In October 1995, Suge Knight and Jimmy Iovine paid the $1.4 million bail necessary to get Shakur released from Clinton Correctional Facility, on charges of sexual abuse. At the time, Shakur was broke and thus unable to make bail himself. All Eyez on Me was released following an agreement between Knight and Shakur which stated Shakur would make three albums under Death Row Records in return for them paying his bail. Fulfilling part of Shakur's brand new contract, this double-album served as the first two albums of his three-album contract.
Euthanasia was the initial title of the album until it was changed to All Eyez on Me during the recording process. Shakur explained to MTV's Bill Bellamy in December 1995 saying:
It's called All Eyez on Me. That's how I feel it is. I got the police watching me, the Feds. I got the females that want to charge me with false charges and sue me and all that. I got the females that like me. I got the jealous homeboys and I got the homies that roll with me. Everybody's looking to see what I'mma do now so All Eyez on Me.
All Eyez on Me was originally intended for a Christmas 1995 release but was pushed back as Shakur continued to record music and shoot music videos for the album.
The songs on All Eyez on Me are, in general, unapologetic celebrations of living the "Thug Lifestyle". Though there is the occasional reminiscence about past and present friends, it is a definite move away from the social and political consciousness of 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.... The songs on the album along with the name of the album itself, allude to the feeling of being watched. With songs like "Can't C Me" and "All Eyez on Me", 2Pac makes it known that he feels the presence of surveillance, most notably by the police and those wishing to do him harm. The album also references the fact that 2Pac is under the attention of many fans, being his fourth studio album and his first after spending almost a year in jail.
The second single, "How Do U Want It" featuring R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, was released, June 4, 1996. It was paired with "California Love" as a double A-side single, with 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted and the non-album track, Hit 'Em Up serving as the B-sides. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. There were three videos filmed for the song: two in the same set for the single in April 1996. The video was directed by Ron Hightower and produced by Tracy D. Robinson. These two are distinguished by MPAA rating (one is certified adult material). The video portrays a wild sex party with Jacuzzi, mechanical bull riding, cage dancing and pole stripping. All actors and actresses are dressed in Renaissance-era costumes, though all clothes are removed for the nude clip. The adult-material video also features numerous porn stars, including Nina Hartley, Heather Hunter, and Angel Kelly. The limousine segment seen in the clean version is the same except no nudity. The third one is the concert version, mostly them performing on stage. There are cameo appearances by K-Ci & JoJo, and fellow group member of Digital UndergroundShock G both in the concert and studio segments.
"I Ain't Mad at Cha" featuring singer Danny Boy, was released in Europe and parts of Oceania shortly after Shakur's death as the final single from the album, on September 15, 1996. For the video the song was re-recorded with a live band. The new track was recorded at Can-Am Studios by Conley Abrams. The video was filmed on May 15, 1996.
All Eyez on Me was generally well received by music critics. In the Los Angeles Times, Cheo Hodari Coker hailed it as "a 27-song, 133-minute gangster's paradise", adding that "He displays no remorse for his tough life, and even less feeling for his enemies. The only thing jail time did for 2Pac was make his creative fires burn even hotter—he raps here with a passion and skill matched in gangsta rap only by Snoop Doggy Dogg and the Notorious B.I.G. And with such producers as DJ Pooh, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre and Johnny J laying down the tracks, he finally has a musical team worthy of his talent." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly praised the "Egyptian-snake-charmer keyboards, creamy choruses chanted by wet-lipped women, and police whistles used musically," noting that "Serving time has neither mellowed nor reformed him," calling 2Pac "the hardest-working ex-con in showbiz." Roger Morton of NME called the album "musical psychotherapy", noting that it's "a grittier, bloodier, nastier, more twisted and more gripping record" than Me Against the World. Sue Cummings of Spin commented, "As long as you don't expect philanthropy from Tupac, you'll find honesty and some pleasurably twisted scenarios."
Some reviewers were more critical of the lyrical content. Jon Pareles of The New York Times considered the album typical gangsta-rap fare, but with superior production. "Standard images of ghetto desperation turn up...but far more of 2Pac's rhymes are about living in luxury: driving a plush car, drinking cognac, smoking weed and having all the women he wants." Pareles notes that, "while 2Pac used to show some sympathy for women, he has returned to hard-line gangsta machismo, with women as either gold-digging 'bitches' or heavy-breathing, pliant 'hos'." The Guardian declared that "one of these angry recriminatory discs would have been more than enough, thanks", finding that "too much of the two hours is consumed by self-justifying rants like Only God Can Judge Me and Skandalouz." The review concluded that "There is some delicious g-funk here [...] but 2Pac's attitude sours the whole thing." "It's like a Cali thug-life version of Pink Floyd's The Wall – pure gangsta ego run amok over two CDs," complained Rolling Stone's Laura Jamison. "At that length, the album's all-hard-all-the-time tone approaches caricature."
All Eyez on Me has received retrospective critical acclaim. AllMusic's Steve Huey regarded it as "a monumental epic" that contains "the best production 2Pac's ever had on record". Describing it as "an unabashed embrace of the gangsta lifestyle", he concluded, "Erratic though it may be, All Eyez on Me is nonetheless carried off with the assurance of a legend in his own time, and it stands as 2Pac's magnum opus." Paul A. Thompson of Pitchfork remarked that the album is "an exhaustive survey of Tupac's brain matter at the most harrowing time in his young life. It captures him at his most vulnerable and provocative. He executes an array of styles at an almost impossibly high skill level that never feels like an exercise in form. What could have been (and perhaps what was) a creative work made out of obligation turned into a bloodletting, a remarkable final document from one of his era's defining voices."
In 2002, The Source, who did not review the album upon its release, awarded it a perfect five mic rating. Similarly, in 2007, XXL gave it the maximum "XXL" rating in its retrospective issue. In 2020, the album was ranked number 436 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
All Eyez on Me debuted at number-one on both the US Billboard 200 and the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, selling 566,000 copies in its first week, becoming 2Pac's second number one album on the chart. The album was eventually certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of September 2011, All Eyez on Me has sold 5,887,630 in the United States, making it 2Pac's highest-selling album. It has charted on the Billboard 200 for 105 weeks in total.
In the United Kingdom, the British Phonographic Industry certified the album silver on January 1, 1997, followed by gold on July 22, 2013, and platinum on November 14, 2014, for sales of over 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
It was re-released in 2001 as enhanced CDs containing the "California Love" music video. Both discs contained the same data track. It was also re-released as a Dual-Disc in 2005.
Lawsuit
In July 1997, anti-rap activist C. Delores Tucker sued 2Pac's estate in federal court, claiming that lyrics naming her in "How Do U Want It" and "Wonda Why They Call U Bytch" inflicted emotional distress, were slanderous, and invaded her privacy. The case was dismissed in 2001.
"Life Goes On" features vocals from Stacey Smallie and Nanci Fletcher.
"California Love (Remix)" features background vocals from Barbara Wilson, Nanci Fletcher, and Danette Williams. The full original version can only be found on promo vinyl versions.
"Can't C Me" features additional vocals from Nanci Fletcher
"Got My Mind Made Up" originally was a Dogg Pound song featuring Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck, The Lady of Rage, and RBX, but their vocals were removed when Daz gave 2Pac the song for his album.
"Wonder Why They Call U Bytch" originally featured former Bad Boy Records singer Faith Evans, but her vocals were replaced by Jewell.
"Check Out Time" features background vocals from Natasha Walker.
"Ratha Be Ya Nigga" features background vocals from Stacey Smallie.
"Late Night" feat. DJ Quik & AMG (Appeared on Suge Knight Represents: The Chronic 2000 - Still Smokin' and Better Dayz before being taken off of new CD releases and all digital versions)
"Letter 2 My Unborn (Original Version)" feat. Natasha Walker (Remixed on Until the End of Time)
↑"Certified Awards". BPI. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2023. Input All Eyez on Me as the keyword, using the drop-down lists below switch the parameters as follows [from top]: Title, All, Album, then tick the Exact match checkbox and click Search.
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