Meaning California Love by 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre & Song Story

In October 1995, Tupac Shakur was released from prison after serving eight months on charges of sexual harassment. The first single after his release, the rapper released the song California Love, recorded with Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman.

The track, released on Death Row Records, topped the charts in several countries and became one of the most popular tracks of the hip-hop legend.

Story of California Love by Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur

The original version is based on a sample from Joe Cocker’s Woman to Woman, released in 1972.

DJ/producer Chris Taylor, nicknamed The Glove, talked about how Dr. Dre and Tupac recorded California Love:

One afternoon [в 1995 году] I was at Dr. Dre’s house in Calabasas because he always had barbecues. At the back of the house he had a studio. He invited me there to play a track that later became an instrumental for California Love.
The drums and sample were already ready, but he said that he was going to invite musicians to replay the brass parts that were in the original sample. The musicians came and played their parts, and later I recorded the keyboard parts that can be heard throughout the track. When the track was completed, Dre revealed that he was going to keep it for himself.
The party at the house continued, and eventually Tupac showed up […] We said hello, shook hands, and he went to have fun – I thought so. A little later I went back to the studio to see what was going on and saw Tupac in the booth. He was recording a verse for an instrumental we just created.
The whole process took about twenty minutes – and it was amazing. […] After the session, Dre played the track about fifty times, but 2Pac only listened to it a couple of times, and then he broke down and did something else. Everyone knows that’s how he worked.

L.A. Weekly

The chorus features excerpts from the track West Coast Poplock – Ronnie Hudson & The Street People. It was performed by Roger Trautman, known for his vocal experiments with the vocoder.

According to Chris Taylor, they had no doubt that California Love was going to be hugely popular:

When Dre creates a hit, he knows it, and he knew the song was a hit. With Tupac’s help, it became a classic, which is why we could listen to it over and over in the studio without getting tired. If you get tired of the song, you understand that it will not stay afloat.

L.A. Weekly

Meaning of California Love by Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur

Rapper J-Flexx, formerly of Death Row Records, has claimed that he wrote the lyrics to California Love and several other well-known Dr. Dre. He said that he received money for them, but he was not indicated as a co-author.

The song’s lyrics describe the Californian way of life as imagined by hip-hop musicians, with its easily accessible women, street gangs, drugs and other phenomena that are commonly called social vices.

2Pac shared his vision of the main idea of the composition:

I don’t want it to be about violence. I want it to be about money.

Rolling stone

Release and achievements

There are three verses in the first version of the song, and Dr. Dre. It was featured on the UK release of Tupac Shakur’s All Eyez on Me and featured on the Greatest Hits compilation.

The original California Love is also famous in an extended version of almost six and a half minutes. It was only released on vinyl, but is also available online.

California Love topped several Billboard charts, including the Hot 100. It also rose to the top of the charts in Italy, New Zealand, Canada and Sweden. In the UK, the track reached number two on the UK R&B Chart and number six on the UK Singles Chart.

After the death of Tupac Shakur, the song received Grammy nominations for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

The Village Voice ranked California Love the eleventh best single of 1996, and Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Video of California Love – 2Pac

Two music videos were made for the song. The first clip was directed by Hype Williams, inspired by the third part of the fantastic blockbuster Mad Max (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). You can watch the video below.

The video was nominated for the 1996 MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video nomination. MTV gave it the tenth spot on its list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time.

The second video clip California Love was intended for a remix of a song from the album All Eyez on Me. It continues the storyline of the first movie. Let’s watch the clip.

Interesting Facts

Under California Love, mixed martial arts fighter Urijah Faber, nicknamed The California Kid, enters the fights.
The song was included in the soundtracks of Valentine’s Day, Iron Man 2 and several other popular films.
The track is used in the film All Eyez on Me about the life of Tupac Shakur.

California Love Lyrics by Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur

California love!

Chorus 1:
California, knows how to party
California, knows how to party
In the city of LA
In the city of good ol’ Watts
In the city, the city of Compton
We keep it rockin! We keep it rockin!

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west
A state that’s untouchable like Elliot Ness
The track hits ya eardrum like a slug to ya chest
Pack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sex
We in that sunshine state with a bomb ass hemp be
The state where I never find a dance floor empty
And pimps be on a mission for them greens,
Lean mean money-makin-machines serving fiends
I been in the game for ten years making rap tunes
Ever since honeys was wearing Sassoon
Now it’s ’95 and they clock me and watch me
Diamonds shinin’, lookin’ like I robbed Liberace
It’s all good, from Diego to the Bay
Your city is the bomb if your city making pay
Throw up a finger if I feel the same way
Dre putting it down for Californ-Ia

Chorus 1

Chorus 2:
Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it, shake it baby
Shake it shake it mama
Shake it Cali
Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it mama
Shake it Cali

Out on bail fresh outta jail, California dreamin’
Soon as I stepped on the scene, I’m hearing hoochies screamin
Fiendin for money and alcohol
The life of a west side player where cowards die
And it’s all ball
Only in Cali where we riot not rally to live and die
In LA we wearing Chucks not Ballies
Dressed in Locs and khaki suits and ride is what we do
Flossing but have caution
We collide with other crews
Famous cause we program worldwide
Let’em recognize from Long Beach to Rosecrans
Bumping and grinding like a slow jam, it’s west side
So you know the Row won’t bow down to no man
Say what you say
But give me that bomb beat from Dre
Let me serenade the streets of LA
From Oakland to Sactown
The Bay Area and back down
Cali is where they put their mack down
give me love

Chorus 1

Chorus 2

long beach in the house
Oaktown, Oakland definitely in the house
Frisko, Frisko

Hey, you know LA is up in this
Pasadena, where you at
Yeah, Inglewood, Inglewood always up to no good
Even Hollywood trying to get a piece baby
Sacramento, Sacramento where ya at? yeah

Throw it up y’all, throw it up, Throw it up
California love!
Let’s show these fools how we do this on that west side
Cause you and I know it’s the best side

Lyrics California Love by Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur Alternative

Love for California

Chorus 1:
California knows how to party
California knows how to party
In Los Angeles,
In good old Watts
In Compton
We’re on fire all the time! We’re on fire all the time!

Let’s all welcome to the wild, wild west,
In a state as inviolable as Eliot Ness
The track hits the eardrums like a bullet in the chest
Take a vest to sex city for your Jimmy2
We’re in the sunshine state with killer cannabis
In a state where you never find an empty dance floor
And the pimps are always ready to cut the dough
Skinny, dastardly machines to extract money from insatiable customers
I’m ten years in the game making rap
From the time when cuties wore Sassoon3
Now 95, I’m being judged, I’m being watched
Diamonds shine like I robbed Liberace
It’s all right from San Diego to the bay
Your city sucks if it makes you pay for everything
Thumbs up if you agree
Dre will tell all about California

Chorus 1:

Chorus 2:
Shake, shake, baby
Shake, shake, shake, baby
Shake, shake, baby
Shake, Kali
Shake, shake, baby
Shake, shake, shake, baby
Shake, shake, baby
Shake, Kali

Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreaming
As soon as I arrived, I hear the whores squealing,
Begging for money and alcohol
Such is life on the West Side where cowards die
And it’s all fun
Only in Cali where we riot, not rally to live and die
In LA we wear Chucks, not Ballies
We put on Locs6 and khakis and go everywhere
We show ourselves, but do not lose caution,
Facing other gangs
We are famous because we broadcast to the whole world
Let us be recognized from Long Beach to Rosencrantz Avenue
Dirty dancing like slow music is the West Side
So know that Row7 does not recognize wimps
Say what you want 8
But give me that killer Dre beat
Let me serenade the streets of LA
From Oakland to Sacramento
To the bay and back
Cali where they left their cloaks
give me love

Chorus 1

Chorus 2

Long Beach is here
Auckland, Auckland is right here
San Francisco, San Francisco

Hey, you know, Los Angeles is in business.
Pasadena, where are you?
Yes, Inglewood, don’t expect good from Inglewood
Even Hollywood is trying to snatch its piece
Sacramento, Sacramento, where are you?

Throw the loot, throw the loot, throw the loot
Love for California!
Let’s show these assholes how we do it on the West Side
After all, we all know that this is the best Side.

Elliot Ness is a Treasury Department agent who managed to jail Al Capone.
Talking about a condom
Sasson is a brand of high waisted jeans.
Liberace – American showman and pianist Wladzi Valentino Liberace, known for his flamboyant image
Shoe brands
Sunglass brand
Talking about Dr. Dre’s The Death Row label
Remember Eminem and his Say What You Say