1996 Rewind: Remembering 2pac’s All Eyez on Me

1996 is one of the most beloved years in hip-hop and R&B, so we’re going to spend all month celebrating its greatness! All 2026, we’re turning the clock back 30 years to review, revisit and relive the most pivotal moments of Black music in that era. And, of course, I’ll be joined by a host of music homies as we debate the best of the best.

Thirty years ago today, one of the most influential rap albums of all time landed in our laps. All Eyez on Me was 2pac at his most creative, his most defiant and his most excessive. Y’all know I’ve had my thoughts on this album over the years but, in the sake of a fair and balanced convo, I’ve brought along my boy Derrick Dunn to analyze the good and the bad of 2pac’s most celebrated album. So much hennessy, so many enemies…

Let’s get into it! What are your earliest memories of this album?

Derrick: I was in eighth grade, 14 years old. When All Eyez on Me dropped, I could immediately tell Pac was changing and that the Suge Knight influence was beginning to show. Still, the impact was undeniable. The album spoke directly to the teen angst I was navigating at the time. Even without fully understanding it, I knew it was a moment.

Edd: Pretty sure I was in 11^th grade when All Eyez landed, and while my reputation as Pac’s No. 1 Hater is a bit overblown these days, I can’t say that I rushed to Camelot music to cop the album. “California Love” had been playing 25 hours a day, eight days a week for months and even though I initially liked it, my love of California was GONE by the time the album dropped. It was probably a full decade later when I finally heard the album in full and, admittedly, it was a lot better than I expected.

Regardless of my annoyance with Pac’s oversaturation, whether it was 1996 or 2006, it was abundantly clear that All Eyez on Me was a pivotal moment for the culture.

What’s your pick for best song and why?

Derrick: “Got My Mind Made Up”

My top track is “Got My Mind Up”. It captures the hungriest version of Pac on the project. The record feels like a cypher freestyle raw, competitive, and urgent. Every MC comes in with something to prove, and Pac rises to the moment. That energy defines the album more than any radio record.

Edd: “Got My Mind Made Up”

Derrick, this is why you’re my dude. “Got My Mind Made Up” is far and away the best song on this project in my eyes and I just knew I’d get massacred for naming it No. 1 ahead of the more celebrated tracks. I mean, I probably STILL will get massacred, but at least we can go down together. All Eyez is filled with posse cuts but none come close to the excellence of this one. Everyone brings their A-game, the production is stellar and they put the petty coastal drama aside for the sake of a banger. I love this track.

Best video?

Derrick: “California Love”

As predictable as it sounds, the answer is “California Love.” Hype Williams’ Mad Max–inspired vision was cinematic and chaotic, turning the video into a full-scale event. Not to mention cameos from Clifton Powell, Chris Tucker, and Tony Cox, it looked bigger than hip hop — and felt like it, too.

Edd: “California Love”

Yeah, I’ still kinda sick of the song itself but the video is undeniable. “California Love” is not just the best visual showcase of this album, it’s one of the greatest rap videos of all time. In an era where videos were becoming big budget mini-movies, “California Love” captured the spirit of the song without totally losing itself in spectacle – those later Bad Boy videos should have taken notes. From the cameos to the apocalyptic motif, it proved California knew how to party.

There are no shortage of album cuts here. Which song deserved to be a single?

Derrick: “Life Goes On”

“Life Goes On.” It showcased Pac’s emotional depth and maturity and would’ve provided a necessary counterbalance to the album’s aggression and excess.

Edd: “Life Goes On”

I promise I’m going to stop stealing Derrick’s answers, but he keeps being right. I understand why this wasn’t a single – it hits similar emotional beats that “I Ain’t Mad At Cha” already covered – but it’s one of those emotionally gripping songs that Pac does so well. In some ways, it feels like Pac is writing his own obituary, which makes it hit even harder.

What’s the album’s most underrated song?

Derrick: “Life Goes On”

At 14, I would’ve said “Heartz of Men.” At 44, the answer is “Life Goes On.” After losing friends to suicide, watching COVID devastate communities, and seeing political leadership amplify division, the song resonates differently. Time changed the listener, not the record.

Edd: “Got My Mind Made Up”

All Eyez on Me is filled with underrated tracks – the aforementioned “Life Goes On,” “Tradin’ War Stories,” “Heartz of Men,” “No More Pain” – but again I’m sticking with “Got My Mind Made Up.”  Most of the convo surrounding this project focuses on the singles, or the more well-known album cuts like “Ambitionz Az A Ridah.” But I’m a simple man, give me a bunch of dope MCs going crazy over a dope beat and I’m happy. Doesn’t take much to please me.

Which track showcases the best production?

Derrick: “Got My Mind Made Up”

“Got My Mind Made Up.” I’ve always gravitated toward boom bap, and Daz delivers exactly that here. The beat creates pure cypher energy — no gimmicks, no filler — just a foundation that demands elite performances from the MCs on the track

Edd: “How Do You Want It”

This is a tough one. There are probably six or seven good contenders but I’ll go with one of the more obvious picks. Johnny J’s “How Do You Want It” is debauchery personified. It’s funky and sexy, but also an absolute party. There are a ton of contenders for best production but when I think of this album, I think about the moment this beat drops.

There are a TON of features on this album. Which one stood tallest?

Derrick: Method Man on “Got My Mind Made Up”

Without question Method Man on “Got My Mind Made Up.” Much like his appearance on Biggie’s “The What,” Meth dominates the track without overshadowing the main artist. Razor sharp and aggressive, he elevates the record and pushes Pac to meet the moment.

Edd: Redman on “Got My Mind Made Up”

There’s a strong part of me that wants to show love to Michel’le on “Run tha Streetz” for the sheer ridiculousness of it all:

YOU CAN RUN DA STREETZ WITH YO THUGGGGGGGGZZZZZZZ

I’LLLLLLLLLLLLL BE WAITINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

That woman was determined to wait for that ma.

But the real answer is Redman on “Got My Mind Made Up.” “I planned my escape in case Jake wanna snake/Bust it, I’m the one pushin’ the hearse, in the first place.” Sheesh

The eternal question: Does All Eyez On Me work as a double album?

Derrick: This is the hardest question. On one hand, Pac had a lot to say post-incarceration, and strategically, the double album  was going to help accelerate his exit from Death Row. On the other, there’s undeniable filler — “What’z Ya Phone #” being the clearest example — along with repetitive themes and flows. Historically, it works but editorially, it needed restraint.

Edd: I’ll put it like this – it sorta works as a double album, but it would have worked MUCH better as one disc, or at least two tighter discs. Get ready to curse my name because I’m about to compare All Eyez on Me to, gasp … J. Cole.

J. Cole’s latest album is a fine project, but most of the criticism I’ve seen claims that it “feels like homework” getting through it. That essentially means that there’s too much to consume in one sitting. Now sure, All Eyez has way more standout moments than The Fall Off, but it has the same trappings of giving listeners way too much in one sitting. You could EASILY trim seven songs off this thing, give us two solid 10-track discs and you’d likely have the best double album of all time. The concept wasn’t the problem for me, but the execution was flawed. And speaking of…

Disc 1 or Disc 2, which do you prefer?

Derrick: Disc 1, easily. Despite closing with “What’z Ya Phone #,” it’s more cohesive — tense, angry, hungry, and ambitious. Disc 2 contains plenty of bops but feels looser, like Pac enjoying the studio and turning the album into a West Coast house party with his label mates and other artists.

Edd: EASILY Disc 1. Disc 2 has some heat – the title track, “Picture Me Rollin,” “YOU CAN RUN DA STREETZ WITH YO THUGGGGGGGGZZZZZZZ,” but it’s also home to the worst tracks on the album. As I said above, drop “What’z Ya Phone #”  from disc 1, half the fluff on disc 2 and THEN you’d be working with something.

Is All Eyez on Me 2pac’s greatest album?

Derrick: No. The filler prevents it from claiming that title. features stronger writing and tighter focus. In hindsight, it’s surprising that Suge Knight never condensed All Eyez on Me into a single, definitive album — similar to how Jay-Z later approached The Blueprint 2.

Edd: Sorry about your nostalgia, this is absolutely not Pac’s best album. However, it IS his most defining album – and even his most influential. This album, even with it’s length and occasional absurdity, best encapsulates all that Pac is as an artist. The poet, the revolutionary, the MC, the ladies man, the bully, the brat – all of that is here. The project is as human as flawed as he is. In terms of front-to-back quality, Me Against The World and even Makaveli top it. But no other project showcases the mystique of Pac better than this one.

Where does All Eyez on Me rank among the best albums of the 90s?

Derrick: Revisiting the album at 44, it’s historically essential. However it’s still behind Me Against The World but above 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Furthermore when stacked against other ’90s rap classics, its inconsistency places it in the Top 10–15 range. Its impact, however, is undeniable: it helped normalize the double-disc format in hip hop and proved Pac could blend multiple subgenres without alienating his core audience. Taking all of that into account, I’d rank it 10th.

Edd: Y’all trying to get me in trouble again. I’m still getting daily threats from angry Pac stans after my top 10 of the 1990s video snubbed this album. But I stand by it. All Eyez on Me is THE definitive Tupac Shakur album and is the most important one for his legacy, but there are many, many, many albums better than it in hip-hop’s legacy – including other albums that he recorded! It’s nowhere near my top 10, or 20, or even 30 – but that doesn’t mean Pac isn’t a pivotal figure in hip-hop’s history. It just means he had stronger contributions before and after this moment in 1996. But this moment, admittedly, is one of the most memorable.

Your turn – who do you agree with, Derrick or Edd? Speak out and share your 2pac memories below.