"California Love" is a song by American rapper

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

featuring fellow American rapper-producer Dr. Dre and American singer Roger Troutman. The song was released as 2Pac's comeback single after his release from prison in 1995 and was his first single as the newest artist of

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre ('' ...

. The remix is featured on the UK version of his fourth album, '' All Eyez on Me'' (1996), and is one of 2Pac's most widely known and most successful singles. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two weeks (as a double A-side single with " How Do U Want It") and also topped the charts of Italy, New Zealand, and Sweden. The song was posthumously nominated Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997.

Original version

The original version was not available on any of Shakur's studio albums due to it being intended for Dr. Dre's shelved album ''The Chronic II: A New World Odor (Poppa's Got A Brand New Funk)'', but it can now be found on Shakur's compilation of '' Greatest Hits'' and on the United Kingdom version of ''All Eyez on Me''. The original version also exists in extended form and is 6:29 in length. This particular version was never released to the public and is now only available on 12-inch promo vinyl records. Aside from the extended track being on limited quantities of vinyl promo records, very few uploads to YouTube exist of the original, 6:29-length extended song, performed without Shakur.

Writing, samples and background

"California Love" was one of two songs produced by Dr. Dre on '' All Eyez on Me''—the other one being "Can't C Me". The first version of the song has three verses featuring Dr. Dre's rapping. The only copy of this session is now in the possession of DJ Jam,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

's personal concert DJ. 2Pac first heard Dr. Dre's session while at Dre's in-house studio and asked Dre to put him on the song. Producer Laylaw also did an additional remix of the song which is often erroneously credited to Dr. Dre and has been suggested to be one of the reasons for the fallout between Dre and 2Pac a few months later. The original was released as a double-A side single together with "How Do U Want It" and intended for the Dr. Dre album ''The Chronic II'', while the remix was included on 2Pac's ''All Eyez on Me''. The song was made and written in Dr. Dre's in house studio, 2Pac came in and wrote his verse straight away; it took him just 15 minutes to write his verse. The weekend after the song was completed the video was then recorded. The original version contains a sample taken from

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

's 1972 song "Woman to Woman". The remix version contains a sample taken from Kleeer's 1984 song "Intimate Connection". The chorus, " California knows how to party", was sung by Roger Troutman using his characteristic talk box and was taken from the 1982 song "

West Coast Poplock "West Coast Poplock" is one of the most popular singles by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People and was released in 1982. Immediately adopted as an anthem by KDAY, "West Coast Poplock" has rarely left radio since its release nearly 40 years ago. It ...

" by Ronnie Hudson & The Street People which was written by Ronnie Hudson and Mikel Hooks. In the song where Troutman sings "shake it, shake it baby", he interpolates the chant he used on his 1982 Zapp single, "Dance Floor".

Critical reception

Michael Hill from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' noted that 2Pac and

Dr Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

"are clicking some smooth lyrics together over this killer a— dance track. This track is smoking, and with the introduction of funk royalty Roger Troutman on the vocoder, it simply bursts into flames. If you haven’t heard one of the six mixes available, be patient because it’s bound to reach your area soon." Will Hermes from '' Entertainment Weekly'' viewed it as "a

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

rump shaker". Ralph Tee from '' Music Week'' ''RM'' Dance Update rated the song four out of five, describing it as "a fusion of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and hip hop on this excellent rap cut about the splendour of the US's sunshine state." He added further, "Dr Dre's production sparkles on this potential hit which takes the vocoder and horns from Zapp's 'So Ruff So Tuff' (Roger Troutman also appearing in the Mad Max-style video) and on its best mix the sticky bassline from Kleeer's 'Intimate Connection' underlines it all."

Music videos

Two versions of the music video were filmed. Shakur's longtime friend, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, came up with the concept inspired by the 1985 film '' Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. She was expected to direct the video, but she removed herself from the project and was replaced by Hype Williams. The video was filmed November 10-13, 1995 in El Mirage, California. It takes place in a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

in the year 2095. The casting includes actor Clifton Powell as the evil tribal chief, actor Chris Tucker (then known for his role in the 1995 film '' Friday''), Tony Cox as the dwarf soldier, and Roger Troutman (formerly with the band Zapp) carrying a talk box. It ends with a cliffhanger cut by a "To Be Continued" closing. An alternative version, featuring the remix song re-cut, removes the final caption and features 2Pac and Dr. Dre naming West Coast towns. The second video is based on the remix version of the song from the album '' All Eyez on Me'' and is a continuation of the video's story. The premise is that the desert scenes of the previous videos were merely a

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

2Pac was having. When he wakes up, he finds himself in his bed beside a young woman. He calls Dr. Dre on a cordless phone, who tells him to get over to his summer house because he's throwing a house party. The rest of the music video takes place as if it were a home video celebrating 2Pac's welcome to Death Row and features several cameos, notably Roger Troutman who is now playing the piano, and guest appearances from DJ Quik, Big Syke,

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...

Danny Boy "Danny Boy" is a ballad, written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly in 1913, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air". History In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initial ...

, Nadia Cassini, Jodeci, B-Legit and E-40. The video was shot in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

. The first video can be found on the DualDisc of '' All Eyez on Me'' and the second video can be found on '' Tupac: Live at the House of Blues'' DVD. It also won the 1996 MOBO Award for Best Video. The music video was released in December 1995.

Accolades

"California Love" was voted the 11th best single of 1996 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by '' The Village Voice''.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, the poll's creator, ranked it 10th in his own year-end list. The song's first video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video in 1996. It achieved number 9 of the top 10 on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made list in 1999. In April 2005 it reached the

Bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

spot on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

and XXL's 25 Greatest West Coast Videos. It also achieved number 1 on the French

's "100 Greatest Rap Music Videos" in 2006. It went number 51 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's countdown of the 100 Greatest songs of the 90s in 2007. * The information regarding accolades attributed to ''California Love'' is adapted from

Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, deca ...

Song versions

There are several different versions (and duration lengths) of California Love recorded and released by

. *California Love fficial/"Full" Original Track– 6:29 (the unmodified, uncut original track, released only on promo vinyl records) *California Love emix/"Full" Original Track– 6:25 (the unmodified, uncut remixed track, released on ''All Eyez On Me'') *California Love Original"– 4:45 (the "original" released track, shortened down from 6:29 to 4:45) *California Love

hort Radio Edit Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chur ...

– 4:01 (modified version of the cut "original" track horter, modified outro *California Love P Instrumental– 4:15 (instrumental version of the "original" track) *California Love

hort Remix Edit Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chur ...

– 4:07 (remixed version of the "original") *California Love emix Instrumental– 4:12 (instrumental version of remix) Some tracks listed above are available through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and other music providers, while others are from CD discs only believed to be released in the UK. The "official/original" track can only be found on promo vinyl records or through YouTube, which is done only by Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman.

Personnel

*Writer – Tupac "2Pac" Shakur (2nd Verse); James "J-Flexx" Anderson (1st verse) *Keyboards – Sean "Barney" Thomas *percussion – Carl "Butch" Small *Producer, mixing, featuring (Rap) – Dr. Dre *Vocals, talkbox – Roger Troutman *Background vocals – Danette Williams, Dorothy Coleman, Barbara Wilson *Engineer – Keston E. Wright *Engineer – Rick Clifford *Assistant Engineer: Alvin McGill *Production assistant – Larry Chatman *Video direction – Hype Williams

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Tupac Shakur songs Dr. Dre songs G-funk songs Gangsta rap songs Music videos directed by Hype Williams Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Sweden Song recordings produced by Dr. Dre Songs about California Songs about Los Angeles Songs written by Larry Troutman Songs written by Roger Troutman Death Row Records singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Tupac Shakur Songs written by Dr. Dre