Its no wonder why Tupac Shakur – aka 2Pac sounds so irritated and/or hungry in his second studio album Strictly 4 My N.***.A.Z… released on February 13 1993. The 22-year- old former drug dealer had problems of his own with the law. During the early 90’s Tupac Shakur had been accused of various lawsuits including multiple different assault cases not limited to sex and gun violence. Tupac claimed he had been wrongly accused not just of these charges but also of himself as a young black male.
Tupac Shakur was not just going to sit and let corruption get the best of him. With his experienced communication skills and help from Amaru Entertainment Tupac created his public service announcement known as Strictly 4 my N.***.A.Z…. The album name itself provides hint on his message about unjust treatment of African Americans. Depending on the track, it either speaks to his mistreatment through his youth and adolescence, his masculinity, and his loyalty to home, solved by his unique style of west coast pragmatism. Throughout these 16 songs, there seems to be a lit fuse ready to ignite Tupac’s head in a massive explosion. As if he can’t take life as a black male anymore, like on the track Point The Finga and Soulja’s Revenge he vividly describes his way of life in the ghetto as a black male.
Beef aside, the Tupac heard on Strictly 4 My N.*** A.Z… is desperately ready for change, and is ready for war if needed. He’s a man with big expectations, but is tied down by the law, violence, and the thrill of the ghetto. On the majority of the album he raps with the flash-type speed of a man who hasn’t eaten in weeks, so hungry for a piece of that good life pie. His upbeat voice suggests weeks without sleep, he throws verse after verse in your face in hopes he can finish faster and take a well-deserved nap. Whether its women, the ghetto, or the law holding him down, it never phases his flow or style.
In this way Strictly 4 My N.***.A.Z… Achieved No. Twenty-four on the billboard 200. Tupac Shakur had many influences on this album that he sampled and even obtained ideas from. Remnants from Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Ice-T, and The Gheto Boys made some sort of appearance on the album. Whether it be from samples or direct quotes they gave Tupac the influence he needed to tell his story. Because of this Strictly 4 My N.*** A.Z… achieved a style that sounds like a melting pot of all these well known rappers.
The high-tempo beats and sampling are unique to Tupac’s career, but they serve the album and Tupac’s flow well, giving Tupac plenty of room to jump around and throw his flow on the track. As before this is Tupac’s second studio album, even before as a youngster Tupac was heavily involved with the thespians and was an avid poet. This explains his vibrant energy and lyrical talent that would ultimately prove to be his downfall. On September 13 1996 Tupac was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegans Nevada. He was killed seven months after his fifth album All Eyes On Me.
The case remains unsolved, though many conspiracy theories’ state he was killed because of his energy and words on his song Hail Mary, The epidemy of his rebellious and idealist style of message conveying. “Point The Finga”: There are two samples in use on this song. They include “Gota Let Your Nuts Hang” by Geto Boys, and “Warm It Up” by Kris Kross. Both of these samples do nothing but add to Tupac’s message. The song is like a motion picture of the events that were happening around Tupac in 1993. Each verse is like a new scene to view with a new perspective. Each scene made visible in the song displays one of Tupac’s countless problems brought on by society, and the police. He talks of his album being banned, how he has been arrested to many times unjustly, how he is somehow responsible for every crime in America, and how his is viewed in every newspaper as a menace to society.
“Soulja’s Revenge”: Yet again there are two samples being used in the song. They are “Sing a Simple Song” by Sly & the Family Stone, and “The Payback” by James Brown, the two samples do nothing to bring down Tupac’s style and flow. Like Point The Finga the samples add to his message, which is identical between the two songs. Though Soulja’s Revenge focuses only on Tupac’s experience with the police, and it’s not good either.
