All Eyez on Me
Simultaneously serving as both endless fodder for intellectual debates and the album most likely to be blaring out of the adjacent car's window,All Eyez on Meis a phenomenon that packs a wallop with every listen. Unquestionably the most nihilistic album to top theBillboardcharts--and it's doubtful that any will match it--Eyezalso manages to dish out the good-times dance tunes and still flow seamlessly. Recording commenced within hours of Tupac Shakur's release from prison, and a year's worth of pent-up ideas are unleashed with a fury akin to lifting the lid on a box of plutonium. The line between high art and insufferable reality, possibilities and self-destruction, has never been so blurred.Eyezis a landmark achievement that is unlikely to be topped by any heir apparent to the hip-hop crown.--Gregg Turkington