I’ve been listening to this band since Youth and Young Manhood came out. Their latest keeps the Nashville vibe going while putting out some heart-stopping indie rock tracks. The songs tell the same kinds of brutally honest stories as their earlier releases with an added arena rock sensibility that made me think of U2 or Bruce Springsteen. I dig it.
So someone gives me a $20 gift card to Best Buy for Christmas. I walk into Best Buy and see two CDs sitting on the front rack. “Best of 2Pac Vol. 1: Thug” and “Best of 2Pac Vol. 2: Life.” They were priced at $9.99 each.
Needless to say, I walked home with my first two 2Pac albums. They sat on my dresser for the better part of a year before I uploaded them to my iPod and listened to them on a long drive.
I would hardly call myself a hip-hop aficionado, but these albums gave me a new respect for the genre and a deeper respect for the late Tupac Shakur.
The collection goes through years of Tupac singles in no particular order. In my mind, I break it down into three segments.
1) His earlier stuff, like “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” explicitly takes on social issues with the kind of bounce you’d hear from 80s hip hop.
2) His middle stuff (I think) is dark, violent and tough, like “Hail Mary,” and details what he calls “Thug Life.” Murder and suicide are common topics.
3) His later stuff, like “Still Bawlin’” and “How Do You Want it,” includes some upbeat party songs with R&B-fueled lighter tracks.
No matter how you slice it, Tupac has an intense wit and portrays himself as a kind of flawed god. Read up on the man, and you’ll see his persona as an entertainer and his real life are inseparable.
RIP
A review of "Banging Down the Doors" — 19 weeks agoAt first listen, I thought OH! It’s the guy from The Thermals!
Then I found out the Thermals are from Portland, Oregon and these guys are from Boston-area. But anyway, it’s kinda folky and kinda snotty. Sometimes they remind me of Bob Dylan. Other times it reminded me of the Kinks. It’s a pretty fun record. I could get into it, but I’m not flipping out over it.
I had been iffy about Amy Winehouse since I heard that song Rehab on MTV. Turned out, a lot of her stuff sent chills down my spine. She has the voice of a tested soul singer, which I find very impressive for a crack-smoking, Jewish chick from England. Still, I skip over “Rehab” and I can’t stand the Ghostface Killah rap on the last track. It nearly spoiled the album.
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