-up to keep things interesting. The pitch shifting on 2 Chainz’s voice at the end of the track is a nice touch also.

Next we’ve got the Pharrell Williams-produced “Bailan”, and goddamn this shit is smooth! 25 years on and Skateboard P is still a genius behind the boards. This goes over a lot better than their previous collaboration “Feds Watching”: whereas that cut felt like a misguided attempt at Pharrell adjusting himself to 2 Chainz’s typical production style, the roles are reversed on this cut and, surprisingly enough, Tity sounds great over this despite it being a lil outside of his usual territory when it comes to production choices. A full length 2 Chainz-Pharrell collaboration would be more than welcome if the results stay consistent with this one.

The album saves the best for last with “Burglar Bars”, a poignant cut that feels more “traditionally” hip hop than anything else on the record. Near the end of the song Tity describes it as “soulful trap music” and his assertion couldn’t be any more on point. It’s a beautifully produced gem of a track from M16 and Mike Dean, sampling Barbara Jean English’s “You’re Gonna Need Somebody to Love You”, with Monica providing backing vocals along with the intro and a closing verse. 2 Chainz’s lyrics are still drug and money-focused, but he also intersperses references to his contemporaries and reflects on how far his rap career has come. All in all, it’s a wonderful closer, and if it’s a sign of things to come (considering 2 Chainz has been working on music with 90’s era legend Q-Tip as of late) then I’m all for hearing what Mr. Chainz has up his sleeve next.

Is Pretty Girls Like Trap Music the best album of the year? Not for me, personally, but having grown up listening to guys like Jay and Em in my early years and getting into underground/conscious/backpack stuff in my teens I’ll probably always be more inclined towards something that’s more lyrically focused anyway. Nonetheless, I can definitively say as someone who’s critical of a lot of the trap that comes out nowadays this was a pleasure to listen to.

I’ve heard some complain about the lack of humor that was prevalent in 2 Chainz’s earlier projects compared to this, and admittedly, as I started reviewing this album, I found it to be increasingly difficult to find anything to really say about 2 Chainz’s bars on this one. They all revolve around the usual trap-standard subject matter that one expects from a 2 Chainz record, and after awhile it can be hard to say something new or original about them. His flow and his presence are still more than intact and lyrics aren't a huge point of emphasis for me when listening to this kind of music anyway; plus, tracks like "Burglar Bars" show that Tity doesn't need to do his usual funnier style to pull off some solid verses. It’s obvious that he wanted to use Pretty Girls as his chance to show people that he isn’t just a punchline rapper and that he can be serious about his music when he chooses to be.

Like most trap albums, the real highlight of the record is the production, and in this regard Pretty Girls is typically fantastic. Aside from some uninspired Buddah Bless productions everything on the record is extremely memorable and endlessly creative: the excellent guitar lines on "Saturday Night", "It's a Vibe" and especially "Rolls Royce Bitch", the nightmarish feel of "Riverdale Rd" and "Poor Fool", the indelible melodies of "Good Drank" and "4 AM", the smooth ecstasy of "Blue Cheese" and "Bailan", and capping the album off with the epic "Burglar Bars", the songs are expertly produced and really lend themselves to making the record what it is.

This was my first experience with a 2 Chainz project so I’m not totally sure how it compares to his other work, but if this is a sign of things to come, I’m very excited to hear what else he does in this lil “late career renaissance” he’s got going on right now.

Favorite Songs

Burglar Bars

Good Drank

Rolls Royce Bitch

Bailan

Blue Cheese

Favorite Lyrics

”Shawty ride like an equestrian” -Big Amount

”I give a fuck about thesaurus rappers" -Burglar Bars

”Used to drive a Porsche ‘til I found out it was made by Volkswagen” -OG Kush Diet

Discussion Questions

• Do you feel like the album would have been better if 2 Chainz had used his more humorous style more often?

• How does 2 Chainz compare with other rappers in their late 30s and beyond who are still putting out music today?

• How would you like to see 2 Chainz progress with his next record?

Tomorrow we'll have u/vulcan24 writing about Death Grips’ “Steroids” EP

Artist: 2 ChainzAlbum: Pretty Girls Like Trap MusicListen:YouTubeSpotifyApple MusicGoogle Play MusicTIDALAlbum Background”It's always these beautiful girls who like this hustler – who you think would be attracted to a whole other type of music. But they like Migos, Future. You get with this girl, and you want to play Bryson Tiller. But she's like, "I want to hear Gucci." Shit. We're the pop stars. Trap rap is pop now. People's ears have adjusted to what we have to say and how we say it.”-2 Chainz, Rolling Stone interview, June 2017 In July of this year, it was reported that hip hop and R&B music had officially surpassed rock ‘n’ roll as the most popular genre of music in the United States. Personally, I feel like rock had already been dethroned years ago and that rap’s dominance was only now made apparent by the implementation of streaming into the Billboard charting system, but nonetheless the shift has sparked debates over the relevance of the musical styles of generations past with millennials who, having grown up with rap and adjusting to it at a young age in a way their parents hadn’t, have essentially claimed the genre as the music of their generation. In the same way that my father’s generation chose Elvis and the Beatles over Frank Sinatra and the like, someone like 2 Chainz could be argued to have a more powerful hold on the youth culture of today than anyone with a guitar. Like most people, my first experience with the man born Tauheed Epps was the Lil Wayne featuring “Duffle Bag Boy”, though as it was credited to Playaz Circle I didn’t realize it at the time. The rapper formerly known as Tity Boi made the shift to 2 Chainz not long thereafter, and by the time he released his T.R.U. Realigion mixtape in 2011 he was certifiably one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers in the world, a full decade and half after he’d started his career. The year after he released his major label debut Based on a T.R.U. Story, a platinum selling album in a pre-streaming era (no easy feat) with three major hit singles. History would dictate that Mr. Chainz would be able to ride off the success of this album to further hits and commercial viability in the years to come, and while his string of golden features on others’ tracks continued to flourish, his own solo material began to falter. B.O.A.T.S. II was released one year after its predecessor but sold less than half as many copies and failed to produce a top 40 single. For the next few years Tity released a few mixtapes and EPs, along with a collaborative project with Lil Wayne, but nothing seemed to resonate with audiences like his material in the early part of the decade had. Suddenly, however, it became apparent that as trap music became more and more engrained into the mainstream consciousness, so too did 2 Chainz’s popularity begin to get a second wind of sorts. This is adeptly referenced in the title to his third studio album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music: it’s a testament to how far rap has come in its mission of taking over the airwaves in recent years and how, while the young women of yesteryear’s generation may have been more enamored with artists who were strictly pop, the more melodic style of trap music that has infiltrated the game this decade has taken pop’s place as the go-to music for the youth. The general consensus surrounding 2 Chainz up until now was that he worked better as a feature and/or “punchline” rapper than a legitimate album artist. 2 Chainz perhaps recognized that, having fallen from his peak hype levels in the first half of the decade, he needed to put out something truly special to keep people interested in his music. As such, he chose to downplay the more humorous aspects of his verses on Pretty Girls and instead focus on the grittier, drug dealing aspects of his upbringing, along with the usual foray into pussy, money, weed and braggadocio that is almost a requirement for mainstream rap nowadays. He enlisted the help of prior collaborators Mike Will Made-It and Honorable C.N.O.T.E. to provide beats, alongside newcomers such as Murda Beatz and Buddah Bless and industry legends like Pharrell and Mike Dean, amongst others. There’s also a “who’s who” of 2017 mainstream rap on the features list, with Drake, Migos, Travis Scott, Swae Lee, Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Ty Dolla Sign and others all making appearances. He also utilized a unique promotional tactics for the record: he rented a “trap house” in Atlanta that he had painted completely pink and donned it with the album’s logo on the front, and also ran a “trap salon” for girls to get their nails done with song titles inspiring the designs. Pretty Girls ended up becoming one of the biggest sleeper hits of the 2017 summer rap season. It sold over 100,000 album equivalent units in its first week in the United States and garnered 2 Chainz the highest critical praise he had received in his career up to that point. Less than 3 months after its release, it had been certified gold, his first RIAA certified record since his platinum selling debut. Pretty Girls has produced a run of hit singles that were mainstays on rap stations this year, and the album has been considered nothing but a success for Mr. Chainz. But is it actually any good? ReviewPretty Girls Like Trap Music begins with a few rapid piano hits and, ironically enough, a blazing guitar line that would be feel more at home in the rock music that trap artists like 2 Chainz had helped displace at the top of the charts. Tity uses the opener to reminisce about his past and the things he’s done to get him to where he is today. The subject matter fits the Mike Will production nicely and overall this serves as a great way to start the album off. The title of the following track “Riverdale Rd” is a reference to a street in Atlanta, 2 Chainz’s hometown. The beat almost sounds like a trap reinterpretation of the Psycho soundtrack, courtesy of DJ Mano. Similar to the song preceding it, Tity makes reference in his lyrics to his younger days of hustling and drug dealing and how it contrasts with his life in the present day. This is undeniably one of the hardest tracks on the album. “Good Drank”, the first official single that had previously appeared on 2016’s Hibachi for Lunch mixtape, follows next. This was the first song I’d heard off the project and it quickly became an obsession, mostly due to the damn near perfect synth lead that opens the song. The patented Mike Dean Magic™ is all over this thing: a beautiful concoction of drums and melodies that stick to your ear and refuse to leave. 2 Chainz’s verse follows the standard for what the majority of the album’s content will ultimately consist of: money, cars and drug dealing. Quavo’s hook is infectious (the “Nooo-ooo-ooo” melodies following the “no hot box” line are great in particular) and Gucci’s verse, while nothing spectacular, fits with the track. The Travis Scott-featuring “4 AM” follows, with production from 2017’s most breakout producer Murda Beatz. Placing this woozy instrumental directly after “Good Drank” was a solid move as they almost feel like compliments to one another. Tity harkens back to the past again, “reminiscing ‘bout the trap, playin’ the first Carter” and references the projects he’s put out since B.O.A.T.S. II, namely a series of EPs and his collaborative project with Lil Wayne from the year before. La Flame’s performance on the chorus is pretty standard for him but given how awesome he generally is on hook duty this isn’t really a complaint. Could’ve benefitted from an actual verse from Travis but this is solid nonetheless. “Door Swangin’” boasts the first of four Buddah Bless productions on the album. Pretty standard trap stuff on this one, both in terms of lyrics and music. The running theme of the album seems to be drug dealing first and foremost and that stays true here. The strings that come in from time to time sound really good too, but overall this one comes off as just decent. The Nicki Minaj collaboration “Realize” follows next. To be honest, it’s getting difficult to write anything significant about 2 Chainz’s lyrics at this point. They fit the production and his voice and presence is commanding as ever, but the topics stick almost exclusively to talking about drugs, cars, money, etc, which can become tedious to write about after a while. The line at the end of his verse taking a shot at mumble rap was admittedly hilarious, though. Nicki’s hook goes well with the chilled out vibe of the production and her verse isn’t too bad either. Not incredible but it gets the job done. With “Poor Fool” Mike Will Made-It continues to prove why he is in the upper echelon of hip hop producers at the moment with keyboard plinks in the beat that sound like a malfunctioning children’s toy and brooding synth lines underneath. Swae Lee hops on the chorus and it’s one of the best on the record, further cementing himself as one of the best go-to rappers for a hook right now. Swae and Chainz reference how their mothers reacted to their sons dealings in the street, even though the money they would have been earning through their hustling ways was what was helping to keep food on the table. All in all this shit bangs; a definite highlight. “Big Amount” originally dropped on 2 Chainz’s 2016 mixtape Daniel Son; Necklace Don and the success of the track prompted him to include it on Pretty Girls as a bonus track for the digital version. Buddah Bless’s contribution is significantly better than the preceding “Door Swangin’”: as far as I can tell, this was one of the first contributions to the flute rap trend that wound up dominating most of 2017. Some of Chainz’s best lines on the album end up here (the “Shawty ride like an equestrian” line kills me every time) and Drake’s contribution works really well too. A solid track all around. Arguably the biggest single off the album, “It’s a Vibe” was a staple on hip hop stations this year and it’s not hard to see why. Murda Beatz’s smooth mid-paced production features irresistible guitar licks and 2 Chainz flows over it flawlessly, lending one of his best verses on the album to this track. Ty Dolla Sign, Trey Songz and Jhene Aiko provide vocals to flesh things out. In comparison to the other singles I’d probably take “Good Drank” and “4 AM” over this one, but that just comes down to personal preference; it’s still a chill ass song regardless. Honorable C.N.O.T.E. provides an absolutely gorgeous backdrop on “Rolls Royce Bitch”, once again employing the use of guitar. Next to “Good Drank” and two other tracks to be mentioned later, this may be my favorite beat on the entire record. Tity starts the track telling the listener to believe in themselves first and foremost and if they they can make their dreams come true. The rest of the record is spent describing his wealth and how he came to acquire it. This is an absolute pleasure to listen to and an easy highlight. “Sleep When U Die” is another Buddah Bless production; this one sounds closer to “Door Swangin’” than “Big Amount”. Tity compares his clothing to Ric Flair’s and his hair to James Brown’s. Pretty standard trap here; nothing more to say. Without even realizing it I sort of knew instinctually that “Trap Check” was probably a Buddah Bless beat before I checked the production credits, and sure enough that turns out to be the case. Again, this stuff is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as 2017 trap goes until the last 30 seconds, where the beat switches to the furious horns of T.I.’s “ASAP”, a welcome switch-up that finishes the track off nicely. More of the same content from Tity on the lyrical side of things, though the “I ain’t talkin’ Nike when I’m talkin’ bout a check” line always manages to get a smile out of me. “Blue Cheese”, featuring rap’s hottest trio at the moment, boasts what is arguably the best beat on the entire album. K Swisha laces the track with a bed of hypnotizing synths that completely envelop the listener; the effect always gives me a feeling of being underwater for some reason. Quavo’s chorus here is just as irresistible as “Good Drank” was and everyone plays their part to make the song a success. There is one complaint to be made with this track, however: Tity only gets one 45 second verse at the start with Quavo, Offset and Takeoff dominating the rest of the cut. It feels more like a Migos song featuring 2 Chainz than the other way around, which is disappointing given it’s supposed to be a 2 Chainz album, but I digress. Tity decides to go on an “OG Kush Diet” on the next track to cope with the death of his close friend (at least for the chorus, anyway; the verses revert back to his usual braggadocios, materialistic style). Production on this one is decent to start, but things change halfway through where the beat has a reggae-tinged switch-up to keep things interesting. The pitch shifting on 2 Chainz’s voice at the end of the track is a nice touch also. Next we’ve got the Pharrell Williams-produced “Bailan”, and goddamn this shit is smooth! 25 years on and Skateboard P is still a genius behind the boards. This goes over a lot better than their previous collaboration “Feds Watching”: whereas that cut felt like a misguided attempt at Pharrell adjusting himself to 2 Chainz’s typical production style, the roles are reversed on this cut and, surprisingly enough, Tity sounds great over this despite it being a lil outside of his usual territory when it comes to production choices. A full length 2 Chainz-Pharrell collaboration would be more than welcome if the results stay consistent with this one. The album saves the best for last with “Burglar Bars”, a poignant cut that feels more “traditionally” hip hop than anything else on the record. Near the end of the song Tity describes it as “soulful trap music” and his assertion couldn’t be any more on point. It’s a beautifully produced gem of a track from M16 and Mike Dean, sampling Barbara Jean English’s “You’re Gonna Need Somebody to Love You”, with Monica providing backing vocals along with the intro and a closing verse. 2 Chainz’s lyrics are still drug and money-focused, but he also intersperses references to his contemporaries and reflects on how far his rap career has come. All in all, it’s a wonderful closer, and if it’s a sign of things to come (considering 2 Chainz has been working on music with 90’s era legend Q-Tip as of late) then I’m all for hearing what Mr. Chainz has up his sleeve next. Is Pretty Girls Like Trap Music the best album of the year? Not for me, personally, but having grown up listening to guys like Jay and Em in my early years and getting into underground/conscious/backpack stuff in my teens I’ll probably always be more inclined towards something that’s more lyrically focused anyway. Nonetheless, I can definitively say as someone who’s critical of a lot of the trap that comes out nowadays this was a pleasure to listen to. I’ve heard some complain about the lack of humor that was prevalent in 2 Chainz’s earlier projects compared to this, and admittedly, as I started reviewing this album, I found it to be increasingly difficult to find anything to really say about 2 Chainz’s bars on this one. They all revolve around the usual trap-standard subject matter that one expects from a 2 Chainz record, and after awhile it can be hard to say something new or original about them. His flow and his presence are still more than intact and lyrics aren't a huge point of emphasis for me when listening to this kind of music anyway; plus, tracks like "Burglar Bars" show that Tity doesn't need to do his usual funnier style to pull off some solid verses. It’s obvious that he wanted to use Pretty Girls as his chance to show people that he isn’t just a punchline rapper and that he can be serious about his music when he chooses to be. Like most trap albums, the real highlight of the record is the production, and in this regard Pretty Girls is typically fantastic. Aside from some uninspired Buddah Bless productions everything on the record is extremely memorable and endlessly creative: the excellent guitar lines on "Saturday Night", "It's a Vibe" and especially "Rolls Royce Bitch", the nightmarish feel of "Riverdale Rd" and "Poor Fool", the indelible melodies of "Good Drank" and "4 AM", the smooth ecstasy of "Blue Cheese" and "Bailan", and capping the album off with the epic "Burglar Bars", the songs are expertly produced and really lend themselves to making the record what it is. This was my first experience with a 2 Chainz project so I’m not totally sure how it compares to his other work, but if this is a sign of things to come, I’m very excited to hear what else he does in this lil “late career renaissance” he’s got going on right now. Favorite SongsBurglar BarsGood DrankRolls Royce BitchBailanBlue CheeseFavorite Lyrics”Shawty ride like an equestrian” -Big Amount”I give a fuck about thesaurus rappers" -Burglar Bars”Used to drive a Porsche ‘til I found out it was made by Volkswagen” -OG Kush DietDiscussion Questions• Do you feel like the album would have been better if 2 Chainz had used his more humorous style more often?• How does 2 Chainz compare with other rappers in their late 30s and beyond who are still putting out music today?• How would you like to see 2 Chainz progress with his next record?Tomorrow we'll have u/vulcan24 writing about Death Grips’ “Steroids” EP

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