2Pac Friday
22 March 2024
This is one of my favorite 2Pac songs. It is one that mixes positivity, nostalgia, and a little melancholy.
It is a song that is very appropriate with springtime here, with line in the chorus:
We must remember that tomorrow comes after the dark
We have made it through the dark winter to the sunshine of springtime.
This is one of four previously-unreleased songs on 2Pac first Greatest Hits album. While all of those four new songs are classics, “Changes” is certainly the most famous—and deservedly so, but “Unconditional Love” ranks right up there with “Changes.”
Interestingly, 2Pac actually wrote this song for his good friend, M.C. Hammer, who had joined Death Row Records. Hammer released his version on in 1998 on his album Family Affair.
2Pac’s version, which had been the demo from which Hammer worked from, was released later that year in November.
Both versions were produced by longtime 2Pac producer Johnny “J”.
Hammer changed a few words, but the songs are very similar.
2Pac jampacks this song with meaningful, soulful lyrics from beginning to end.
But the lines that standout for this 2Pac Friday are from the heart of the song, in the middle of the middle verse:
Driven by my ambitions, desire higher positions
So I proceed to make G's eternally
And my mission is to be more than just a rap musician
And 2Pac certainly succeeded in his mission. He is much more than just a rapper.
Much more.
Happy 2Pac Friday!