This is part two of Inside Pulse Music’s groundbreaking 10-part series on the impact and influence of Tupac Shakur.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
After months of tension, posturing and deadlines?The United States of America and her allies began an aggressive assault against the forces of Saddam Hussein. The “war” (32 days of bombing and a five day ground fracas) was relatively quick and decisive as we “only” lost 390 of our boys, while the casualties for “the enemy” numbered between 100,000 and 200,000. Back home, President Bush rode the jingoistic wave to obscenely high levels of public support?while phrases such as “Gulf War Syndrome” were a few years (and a few hundred government denials) from ever being taken seriously. The year was 1991 and, without any serious contenders on the horizon, Bush was expected to skate into a second term.
Then, a funny thing happened on the way to four more years of Republican Rule.
As the last images of scud missiles and Wolf Blitzer flickered off our TV screens, someone pissed in our lemonade and reminded us that America was in the grips of a terrible recession. As the election scene heated up into 1992, the Republican ticket, with Vice President Dan Quayle as the mouthpiece, veered from the discussion of our economy and went toe-to-toe with America’s entertainment industry.
It doesn’t help matters when prime time TV has Murphy Brown — a character who supposedly epitomizes today’s intelligent, highly paid, professional woman — mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘lifestyle choice’. I know it is not fashionable to talk about moral values, but we need to do it.
– Dan Quayle, May 29, 1992
The odd decision to lecture the country on the immorality of a fictional character was publicly lampooned nationwide, so the Vice President turned the administration’s attention to a battle that was already being fought.
Actor/Conservative Activist Charlton Heston had made an impassioned plea to Time-Warner Incorporated to cease the sales of Ice-T’s controversial Cop Killer LP in July 1992. A few months later, on the heels of the death of a Texas State Trooper (whose killer was allegedly influenced by Tupac’s 2Pacalypse Now album), the Vice President of these United States made the following claim towards that release:
This album has no place in our society.
Tupac Shakur was already gaining the reputation as a man who always seemed to find trouble. Yet, when trouble takes the form of the second most powerful man in the world, an entire hip hop community awaited Tupac’s rebuttal. On February 1, 1993, less than two weeks after the inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton as the 42nd President, Pac released Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..
Holler If Ya Hear Me – Brash and boisterous, the production on this one blends perfectly with the urgency in Pac’s flow. Pac’s lyrical game is stepped up and improved from most of his first album, even though the barely-there jab at Dan Quayle was obviously tacked on at the last minute.
So we live like caged beasts
Waitin for the day to let the rage free
Still me, till they kill me
I love it when they fear me
Pac’s Theme – A brief interlude that features a loop of Dan Quayle’s anti-Tupac quotes juxtaposed with words from a defiant Pac.
Point The Finga – A very personal and direct “Fuck You” to the police, the media, but more importantly, to what Pac perceives as the institutionalized racism still running rampant in society. He directly references his very public legal drama in the first verse.
And everyday I read the paper there’s another lie
They show my picture for the crimes of another guy
Something 2 Die 4 – Another odd interlude where Pac’s voice is distorted to a fraction of its normal speed, the message is pretty much in the title. While the gesture is sincere, it would have been better to see Pac turn the scraps of this skit into an actual full-length cut.
Last Wordz – Gangsta pioneers Ice Cube and Ice-T join Pac on a track that unintentionally veers into self-parody. Cube’s first verse sounds like a Predator outtake, while T’s lines about shooting his enemy’s mother completely undermine Pac’s last verse of uniting against a universal wrong.
Can’t make a Black life, don’t take a Black life
Souljah’s Revenge – A bizarre three-minute track that has Pac in a duet?with himself. The beat is pretty tight, as it mixes drums and some rapid-fire scratches. Lyrically, it doesn’t really go anywhere beyond tellin’ us, over and over, that the cops, critics and censors are the “real” enemies.
Peep Game – Another in a depressing stretch of mediocre tracks, this one primarily serves to give Pac associate, Threat, a little mic time. The generic gangsta themes are sandwiched between ridiculous grade school rhymes like “goody goody gumdrops” and “cuckoo for cocoa puffs”.
The fame can’t change what the game maintains.
Strugglin’ – Pac only spits on the third verse, with Live Squad handling the first two. This one sounds like every other gangsta track that was dropped during this time frame as Live Squad has an odd growling flow bordering on incomprehensible. The slight hint of dance hall flavor doesn’t help matters, either.
Much too high to read the signs, I’m blind
Clickin on the nine, out to get mine
Guess Who’s Back – Special Ed lends a crazy beat filled with drums and sirens as Pac stakes claim to his position in the game. This cut also allows for some blunt honesty about the few “benefits” of the rap game and price of success.
And if I find that the track sound def
I catch wreck till I lose my breath
Representin’ 93 – A very simple drum beat with lyrics that finish up better than they start out?unless you can find an actual good example of a “Dunkin’ Donuts” reference. The second verse, in particular, stands out as Pac gives high-speed shout outs to dozens of his peers and contemporaries.
Rock shells hit. Raise a fist so they know who made the hit.
Keep Ya Head Up – One of the two huge breakthrough hits from this album, this is easily one of Tupac’s most recognizable and finest efforts. An uplifting track that serves as an ode to Black women, especially single mothers. It makes effective use of a Roger Troutman sample, as well.
But please don’t cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive but don’t forget, girl? keep your head up
And when he tells you, you ain’t nuttin don’t believe him
And if he can’t learn to love you, you should leave him
Cuz, sista, you don’t need him
Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z. – The plodding beat isn’t all that effective, but Tupac makes the best of it on this track that plays as both a cautionary tale on getting caught up in the game and a warning not trust anyone.
Cuz in the end, I knew that I would have it all
while non-believers, were prayin’ for my downfall
And some would call, and tell me that they wish me well
but in my heart, I’m knowin’ that they wish me hell
The Streetz R Deathrow – An eerie track that belies its up-tempo beat; this one incorporates numerous references to dying on the streets and the uncertainty of living to see another day.
I just murdered a man; I’m even more stressed
Wearin’ a vest
Hopin’ that they’re aimin’ at my chest
I Get Around – Is this track evidence of Pac’s lyrical diversity?his conflicting nature?or his hypocrisy? The second of the two smash hit singles from this album, the subject matter couldn’t be farther away from that of Keep Ya Head Up. It’s still a fun party-startin’ track that holds up remarkably well 10 years later. However, is it too much of a stretch to think that the same men who share the mindset of this song are the ones who are disrespecting the women that Tupac salutes earlier on this album?
Fingertips on her hips as I dip, gotta get a tight grip, don’t slip
Loose lips sink ships, it’s a trip
I love the way she licks her lips, see me jockin’
Put a little twist in her hips cause I’m watchin’
Papa’z Song – Easily the best of the non-mainstream singles, Pac absolutely goes off on fathers who abandon their responsibilities and desert their families. Leaning heavily on his own personal experience, this could almost be considered something of a prequel to Dear Mama. A dense layer of drums and keys serves as the production foundation.
Had to play catch by myself, what a sorry sight
A pitiful plight, so I pray for a starry night
Please send me a pops before puberty
the things I wouldn’t do to see a piece of family unity
5 Deadly Venomz – This hyper-violent track only serves to give Treach and Live Squad some undeserved mic time. Probably the worst cut of the album, as its apparent message is to inform the listener how many ways these guys can kill you.
Strictly For? was released right in the middle of the three-year rap reign of Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre and Death Row Records. The cutting edge G-Funk sound of Andre Young and company was making other albums sound obsolete weeks before their street date.
Unfortunately, the highly anticipated Dan Quayle shots were treated no differently than if he were just some corner rapper who had dissed Pac on a mixtape. They don’t hurt this effort, but after the third or fourth jab?it just gets old. Pac was making some improvements lyrically, but this album is essentially a giant step sideways for a man who would finally have his defining LP with his next release.
As noted above, President Bush and Vice President Quayle were voted out of office in November of 1992. While some have credited the record turnout of the so-called “MTV Generation” as a contributing factor, I’ll leave that discussion for another author.
This much is certain: With two albums, a cult classic movie and an outlaw reputation under his belt before the age of 22?the future looked both bright and clouded. It would be two more years before Tupac’s next release. In those 24 months, he made two more movies, hooked up on a Death Row Records release, got shot and went to jail.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Next, in Part III of Countdown to Resurrection, we’ll examine the classic Me Against The World album and the culmination of one man’s self-destructive path.
