original me against the world album cover

The rapper has mournful eyes and blood trickling down his naked body, the names of American cities pinned to his cross. These mostly morbid songs are summarised perfectly by the record’s sinister artwork, which depicts the crucifixion of Shakur. The fact the record still makes room for music for the clubs ( Toss It Up) is testament to Shakur’s infinite range. The gangster sermon Hail Mary, meanwhile, sounds like Shakur’s spirit is literally haunting the booth, with some of the lyrics – “ When they turn out the lights, I’ll be there in the dark” – so chilling they’ll make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. On Blasphemy, Shakur predicts that living a gangster life will result in his death while weighing up what awaits him in the next world (he speculates: “ Everybody kissing ass to go to heaven isn’t going, I put my soul on it!”). Subsequently, the record, completed while the West Coast rapper was still alive, naturally inherited an eerie feel.

The 7 Day Theory, named after the condensed period it took to record and mix the album, was released on November 5 1996, less than two months after Shakur, 25, was murdered in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip, following close friend Mike Tyson’s fight with Bruce Seldon. Shakur, rapping under the alias of Makaveli due to his admiration for the dictatorial leadership ideals presented in Nicolas Machiavelli’s political treatise The Prince, presents sinister aggression ( Against All Odds) and liberating activism ( White Man’s World) side-by-side, acutely aware that a black man must wear many masks in order to survive in America. The atmosphere of dread that permeates through Tupac Shakur’s dark 1996 masterpiece The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory is so heavy it can feel like you’re sinking in quick sand. Artist Ronald ‘Riskie’ Brent went from airbrushing t-shirts at the Compton Swap Meet to designing the cover for Tupac’s darkest masterpiece…

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Original me against the world album cover