For someone to consider this debut "mediocre" or "disappointing," they must not be able to understand the hip hop climate of the late 80s and early 90s, before The Chronic. Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Ice T etc. all made headlines and splashes with albums that covered the same topics as 2pacalypse. They must also overlook the fact that Brenda's Got A Baby, Violent, Soulja's Story, If My Homie Calls, Trapped and Part Time Mutha might be the largest and best collection of hood stories ever told in rap form all on one album.

If you're looking for the GFunk beats of Chronic or the production on Illmatic and Ready 2 Die, you won't find them here or in any other album in 1991. With that said, how can anyone claim that these tracks don't have tight beats?

This was an incredible album created by a kid at a young age.

The difference between a G.A.T.
Tupac's road to domination in rap music started here, would you believe? And I'm not saying that to put down 2Pac but to give him props because I can feel what Tupac is saying in this record. His words are true but my man Nathan is right, this are pretty heavy lyrics and music which will offend those with the faint ears. Out of all the 2Pac albums, I have never heard 2Pac swear in so much songs so many times in an album but this.
A.K.A. his first record, 2Pac was seen more as a gangsta in here. His words made people to believe that he was a menace to society that his music should be banned for the amount of swearing and violence he portrayed. But not even that could stop this album from being a great one: there were also good songs too. Whether it was from the story telling tale of a young girl who got pregnant (Brenda's Got a Baby, which just so happens to be a true story) to the pride in the black nation song (Words of Wisdom), 2Pac couldn't have done it better.
Now 2Pac went through a lot of bad things in his life- grew up with no childhood friends, moved from place to place often, mother was in jail when he was born, mother was part of the Black Panthers, step-father was sentenced to prison etc. And I believe things just couldn't get any worse than what happened to 2Pac. This album kind of overlooks his past life and he takes out his anger on the world for what had happened to him. I Don't Give a F*ck is simply a negative song displaying his political side. In him, I could see a young Chuck-D. He has never been so anti-political in any of his records than 2Pacalypse Now. Crooked Ass Nigga (feat. 2Pac's true homeboy, Stretch) clearly states that he's a man with nothing to lose and Young Black Male writes out the pride of the black nation.
What truly surprised me was Part Time Mutha, which is a record I think 2Pac should have released. His lyrical talent in this is exceptionally amazing but I wish I knew who the girl was. Her lines are true and strong. And the beat, oh my the beat. I reckon this is one of the best beats 2Pac has EVER come up with.

This is an album thats not to be taken lightly. Do not take him as a bad person just because of the things he said. He said it for a reason. 2Pacalypse Now, just another one of those who's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted... Now that's the difference between a gangsta and a thug.

raw,emotional,intelligent,captivating
Although i am not a huge fan of rap, especially the rap that is out now a days, i just had to write a review of this classic. A young Tupac Shakur, who is in my opinion the true king of hip hop releases this anti-commericial gem of an album way back in 91. Forget the big bass heavy drum beats, the fake thug posing , the tough guy lyrics and rap wars. This is as real as it gets. tupac raps visionary lines through a series of minimalist but very attractable beats. Remember this was written in 91 before the west coast sound was changed by death row records. This proves an album could stand the test of time without having those pounding futuristic beats. Just simple catchy songs and great songwriting and performing by the young tupac shakur. To think a 20 year old could write something so astounding and meaningful with his first album is absolutely incredible. This album proves tupac's genious more so than any other of the records in his catalogue. Songs like violent, young black male, soulja's story, and brenda's got a baby are so real and written so well it hurts. Part time mutha is my personal favorite tupac song of all time. very brilliant catchy use of the motown beat, with lyrics and imagery unparalelled in rap history. Completely sucks you in to a story of a young women from the ghetto, molested and inpregnated, abused, and poverty sticken. The unknown voice of a female rapper used to play the part. This just does not happen in rap today. the imagery and story telling, the realness of this album has not and will not be touched again. Rest in peace Tupac Shakur. The best mind in hip hop history.

Average Debut
I would like to start by saying that I'm one of the realest 2pac followers in this planet. He's my favorite rapper along with Daz, Krayzie Bone, TQ, Kurupt, Too Short and all those G-funk dudes. I wanna be totally honest. This got to be the weakest 'Pac album there is alongside "R U Still Down" (excluding "Lost Tapes", which is an unofficial album). There is maybe only one standout track on this album, and that is "Brenda's Got A Baby". All other songs range between downright horrible to pretty decent. This got to be one of the weakest debut album by a rapper alongside 50's "Get Rich or Die Trying" (if you can call 50 a "rapper"). Other rappers dropped bombs on they debut albums. Nasty Nas dropped a nuclear bomb in "Illmatic", which many people hailed as the best album ever; Biggie put the East Coast on top with "Ready to Die"; Big L had a debut gem in "Lifestylez...."; Dr. Dre puts the G-funk sound on the map for good alongside Snoop's "Doggystyle", Warren G's "Regulate", Nate's "G-Funk Classics Vol. 1 & 2". Wu Tang Clan dropped an atomic bomb with their classic debut album "36 Chambers"; DMX had a pretty good debut with "It's Dark...."; Big Pun became the first Latino rapper to go platinum with his classic debut "Capital Punishment"; while Gay-Z had a pretty respectable debut with "Reasonable Doubt" (although I don't like Gay-Z, I would be a hypocrite if I say that this album isn't good, it's pretty decent". But the good thing about 2Pac is that he gets better and better in his next albums. After this somewhat disappointing debut album (which was heavily criticized by then Vice President Dan Quayle saying Pac's music "had no place in our society"), he released the critically acclaimed "Strictly 4 My NiGG*Z" - which eventually reached platinum. Next he teamed up with his homies and released the classic "Thug Life Vol. 1" - which had a very disappointing sales (only Gold) because Interscope cut songs they thought were too gangsta. Before 'Pac was incarcerated, he recorded my all-time favorite "Me Against The World" (I like this a little better than All Eyez). As 'Pac was serving prison, this album dropped in the streetz and easily rise up to number 1 on the Billboard Charts. 2Pac was the first artist to have a number 1 selling album while in prison. After getting bailed out of hell, Tupac signed with Deathrow and released the first double album in history, "All Eyez on Me". This album easily reached quintuple platinum (5x platinum) in just 2 months. Many hailed that album as 'Pac's best and the best album ever, but I would honestly say that "Me Against the World" is quite better. Two months after 2Pac's untimely death, Deathrow released another bomb in "Makaveli: 7 Day Theory". That album was sick as hell. You see, 2Pac is getting better and better each album. While 2pac gets better and better, other rappers who dropped bombs in they debut albums started to deteriorate and could not duplicate they classic debut albums. Nasty Nas seems to be lost for a while. After dropping a nuke bomb in his debut, Nasty Nas only dropped firecrackers in his next three albums ("It Was Written", which is just decent; "I Am", again below average; "Nastradamus", which is downright terrible). Fortunately for Nas, he got back in track and released pretty good albums lately ("Stillmatic", "Lost Tapes", "God's Son"). The same can be said of Snoop Dogg (Snoop turned pop, collaborating with hip-poppers like Ludacris, Chingy, 50 Cent, Gay-Z - WE WANT THE OLD SNOOP BACK), Wu Tang, Gay-Z, DMX, Warren G who never reached the same level they have when they dropped they debuts. If 2Pac is getting better and better as he gets older, can you just imagine the sh*t 2Pac would be dropping if he is still alive today? If 2Pac made around 300 songs in a very short time, can you just imagine how many songs had he done if not for his untimely death? If 'Pac was still alive today, he would be kicking fake rappers like 50, Ja, Gay-Z, Chingy, Luda etc. in they ass.
[!] PEACE [!]
All the elements that made this rap star great are already in place on this authoritative debut, released when he was not even yet of drinking age. "Young Black Male" and "Trapped" exemplify his more overtly political style, later abandoned when he signed up with the Death Row label; "Crooked Ass Nigga" is the kind of violent gangsta-rap tune that made 2Pac a bogeyman to the genre's foes. On "I Don't Give a Fuck," Shakur keeps his humor up while conveying the oppressive reaction a young black male encounters while performing the most mundane of tasks: buying some chips. "Brenda's Got a Baby" is a cautionary tale that shows Shakur at his poetic best: evocative and sympathetic, never condescending. The energetic production by 2Pac's Digital Underground pals is fully focused on unleashing his strengths rather than simply rehashing the successful DU sound. --Gregg Turkington