As I have written countless times on this blog over the past twenty-plus years, I was a 2Pac fan at the time of his death. His music has carried with me ever since.
I first began following Shakur in 1994. It was from two of his tracks - Loyal to the Game and Pain - appearing on the single of Warren G and Nate Dogg's Regulate.
Not long after that time, I read about Shakur being sent to prison. I actually recall the exact place I was when I read that news bit. It was in the South Wales Echo as I was delivering them one evening.
2Pac's music appeared on MTV a lot while he was serving time. Dear Mama and Temptations are the ones I recall seeing the most.
Those two songs appear on 2Pac's Me Against the World album. The title track brings back another memory of mine - a lad who was in my year at school arrived to pick up his GCSE results in a car blasting that tune out of it as my friends and I were leaving.
Every time I've listened to Me Against the World since that day, I find myself landed back to that final walk down towards the school gates with my results in hand.
A few months after that, 2Pac was bailed out and signed to Death Row Records. That's when my interest in Shakur's music intensified. Death Row, at that time in my life, was my favourite record label. It was a perfect fit.
I have so many fond memories from the Death Row content. My parents bought me Pac's double album - All Eyez On me - for my birthday that year. Drunkenly dancing to California Love when they played it at the nightclub we used to go to (which - I must add - never played West Coast Rap!).
Quite a few friendships I made at sixth form stemmed from being a Death Row and 2Pac fan.
Another thing I've written a lot over the years is where I was when I found out Pac had died.
One of my best friends at the time, who I introduced to 2Pac's music earlier that year, told me about the Las Vegas shooting shortly after it had happened. I foolishly thought 2Pac would pull through because he had escaped death two years earlier, when he was shot in New York.
On Saturday 14th September, I was on a hunt for a WWF Raw magazine that had sold out of the two shops I would find it. I took a chance on it being at a petrol station. As I walked across the forecourt, that very same friend - who was on his lunch break from his job in that area - came out. The news was broken to me at that point.
It's one of those 'Where Were You?' moments I'll never experience again due to how fast news works in this current age we live in.
My memories from the weeks, and months, following the news are just as vivid.
The best one is seeing that 2Pac's first posthumous album had been released. If I recall correctly, I bought it on November 5th. I know it was from Spillers Records in Cardiff.
That album, which was released under 2Pac's Makaveli alias, became my favourite 2Pac record. In fact, depending on my mood, it could arguably be my favourite album from any artist.
The Seven Day Theory is gritty. I legitimately get goosebumps every time I listen. I make sure to have it on at least once a year. I listened to a few tracks last night and I'm certain to remind myself to play it when the thirtieth anniversary of its release.
I plan to listen to some more music across the day.
Seeing as I mentioned them early in this post, I'm going to play Loyal to the Game and Pain next...
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