#MNR: PICTURE ME ROLLIN'

#MNR: PICTURE ME ROLLIN’

“Dear mama, can you save me? And fuck peace cuz the streets got our babies.”
Tupac Shakur

I remember when Bad Boy released Life After Death on 3.25.1997. The marketing slogan was “Think BIG.” I remember New York radio at the time, firmly entrenched in the Tupac Shakur hate/smear campaign, talking all types of shit. One DJ (who shall remain anonymous) even had the temerity to say that disc one of Life After Death was better than the entire All Eyez on Me. Fuck was that stupid nigga talmbout? That was pure bullshit. I’ve been laying on this one for a few years now, but now it’s time to talk MY shit. Get your Ls ready. Pour a glass of that good ‘gac. Mask off. Gloves off. Let’s get straight to it.

All Eyez on Me is a better [double] album than Life After Death. Sorry, not sorry. BIG got the deserved hype when LAD dropped. We’d been waiting for a while. All the remixes he jumped on and rocked, all the features he SLAUGHTERED, the Junior M.A.F.I.A. album (which he wrote), and the legendary “Death Row Freestyles” (most of y’all don’t even know about those) only made the anticipation of LAD mythical. I remember the Rap City interview BIG had with Joe Claire out in LA like a week or two before he was assassinated. The BIG fella was happy. He was looking forward to his second release. He had perfected the recipe, and it was time for the world to taste the flavor. And then came 3.9.1997. That man died two weeks and two days before he had the opportunity to unleash LAD to the masses. That was the focus of BIG’s interview. He knew that he’d lost favor with some of his west coast fans. He knew that all his fervent fans were literally fiending for his new material because they knew it would cement his legacy in rap history. He knew every artist, producer, executive, and journalist/critic was on it. The Source had already labeled Francis M.H. White (better known as Frank White, one of BIG’s monikers) the KING OF NEW YORK. It was “put up or shut up” time. But the BIG fella was far from scared. He was prepared. He knew he had amazing shit on deck. It was simply a matter of time.

Christopher Wallace didn’t disappoint. LAD was classic and then some, even with the leaked tracks. My favorite track is still “Fuck You Tonight” with the late Robert Kelly. He ain’t dead, but he’s kind of dead to the world. But his music lives on. I still play his shit. IDC, IDC. I’m from that era. If that offends you...fuck off. I pretty much liked every song, commercial tracks included. That was BIG’s superpower. He could jump on any track and turn that MF all the way TF out. It didn’t matter. It could be grimy, boom-bap, party, reggae, pop, whatever. He never failed. I’d be wasting all our time listing every hot track, so I will not. BIG set out on a mission and he accomplished said mission. Unless I’m mistaken, LAD was the first album since the seminal classic Illmatic to have an “all-star” production team. In addition to Puff’s Hitmen, the album featured production from legendary producers like Havoc, Buckwild, DJ Premier, RZA, Kay Gee, Easy Mo Be, Clark Kent, and Chucky Thompson. I rate it a 10/10. It’s a perfect album. But AEOM gets the slight edge.

I kinda lied. AEOM, the earlier release, too had an “all-star” production team. Pac had DJ Quik, Johnny J, Dre, Daz, DJ Pooh, DJ Bobcat, and DeVante, among others. If we want to get technical, no one on BIG’s production team can fuck with Dre. And don’t sleep on Quik’s influence on west coast production. But I digress.

Whereas BIG meticulously plotted every aspect of the project from production to song structure, we know for a fact that AEOM was a whirlwind. Pure fury. The album took only two months to complete. The first bar on his first single states it perfectly. “Out on bail, fresh outta jail, California dreaming.” Pac came home and hit the block running, literally. He sat still for eight months. That’s a long time to ruminate. It’s also a long time to reflect. He knew that everything from then on was inevitably a race against time. Most people conveniently overlook the “out on bail” part. His case was still open. Pac was facing a few years of incarceration if he lost his sexual assault appeal. Every second was of the essence, and Mr. Shakur didn’t waste any. There is so much to take from AEOM. First, Pac didn’t take a single direct shot at BIG, even though he felt the way he felt since he left Quad Studios on a stretcher, riddled with bullet wounds a year prior. He kept it all the way player. That was a strategy within itself. As we know from the incendiary and scathing “Hit Em Up” released in June 1996 and the release of Makaveli only three months later, revenge had been on his mind and would definitely be discussed in his music. But AEOM wasn’t the place, and out on bail fresh out of jail wasn’t the time. He slow walked that one, and he’s a genius for it. BIG and the Bad Boy camp knew war was coming, but he made them wait for a minute. You don’t believe me? Listen to “No More Pain.” That nigga sent a serious shot at BIG at the end, but it went over a few heads and was more of a hint than a pointed finger. Keep it going, Monday. I got y’all. AEOM is the FIRST double album of original material in rap history. For the record, Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” (1976) is the first double album of original material in MUSIC history. But back to the raps. Y’all don’t think AEOM directly influenced LAD? It did. Pac influenced BIG from day one. We need one more, Monday. What you got for us? I do. “I Ain’t Mad At Cha.” There isn’t a single song on LAD that has the enduring influence that “I Ain’t...” has. Pastors referenced it in sermons. It made a generation of young, burgeoning music aficionados do their research on Debarge. It made mothers and thugs alike cry. And with this last point is my closing argument.

Life After Death will always be amazing. Having said as much, All Eyez on Me gets my slight edge every time. Its replay value is heavier IMO. But the fruit is in the contrast of style in both projects. Like I said, BIG wanted to showcase his craft. His songs were glorious temples of vanity. He brought Bone on the “Notorious Thugs” record to spit their style over their type of beat and tempo and show how superior of a lyricist he was. He accomplished the point. But after his verse we don’t even care to listen to the rest of the song. But back to my point. Everything was set up just right, and he was brilliant for his keen insight and strategy. But music is best conveyed to me through free-spirited expression. I think that’s why I love jazz so much. I read Ahmir Thompson’s liner notes for D’Angelo’s legendary Voodoo album. He said every song began as a jam session. When they got their juices flowing and the vibe was right, D’Angelo went into his zone and he and the Soulquarians began to create from there. There was no blueprint, just free expression. That was the spirit of Pac’s sessions after being released from prison. He got some Hennessy, some weed, some ladies, and called the homies to hit the studio. He listened to the vibe the producer provided and went in. [On seemingly] every other track, the Outlawz, Thug Life, his Death Row comrades, and homies from the Bay jumped on and put in work. And I can’t forget Red and Meth’s contributions. It was probably 75% spontaneity, and it showed in the finished product. It’s as vibrant and raw as it was almost 30 years ago. The energy from AEOM is unparalleled, beginning with track one, disc one. “I won’t deny it, I’m a straight rider. You don’t want to fuck with me.” And then the piano loop and beat drop. It’s over from there. Coincidentally, that’s the first song from the first act from the first step show I ever attended. Fall ’96. The Beta Epsilon (Shareon and Kia) chapter of Delta Sigma Theta was the step team. Believe it or not, that was the first tone-setter of my student life experience. I knew it was a different world. I’ll leave y’all with this. Give “Only God Can Judge Me” a spin for the first time in who knows how long. Listen to every word Tupac says. Every word on that song is pure, genuine, and from the heart of a brilliant yet troubled genius. His second verse gives me a chill every time. He was truly candid about his near-death experience and his subsequent fears. I’m from the “keep it real” era. It gets no realer than what he said in that verse and on that song.
Flatline...
I hear the doctor standing over me screamin' I can make it.
Got a body full of bullet holes layin' here naked.
Still I, can't breathe, something's evil in my IV.
'Cause every time I breathe, I think they killin' me.
I'm having nightmares, homicidal fantasies.
I wake up stranglin', danglin' my bed sheets.
I call the nurse 'cause it hurts, to reminisce.
How did it come to this? I wish they didn't miss.
Somebody help me, tell me where to go from here.
'Cause even thugs cry, but do the Lord care?
Try to remember, but it hurts.
I'm walkin' through the cemetery talkin' to the dirt.
I'd rather die like a man, than live like a coward.
There's a ghetto up in Heaven and it's ours, Black Power.
Is what we scream as we dream in a paranoid state.
And our fate is a lifetime I hate.
Dear mama, can you save me?
And fuck peace
'Cause the streets got our babies.
We gotta eat.
No more hesitation, each and every black male's trapped.
And they wonder why we suicidal runnin' 'round strapped.
Mista, Police, please try to see that it's
A million motherfuckers stressin' just like me.
Only God can judge me.

BIG was the better lyricist. His wordplay was legendary. But Pac’s music touched my soul. Give me All Eyez on Me all day.

Y’all be cool how y’all be cool. I know I’m going to get some heat for this one, but I said what I said. It’s all preference. Relax.

Y’all know where the fuck to @ us.