A funky bass, a newly released Tupac and hella much love for Cali.
Actually the song wasn't meant to be on any of Pac's albums. As it was meant to be on Dre's "Chronic ll: A New World Oddor (Poppa's Got A Brand New Funk). But as you all probably know Chronic ll never released and that's sad to think about although I don't think Dre would have been as successful with "2001" if it had. The song is currently available on a compilation of Pac's Greatest Hits as well on the British version of "All Eyez on Me".
"California Love" and "Can't C Me" are the only two songs on "All Eyez on Me" produced by Dre. Both tracks are completed by the funky beats Dre delivers. I also love the "California knows how to party" chorus which was sung by Roger Troutman using his talk box.
If you didn't know there were actually two different videos recorded for "California Love". The first one was produced by Pac's longtime friend Jada Pinkett Smith. After all she was supposed to direct the video but she put her self off the project and was replaced by Hype Williams. It was set in the desert in 2095 and I love the cliffhanger "To Be Continued" at the end. The second video is based of the remix and is a continuation of the first video. It plays on the first video being nothing more than a nightmare Pac was having. He then wakes up, calls Dre, who tells him to get to his house party. The rest of the video is Pac celebrating his release (both songs wise and from jail).
Pac got back from jail and he did it in style. "California Love" is without a doubt one of the most notorious tracks to come out of Old School Cali and it sat fire on the East Coast as well and became a stepping stone in the beef between West and East.
Breaking down some of the lyrics:
"Now let me welcome everybody the Wild Wild West. A state that's untouchable like Eliot Ness"
- Dre starts of by calling Cali "the Wild Wild West" by doing this he refers to the lawlessness of the late 1800's. Eliot Ness was an agent who made a group to take down Al Capone and called them "The Untouchables" since they were the only agents who couldn't be bribed. At the time the East Coast vs West Coast rivalry was heating up and Dre definitely intended to poke the East Coast with these bars.
"It's Westside, so you know the Row don't bow down to no man"
- "The Row" is of course meant to be Death Row which Pac got signed to after Suge Knight paid his bail. Just a few months upon the release of "California Love" Ice Cube and Westside Connection dropped their new track called "Bow Down". An obvious diss to Pac which he later addressed in an interview calling Cube out for using him for fame.
"The track hits your eardrum like a slug to your chest"
- This line is pretty self explanatory. A slug is of course a punch and a punch to the chest hits hard like this song does. A slug can also be ammunition for a shotgun and a shot to your chest would in that context be hard-hitting and fatal. I love this line because of the accuracy. "California Love" does hit hard as hell.
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