Rated 8/10
The start of 2Pac's legendary career and string of albums begins here on 1991's 2Pacalypse Now. This project is classic west coast rap and hip-hop all the way, down to the beat production and the lyrics. A very young 2Pac lays it all out on this album, holding nothing back and coming out of the gate swinging on everything he needs to get off his chest.
Tupac's classic stuff is often pointed inward. Rapping about his own experiences in gang life and all the surrounding problems that comes with it, to his experiences living in a poor impoverished world as a young black man just struggling to live. This first album by him takes a lot of that latter sentiment and projects it outward in frustration and anger at the systemic, racially-motivated injustices of the world. The police, the government, the struggles with drugs and violence, all of it. Even just the negative effects of a lack of education and being beat down by the system and how it can affect the communities. For being so young, Pac's lyricism and storytelling was mature beyond his years and despite his anger coming across as a bit juvenile in how it's executed, everything said here is purposeful and drives the point home perfectly. The messaging of this album is potent, and that alone is enough to make Pac an icon and a figure to be noticed.
The music in this album is fantastic as well. The production style is pretty spot-on for early 90's material. Boom-Bap beats and plenty of sampling of classic 70's soul and disco provide the backdrop for many of the tracks here. "If My Homie Calls" has the most upbeat and uplifting instrumental, despite the lyrics saying otherwise. You can thank the Herbie Hancock bassline for that. "Part Time Mutha" pulls from Stevie Wonder, giving this autobiographical song a smooth motown edge to an otherwise dejected and frustrating tale of struggle.
It wouldn't be a proper review without mentioning the album's crown jewel, and that would be "Brenda's got a baby". A song that perfectly displays Pac's skills at storytelling, as he raps about a twelve year girl who ends up pregnant and living on the streets as a prostitute, before more tragedy befalls her. The song was inspired by a news article detailing a similar situation, and the amount of detail and anguish in the lyrics is enough to pull the tears out of most. It's a dark and grim reality that most of the privileged audiences of this music never had to face or witness, and it's accessibility was incredibly effective at showing the world what that kind of life is like for the unfortunate who experienced it.
The few blemishes this album does have I just chalk it up to it being a product of it's time. Some of the ad-libs are kinda goofy at times, some sound effects feel a bit out of place or jarring in the mix, and one or two songs aren't as substantive as others (Something Wicked specifically). All in all though, for a debut album I found this project incredibly well made and well thought out. The album has a natural flow that feels great to listen to, and the thematic cohesion is pulled off really well too, It's dark, violent, depressing, and above all inspiring in a way. The album's honesty and unfiltered storytelling is it's strongest weapon even though a lot of the songs are fantastic too. I think even though it gets overshadowed by Pac's later releases, it's an essential 90's rap record and should not be overlooked or skipped.
"2Pacalypse Now, America's Nightmare"~