Mic Capes is among the many artists who call 2Pac one of their greatest inspirations. In an episode of Best Albums, the Portland artist dissects the West Coast icon’s Me Against the World album.
“That’s the first person I heard that made me really connect to hip-hop and made it to where I make music like an escape for what I was going through and the feelings I was going through,” Capes shared. “I feel like with 2Pac, he didn’t just say stuff, you could see what he was saying, you could feel it. The music got beyond the eardrums and hit the heart.”
The 15-track album was written amid legal trouble and 2Pac became the first artist to have a #1 album on the Billboard 200 while incarcerated when Me Against the World debuted in the spring of 1995. He also had the feud with Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy swirling.
Mic Capes said that “Dear Mama” has always been a standout track to him, especially because he can relate with his relationship with his own mother. But in general, he appreciates the relatability of the entire LP.
“I just like the urgency he’s rapping with and like he puts you in that mind state,” he said. “And the beat matches the mind state and everything like that.”
He’s not frightened by ‘Pac’s honest analysis of life and death, but is intrigued by the thoughts of mortality.
“I think about death, but not in a scary type of way,” he reflected. “I just wonder about it. I like the artistic approach to it and really jumping into those feelings and trying to unwrap ’em and you get to experience it with ’em.”
2Pac died a year and a half after the album’s release, when Mic Capes was only in elementary school. But Mic is inspired by the impact that the icon made in such a short lifespan. He said there are lessons for everyone to learn from Makaveli and that the negativity he allowed into his life can serve as a warning to others.
“What always surprises me is that he was 25 when he died,” he said. “He had that much influence and what really stands out man is just staying grounded, staying level-headed. Not letting outside things change you and dictate what you gonna do I think. ‘Cause as much as I love 2Pac, you could learn what not to do from 2Pac. He was a Gemini, so duality. He had this uplifting side. Then he had this wild-ass side. He always put his humanity out there, so that’s what I really appreciate.”