2Pacalypse Now

2Pacalypse Now is a socially conscious hip hop album. It serves as the artist's commentary on contemporary social issues facing American society, such as racism, police brutality, poverty, gang violence, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. The album poetically addresses black urban concerns relevant to the present day. Although a relatively tame album compared to Shakur's later works, 2Pacalypse Now was known for its violent lyrics aimed at police officers and the government in the songs "Trapped", "I Don't Give a Fuck" and "Soulja's Story".{{cite journal |last=Vaught |first=Seneca |date=Spring 2014 |title=Tupac's Law: Incarceration, T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E., and the Crisis of Black Masculinity |url=https://www.academia.edu/8258642/Tupacs_Law_Incarceration_and_the_Crisis_of_Black_Masculinity |url-status=live |journal=Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men |volume=2 |pages=93–94 |doi=10.2979/spectrum.2.2.87 |s2cid=144439620 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306233517/http://www.academia.edu/8258642/Tupacs_Law_Incarceration_and_the_Crisis_of_Black_Masculinity |archive-date=March 6, 2017 |access-date=June 28, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Chadwick |first=Justin |date=November 8, 2021 |title=Revisiting 2Pac’s Debut Album ‘2Pacalypse Now’ (1991) {{!}} Tribute |url=https://albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-30-years-of-2pac-debut-album-2pacalypse-now |access-date=April 2, 2024 |website=Albumism |language=en-US}}

The album generated significant controversy stemming from then-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle's public criticism after Ronald Ray Howard murdered a Texas Highway Patrol trooper and his defense attorney claimed he was influenced by 2Pacalypse Now and its strong theme of police brutality. Quayle made the statement, "There's no reason for a record like this to be published. It has no place in our society".{{cite web |last1=Broder |first1=John |date=September 23, 1992 |title=Quayle Calls for Pulling Rap Album Tied to Murder Case |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-23-mn-1144-story.html |access-date=November 27, 2016 |website=Los Angeles Times}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Marisa |title=2Pacalypse Now 2Pac|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/2pacalypse-now-mw0000676677 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}

| rev2 = Q

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=McCann |first=Ian |date=April 1997 |title=Q Reviews: reissue reviews |magazine=Q}}

| rev3 = RapReviews

| rev3score = 8/10{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=Emilee |date=February 24, 2009 |title=2Pac 2Pacalypse Now|url=https://www.rapreviews.com/2009/02/2pac-2pacalypse-now-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_2pacalypse.html |archive-date=February 24, 2009 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |website=RapReviews |language=en-US}}

| rev4 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&q=2Pacalypse+Now&pg=PA830 |title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |last2= |first2= |author-link2= |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-0169-8 |editor-last=Brackett |editor-first=Nathan |editor-link=Nathan Brackett |edition=4th |location=New York |pages=830–832 |editor-last2=Hoard |editor-first2=Christian David |editor-link2=Christian Hoard |via=Google Books}}

| rev5 = Tom Hull – on the Web

| rev5score = B+ ({{Rating-Christgau|hm1}}){{cite web |last=Hull |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Hull (critic) |date=August 3, 2015 |title=Grade List: 2Pac |url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/nm/get_gl.php?n=2Pac |access-date=February 13, 2022 |website=tomhull.com}}

}}

2Pacalypse Now received generally positive reviews from critics. Although the album's political messages, lyrics and his storytelling were praised, Tupac Shakur's debut album was criticized for its production. In a retrospective review, RapReviews gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and said: "It's not an extraordinarily long album, but it is a dense and heavy listen that will take a lot out of you if you pay close attention to the persistent theme. The beats overall fail to make much of an impression, but perhaps that is as it should be, since nothing should be allowed to outshine this kind of lyrical performance. Tupac's vitriol is carried by his sincerity and charisma, both of which would emerge as key traits of the figure that blossomed in the years to come. Over the course of Tupac's career, the political got suffused by the personal and receded from the central position it occupied on his debut."

Upon its release, 2Pacalypse Now debuted at number 197 on the Billboard 200, number 77 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 31 on the Heatseekers Albums charts in the United States. The album peaked at No. 64, No. 13 and No. 3 on the respective charts in the first third of 1992. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album gold on April 19, 1995 for passing the sales mark of half a million copies.

After 2Pac's death in 1996, the album made it to the US Catalog Albums, peaking at number 3. It also made its charting debut on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart, reaching number 35.

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Young Black Male

| writer1 = {{hlist|Tupac Shakur|Deon Evans|George Clinton Jr.|Sylvester Allen|Harold Brown|Morris Dickerson|Lonnie Jordan|Charles Miller|Lee Oskar|Howard E. Scott}}

| extra1 = Big D the Impossible

| length1 = 2:35

| title2 = Trapped

| writer2 = {{hlist|Shakur|Ramone Gooden|Raymond Tyson}}

| extra2 = Pee-Wee

| length2 = 4:44

| title3 = Soulja's Story

| writer3 = {{hlist|Shakur|Evans|Isaac Hayes}}

| extra3 = Big D the Impossible

| length3 = 5:05

| title4 = I Don't Give a Fuck

| note4 =

| writer4 = {{hlist|Shakur|Gooden}}

| extra4 = Pee-Wee

| length4 = 4:20

| title5 = Violent

| writer5 = {{hlist|Shakur|Ronald Brooks|David Elliott|Maceo Parker}}

| extra5 = Raw Fusion

| length5 = 6:25

| title6 = Words of Wisdom

| writer6 = {{hlist|Shakur|Gregory Jacobs|Herbie Hancock}}

| extra6 = Shock G

| length6 = 4:54

| title7 = Something Wicked

| writer7 = {{hlist|Shakur|Jeremy Jackson}}

| extra7 = J-Z

| length7 = 2:28

| title8 = Crooked Ass Nigga

| note8 = featuring Stretch

| writer8 = {{hlist|Shakur|Randy Walker}}

| extra8 = Live Squad

| length8 = 4:17

| title9 = If My Homie Calls

| writer9 = {{hlist|Shakur|Evans|Arlester Christian|Hancock}}

| extra9 = Big D the Impossible

| length9 = 4:18

| title10 = Brenda's Got a Baby

| writer10 = {{hlist|Shakur|Evans}}

| extra10 = Big D the Impossible

| length10 = 3:53

| title11 = Tha' Lunatic

| note11 = featuring Stretch

| writer11 = {{hlist|Shakur|Jacobs|Clinton Jr.|Ron Banks}}

| extra11 = Shock G

| length11 = 3:29

| title12 = Rebel of the Underground

| writer12 = {{hlist|Shakur|Evans}}

| extra12 = Shock G

| length12 = 3:17

| title13 = Part Time Mutha

| note13 = featuring Angelique

| writer13 = {{hlist|Shakur|Evans|Stevie Wonder}}

| extra13 = Big D the Impossible

| length13 = 5:13

| total_length = 55:07

}}

{{div col}}

• Tupac "2Pac" Shakur – lyrics, vocals, co-producer
• Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs – background vocals (tracks: 2, 12), keyboards (track 8), producer
• Playa-Playa – outro vocals (track 2)
• Dank – outro vocals (track 2)
• Wiz – outro vocals (track 2)
• Mickey Cooley – telephone voice (track 4)
• Rodney Cooley – telephone voice (track 4)
• Pogo – telephone voice (track 4)
• Ronald "Money-B" Brooks – background vocals (track 5), producer
• David "DJ Fuze" Elliot – background vocals (track 5), producer
• Descaro "Mac Mone" Moore – background vocals (track 5)
• Ramon "Pee-Wee" Gooden – background vocals (track 7), producer
• Randy "Stretch" Walker – rap vocals (tracks: 8, 11)
• Dave Hollister – vocals (track 10)
• Roniece Levias – vocals (track 10)
• Raymond "Ray Luv" Tyson – background vocals (track 12)
• Yonni – background vocals (track 12)
• Di-Di – background vocals (track 12)
• Poppi – vocals (track 13)
• Angelique – background vocals (track 13)
• Deon "Big D the Impossible" Evans – producer
• Jeremy "J-Z" Jackson – producer
• Live Squad – producers
• Darrin Harris – engineering
• Steve Counter – engineering
• Marc Senasac – engineering
• Matt Kelley – engineering
• Kenneth K. Lee Jr. – mastering
• Atron Gregory – executive producer
• Kevin Hosmann – art direction
• Victor Hall – photography
• David Provost – photographic prints
• Tom Whalley – A&R
• Leslie Gerard-Smith – coordinator

{{div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=2 Pac|title=2 Pacalypse|award=Gold|relyear=1991|certyear=1995}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|1216|2Pacalypse Now|type=album}}

{{Tupac Shakur}}

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Category:1991 debut albums

Category:Tupac Shakur albums

Category:T.N.T. Recording albums

Category:Political hip-hop albums

Category:Interscope Records albums