90s Stand Out Singles: 2PAC “California Love” (1995)
I didn’t know much about 2PAC. I would hear and enjoy bits and pieces of his music from friends who were rabid fans while never really latching onto anything. But that changed when 2PAC released the single “California Love” (1995).
The story of how the song came to light might be as cool as the tune itself. After being released from prison in October 1995, 2PAC went to work with producer Dr. Dre who was hoping to create some collaborations for “The Chronic II” the sequel to the monstrous album of the same name just a few years prior. A month later, however, Dr. Dre scrapped the idea of a making a new solo album so in some ways, that was that.
But one of the songs he and 2PAC had worked on together was too good to leave on the shelf. So Dre finished the song, sent it to 2PAC and suggested he release it himself as a 12" single. And the rest is history. “California Love” went on to become the second time 2Pac cracked the Billboard Top Ten and the first and only time he ever reached #1.
Less than a year later 2PAC would be dead in one of the most mysterious celebrity deaths of all time. “California Love” wasn’t quite the last we ever heard from him, but it was pretty close. And frankly, I think the tune amounts to a nice legacy amongst that tragedy. Much of 2PAC’s (or Tupac) music and career had been centered around social activism or highlighting the grim reality of the streets of L.A.
But with “California Love” we got to hear a celebration of the fact that The Golden State can also be a lot of fun. It was an easy thing to to forget when hearing so much to the contrary in West Coast Rap. So it was nice to be reminded as 2PAC sadly exited the stage that “California knows how to party”. Cause why wouldn’t they, right?
