On Savior, he upbraids pop’s censorious moral climate as an unthinking exercise in liberal box-ticking. It confesses Lamar’s past homophobia and lashes out at the church and his fellow rappers in dextrous, convincing style. But more notable still is his willingness to take risks.Īuntie Diaries, a lengthy, heartfelt lobbying on behalf of the trans community, is new territory for mainstream hip-hop. Lamar’s lyrical skill is prodigious enough to make gripping rhymes from some very well-worn topics: fake news, the projection of false lifestyles via social media, the pressures of fame. Even by hip-hop standards, there’s a quite phenomenal amount of swearing involved: no one has made more creative capital out of two people telling each other to fuck off since Peter Cook and Dudley Moore reinvented themselves as Derek and Clive. The album keeps executing similar tonal handbrake turns, from deeply troubled to lovestruck and from furious to laugh-out-loud funny, the latter switch covered by We Cry Together, an ill-tempered duet with actor Taylour Paige that drags everything from the rise of Donald Trump and the crimes of Harvey Weinstein to the question of why “R&B bitches don’t feature on each other’s songs” into a heated domestic dispute. One interlude features a string quartet and 74-year-old German self-help author Eckhart Tolle discussing the perils of a victim mentality alongside Lamar’s cousin, rapper Baby Keem, whose concerns are more earthy: “White panties and minimal condoms”. When it comes to actual guest appearances, it casts its net wide – Ghostface Killah, Sampha, Summer Walker, the singer from Barbadian pop band Cover Drive – and occasionally delights in some unlikely juxtapositions.
#Me against the world album genius series#
On N95, the tone of his delivery changes so dramatically and so often that it sounds less like the work of one man than a series of guest appearances. On Worldwide Steppers, Lamar’s words rattle out at such a pace that they threaten to race ahead of the backing track, a muffled, dense, relentless loop of Nigerian afro-rock band the Funkees that suddenly switches to a burst of laidback 70s soul and back again. Its opening tracks don’t so much play as teem, cutting frantically from one style to another – staccato piano chords and backwards drums a frantic, jazzy loop with a bass drum that recalls a racing heartbeat a mass of sampled voices thick 80s-film-soundtrack synth and trap beats. Mr Morale & the Big Steppers is absolutely crammed with lyrical and musical ideas. Anyone who learned to be wary of rappers who confused quantity with quality in the CD era, when every hip-hop album came stretched out to a disc’s maximum playing time, should note that there isn’t a moment of padding here. The album is 18 tracks and nearly 75 minutes long. Distributed by Universal Music Distribution.Clearly his prayers were answered in no uncertain terms: on the evidence here, the block ended like a dam bursting. Strack Drive Spring, Texas 77379 The 2Pac Amaru Shakur Foundation is a 501c3 organization - ℗ © 1995 Interscope Records. To my record company and all my lawyers-Thanks! - A&R Direction: Tom Whalley Project Coordinator: Jill Rose A&R Assistant: Stephen Levy Art Direction & Design: Eric Altenburger Photography: Reisig & Taylor Mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering Management: Legal: Sandy Fox and Eric Farber, Send checks or money orders to: 2Pac Amaru Shakur Foundation TSAF c/o: 17711 W. Much love to my family and extended family. My apologies to all my fans and friends that I turned my back on and didn't remain true to. No thank you to all the bustas, cowards and fake homies who showed me the depths of jealousy, envy and greed. You know who you are! And to all who remain loyal to me, I won't let you down. Shakur Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Produced by Engineered by Recorded by Mixed by - Thank you to everyone who supported me during my time of need. Shakur Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Produced by Engineered by Recorded by Mixed by 15. Shakur Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Produced by Engineered by Recorded by Mixed by 14. Shakur Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Produced by Engineered by Recorded by Mixed by 13. Shakur Joshua's Dream/Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Produced by Engineered by Recorded by Mixed by 12.