Me Against The World Poem and Album Thread

Poem by @PoeticDell . Go follow him out check out all the other amazing poetry he's done!

Album: Me Against The World

Me Against The World is 2Pac’s 3rd studio album and was released on March 14, 1995. In the last 2 years Pac had been through a lot, both mentally and physically, and this could all be heard throughout the album.

The album dealt with “pain, fatigue, isolation, fear, and death”. Let’s backtrack a little bit so we can understand what Pac was going through leading up to this album

Background:

2Pac’s life was extremely eventful leading up to the release of Me Against The World.

I’ll be highlighting some of the major events in his life that affected both his mental and physical state leading up to the release of the album.

2Pac was also starting to get in legal trouble. In 1993, Tupac shot two men that were off duty police officers.

The two white men were harassing a black motorist, and so 2Pac intervened. Tempers rose and eventually shots were fired. This honestly just showed how badass 2Pac was. He was brave enough to step into the situation.

Pac was eventually acquitted on the fact that one of the off duty cops fired their weapon first and so Pac was acting in self defense. The cop ended up being charged with aggravated assault. This was not 2Pac’s last time to see the courtroom.

Less than a month after this shooting, another event occurred which would forever change Pac’s life and land him in a maximum security prison. On November 14th, 1993, 2Pac went out to a popular New York night spot called Nell’s.

That night he met a young woman named Ayanna Jackson, and he ended up bringing her back to his hotel room. 4 days later on the 18th, she returned to his hotel room.

This is where conflicting stories are given, but after that night, she claims that Pac raped her and he denies this claim. Pac was eventually found guilty of sexual assault.

While waiting to be sentenced, Pac was tied up in court and his bills were adding up (especially the legal kind). After the rape charges were filed, his opportunities to perform dried up. Fellow artists invited him to rap on their records for pay and he accepted.

It humiliated him to do this, but it was necessary for him to survive. On November 30th, 1994, When Pac arrived at Quad Studios to lay down a verse for rapper Lil Shawn (an associate of Biggie), 3 men in the lobby pulled out guns and Pac ended up getting shot more than four times

Between this shooting and his prison sentencing (February 1995) is when he recorded the album Me Against The World. The title perfectly sums up how Pac was feeling at the time, like everyone was against him.

On March 14, 1995, Me Against The World was released while Pac was in prison.

His time in prison changed him, and his next album “All Eyez On Me” would be very different from Me Against The World. But that story is for another thread.

Themes:

Me Against The World deals with several different topics, but one common theme was the mental hopelessness and paranoia that Pac was feeling at the time. Pac said about the album that “It was all my fears, all the things I just couldn’t sleep about.”

The album also covers content such as mother appreciation on Dear Mama, and paying homage to hip hop pioneers on the track Old School. Me Against The World is easily Pac’s most introspective album and is often considered his best.

Tracklist:

Intro: This track contains newsclips of the major events that were going on in 2Pac’s life like the sexual assault charges and the Quad studio shooting. This all happens with some hard hitting drums and a nice piano melody in the background

If I Die 2Nite: This song is notable for its heavy use of alliteration throughout. Pac addresses how he’s living and what his mentality is like at the thought of dying soon “If I die tonight”.

Pac has enemies who want to kill him and he’s considering taking these people out himself “Plotting on murdering motherfuckers 'fore they get you”.

Pac is also starting to realize that going to prison will become a reality because of the people he has shot “Visions of prisons for all the pussies that I blasted”.

In the third verse, Pac has nearly accepted his fate of dying soon and questions whether he’ll still go to heaven because of his actions “I wonder if Heaven got a ghetto for thug ni**as”.

If I Die 2Nite is an incredible opening track that brings us into Pac’s mindstate at the time, being paranoid of dying and going to prison. To close out the track, Pac acknowledges his own mortality on the line “Headlines reading 'Murdered to death', my last breath”.

Me Against The World: The titular track features 2 members of 2Pac’s Outlawz collective, and is without a doubt one of the best songs on the album. The track is reflective of the fears that Pac was facing at the time, and also details the harsh realities of living in the hood.

Pac asks himself the question “but will they last or be blasted?”, questioning whether the kids growing up in the hood will even make it out alive and then follows it up with the line “Hard-headed bastard, maybe he'll listen in his casket”.

This line gives me chills, because most of the kids don’t realize that the lifestyle they’re living isn’t sustainable till it's too late.

One of the most powerful lines on the album “I'm losin' my homies in a hurry, they're relocatin' to the cemetery” hits so hard because it perfectly showcases Pac’s feeling of loneliness and grief due to the loss of his friends.

So Many Tears: A depressing track with fairly low key production showcases Pac at the most vulnerable he’s ever been. He goes back to when he was younger when he “thrived on misery”, and lost his friend Kato.

Misery and pain have always been a part of his life “I suffered through the years” and then continue to be “I'm suicidal, so don't stand near me”. There is so much emotion in this track, Pac lays it all on the line, in a way that is both powerful and vulnerable.

Temptations: Up to this point, the album has dealt with paranoia, fear, misery, and death, but this track lifts the mood as Pac raps about wanting a woman to both spend time and sleep with, without being in a relationship. It's a nice track about love, romance, and temptation.

Young Ni**az: As Pac says himself, this song is dedicated to “Robert "Yummy" Sandifer
And all other lil' Young Ni**as that's in a rush to be gangstas”.

Robert Sandifer was an 11 year old boy that was murdered by fellow gang members and he became a symbol for how big of a problem gangs were in the US. One detail that I’ve always loved about this track is how it's just flute for the first 2 seconds, it's a beautiful touch.

Heavy In The Game: On this track Pac raps about hustling and selling drugs. Pac sold drugs only to stay alive “Had to turn to crack sales, if worse come to worse”, he’s only in this game because as he says “My decisions do or die”.

Production wise, this is one of the most unique tracks on the album as Pac raps over a funky beat with a very west coast sound to it.

Lord Knows: As I mentioned earlier, throughout this album, there are little artistic touches that just make the album even more perfect.

Before the beat starts, similar to Young Ni**az, there is a few seconds of flute, and Pac hits you right in the chest with the line “Damn, another funeral”. Similar to So Many Tears, this is another very depressing song.

Pac raps about the toll that depression has taken on him, and how he’s coping with it “I smoke a blunt to take the pain out”. You truly get the sense that 2Pac is struggling, especially with lines like

“My memories bring me misery, and life is hard
In the ghetto, it's insanity, I can't breathe”

Another one of the most powerful lines is from the third verse when Pac recounts his friend dying in his arms.

Lines like these help us understand why Pac was in such a bad state mentally.

“Homies died in my arms, with his brains hangin', fucked up!
I had to tell him it was alright, and that's a lie
And he knew it when he shook and died, my God”

Dear Mama: Dear Mama is my personal favorite song on the album, and its widely regarded as one of his best, and as Pac himself said in an interview, the song is “a love song to my mama”.

Pac’s mom (Afeni Shakur) became addicted to crack during 2Pac’s life and for a time was unable to help him with pretty much anything. She eventually got clean, but these years still had an affect on him.

Despite all this, Pac still loved her “And even as a crack fiend, Mama, You always was a black queen, Mama”. Throughout the song Pac shows his appreciation for his Mom, whether its having nice memories of her

“And all my childhood memories
Are full of all the sweet things you did for me”

Or him showing that he noticed all the hard work she did for him

“And I could see you comin' home after work late
You're in the kitchen, tryin' to fix us a hotplate
You just workin' with the scraps you was given
And Mama made miracles every Thanksgivin'”

Dear Mama will go down as one of the greatest rap songs of all time.

It Ain’t Easy: This track returns to the themes that are present throughout the album, Pac’s paranoia of being killed or going to prison. Pac’s nights are restless because of this paranoia

“I can't sleep, ni**as plottin' on me, kill me while I'm dreamin'
Wake up sweaty and screamin'”

As the title of the song says, Pac’s life is far from easy.

Can U Get Away: Pac attempts to woo another woman to be with him that's currently in a relationship with someone else.

Pac encourages her to join him as her current relationship is abusive, and Pac thinks she would be much better off with him. A nice upbeat and romantic song.

Old School: One of my personal favorite songs on the album, Pac pays homage to all of the pioneers of hip hop who paved the way for him. Pac samples the Grand Puba line

“"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"

Which perfectly describes the sentiment of the song. The song also samples We Share by The Soul Searchers, and is my favorite Pac sample of all time, its the instrumental that plays before the beat comes in.

Fuck The World: As the song titled implies, this song is basically Pac giving a big fuck you to the world. But more specifically, its a fuck you to the white media that constantly villainizes him.

Moe Z.M.D, a member of Shakur’s Outlawz collective stated that the album was originally intended to be called “Fuck The World” because Pac was very angry and uneasy and so “ he wanted to really portray his anger at what was going on…”

Death Around The Corner: Its songs like these that make you think Pac really knew he was going to die soon. Pac’s delivery on this song is very aggressive, similar to his style of rapping on All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.

Pac was angry at the world, but also fearful of it. Pac’s paranoia is through the roof, because even the people he thought were his friends (like Biggie) he could no longer trust

“I see death around the corner, the pressure's gettin' to me
I no longer trust my homies - them phonies tried to do me”

At the end of the song Pac says that even if you manage to kill him, he’s got people that’ll make sure that he is avenged.

“Murder me now but see me later man, that's on my pops
I got homies that will hunt you 'til you drop”

Its speculated if Biggie had to do with Pac’s murder, or if it was there possible suspect Orlando Anderson who killed Pac.

Either way, Pac’s lines came true as both of these men lost their lives not long after Pac’s death. This was Pac at his most prophetic.

Outlaw: To close out the album, Pac features Dramacydal (Outlawz) and they rap about their experiences and the environment they are born in.

“Cause all I see is, murder murder, my mind state
Preoccupied with homicide, tryna survive through this crime rate” - Pac

“I witnessed ni**as lose they chest
For ordinary reasons ni**as bodies put to rest” - Kadafi

In the second verse, Pac continues to ask himself the questions that he’s been pondering throughout the entire album “Will I last? Heaven or Hell? Freedom or jail?”.

Me Against The World’s Impact On Hip Hop:

Me Against The World is often considered as 2Pac’s magnum opus and it is one of the greatest and most influential rap albums of all time.

Pac was authentic and always spoke his truths, this was an album that spoke on not only his mindstate, but on the realities that other black, poor, and marginalized groups could relate to.

This album further propelled Pac’s career, and helped to make him be one of the greatest rappers of all time and a global icon.

An interesting fact, this album made 2Pac become the first artist ever to have a number one album while serving a prison sentence.

If you made it this far, I appreciate you so much. Thanks for reading the poetry by @PoeticDell and the thread by me! Any support is appreciated!!!