Stylistically, “If I Die 2 Nite” is Shakur’s most acrobatic turn at the mike since the Warren G-produced “Definition of a Thug Nigga.” Producer extraordinaire Easy Mo Bee (Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack) lays the beat low and thick while 2Pac drops his alliterative maxims: “They say pussy and paper is poetry, power and pistols/Plottin’ on murderin’ muthafuckas ‘fore they get you/Picturing pitiful punk niggas coppin’ pleas/Puffin’ weed as I position myself to clock Gs…. With less thuggin’ clouding the picture, 2Pac examines some of the results of the gangsta lifestyle: paranoia, the promise of death and a combative relationship, with a higher, all-powerful authority. Sure, the thug still hangs around, remorseless and defiant, but for the first time since “The Streetz R Deathrow” and “Papa’z Song,” 2Pac lets the listener look at the roots of his anger.

Most of the songs on Me Against the World, 2Pac’s third and best album, demonstrate that underneath his hardened postures is a method. Hoochie-coochie man, nationalist revolutionary, smoky-eyed thug - he has juggled all three roles, and as a result, his two previous albums, 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., were plagued by convoluted thematics that proved distracting if you wanted to think about the ideas beyond the beats. Imagine his debonair face screaming “Thug Life,” gat in hand, spliff in pocket, lashing out at a society that he blames for his rage and the impoverished condition of his people, often without looking at his own contribution to that misery. The same man who is capable of poignant paeans to black women like “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and “Keep Ya Head Up” is the next minute fuckin’ and chuckin’ “hos” in “I Get Around” of lickin’ off shots at everyone from the cops to that jealous brutha down the block.

His personality seems split right down the middle - one half collected and reflective, the other coiled and venomous, waiting (like the “shining serpent” contained within the meaning of his African name) to strike out at anything in his path.

Among movie roles, music-video cameos and court appearances, Tupac Shakur remains a frustrating yet fascinating character because it’s obvious that the 23-year-old rapper has decided to make his journey for self-discovery open to the world.

Simple plan me against the world album