2Pac

Released: July 21, 1998

Songwriter: Sway (US) 2Pac

Producer: The Stealth Music Group

[Interview]

Sway: Hey Pac, why don't you talk about the project you are doing with Jodeci right now.

2Pac: "How Do you Want It." My next single is gonna be "How Do You Want It," "Amerikka’s Most Wanted," "Hit 'Em Up" and "California Love," the version people couldn't buy. "Hit ’Em Up" is a song which is a classic hip hop record, meaning it's a straight battle record to all the Bad Boy staff. It's to Puffy, to Biggie to Lil Kim, to all of them.

My little homies is attacking them. That's why I'm not even addressing the Mobb Deep issue. They're not even on my level. I find it disrespectful that they would even think they can attack me or the West Coast. So I don't even address those busta ass fakes. Please print that. It is on and poppin'. If you don’t see me rushin’ them that means it's cause they bowed down. Those Mobb Deep fools they don’t want it. Chino XL, Mobb Deep , Bad Boy, Biggie , Lil Ceasar, Junior Mafia, all of them is on our hit list and I'm getting with them with my new click called The Outlaws. They're some Jersey dudes who are keeping that east coast flava poppin'. It’s some west coast dudes, southern dudes... It's the epitome of what I represent. You know how I mean?

(You know how I mean? You know how I mean? You know how I mean? You know how I mean?)

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an actor and a highly influential rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time due to the revolutionary spirit and thug passion he mixed into his music. During his music career, he made appearances in movies such as his acclaimed debut in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).

Born in Harlem, New York City to Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur, Tupac would later move to Baltimore before settling in the Bay Area cities of Oakland and Marin City in the late 1980s. There, he joined his first rap group Strictly Dope with Ray Luv before connecting with Shock G and Digital Underground. He was a roadie and backup dancer for the group before his breakthrough performance on their 1991 song “Same Song.”

2Pac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, which featured intense storytelling on singles such as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” His sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z featured one of his signature songs, the Digital Underground-assisted “I Get Around.” After working on the Thug Life group album in 1994, 2Pac released Me Against the World the following year, which is considered by many to be his best album, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination—all while he sat in prison.

more tracks from the album

In His Own Words

From the album

In His Own Words (1998)

2Pac popular songs

My Enemies (Interview by Sway)2Pac

2Pac

In His Own Words