me against the world album talking about new york

Augustine of gangster rap: after leading a life of sin, he wants to steer others away from his own mistakes. Now, for most of 'Me Against the World,' 2Pac comes across as a St. He framed it as a dead-end response to ghetto desperation, but he also reveled in narratives of gang battles and cop killing. Since his first solo album in 1991, 2Pac has been ambivalent about gangster behavior. In 'Temptations,' he's a touring rap star: 'Even though I'm known for my one-night stands/ I want to be an honest man.' And in 'Can U Get Away,' he tries to romance a woman away from an abusive boyfriend, promising genuine love. There's a tribute to his hardworking single mother: 'Even as a crack fiend, Mamma/ You always was a black queen.' And there are two attempts at seduction. When women turn up, 2Pac is far more respectful than most gangster rappers. It's a long, slow grind while 2Pac doesn't sing, other voices do, providing smooth melody. Dre's productions others mix viscous bass lines and overlapping vocals like Parliament-Funkadelic. Some songs pick up the slow-rolling bass and the almost casual synthesizer hooks of Dr. The music has a fatalistic calm, in a commercial mold. Where early gangster rap celebrated machismo, elegies have been appearing for the last few years, notably Ice Cube's 1990 'Dead Homiez.' 'Me Against the World' revolves around memories and mourning. The album will surprise anyone expecting a tough guy's most savage boasts. The most relevant track begins, 'Who you calling rapist?' and then flings accusations in all directions: at 'devils,' at 'crooked cops,' at people who are 'jealous of a brother when he rise.''It's hell where they're sending me,' 2Pac raps. 'If I'm insane, it's the fame made a brother change,' 2Pac raps at one point, without follow-up. But that's as specific as the album gets about Shakur's situation. 'Me Against the World' (Inter scope CD and cassette) starts out with simulated news bulletins (about the shooting, not the sexual abuse trial). As other rappers strive to prove their 'realness,' 2Pac has become a certified outlaw, with bullet wounds and a one-and-a-half- to four-and-a-half-year prison sentence to prove it. His newest fans were drawn by reports of his conviction for sexual abuse, a few days after he'd been shot in a robbery at a Manhattan recording studio. NOTORIETY SELLS: TUPAC (2Pac) Shakur's new album, 'Me Against the World,' zoomed to No.

Me against the world album talking about new york