California Love

Writing, samples and background

The earliest version of "California Love" was made by Dr. Dre, containing three verses of his own rapping, along with Roger Troutman's talk box vocal chorus. According to Death Row studio engineer Tommy Daugherty, the only copy of this session was given to DJ Jam, Snoop Dogg's personal concert deejay. Daugherty said that Tupac's arrival at Death Row Records made Dre want to leave, and that Dre was intending to use "California Love" as the first release for his new Aftermath Entertainment label. But Suge Knight heard the track and pushed for Tupac to replace Dre as the song's rapper, to become Tupac's comeback hit song for Death Row. Producer Laylaw also remixed the song, but this is often erroneously credited to Dr. Dre. 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. Tupac came in and took just 15 minutes to write his verse. The weekend after the song was completed, the video was recorded.

The hook is taken from EPMD's 1989 song "Knick Knack Patty Wack" which in turn is based on a sample taken from Joe Cocker's 1972 song "Woman to Woman". 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" by Ronnie Hudson & The Street People which was written by Ronnie Hudson and Mikel Hooks and was itself a reworking of Troutman's 1981 song "So Ruff, So Tuff." In the song where Troutman sings "shake it, shake it baby", he interpolates the chant he used on his 1982 Zapp single, "Dance Floor". The remix version contains a sample taken from Kleeer's 1984 song "Intimate Connection".

Composition

Sheet music for "California Love" shows the key of G minor, and a moderate tempo of 92 beats per minute.

Critical reception

Michael Hill from Cash Box noted that 2Pac and Dr. Dre "are clicking some smooth lyrics together over this killer ass dance track. This track is smoking, and with the introduction of funk royalty Roger Troutman on the talk box, 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 named it "a West Coast rump shaker". Victoria Segal from Melody Maker wrote, "Vocoders. The squelchiest synths. Slippery background harmonies. Shake it baby. You are in a disco dotted with palm trees, smothered in Gracelands-style soft furnishings and dancing with a coked-out Ray Liotta, looking like hell at the end of Good Fellas. That's 'California Love'."

Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted, "West Coast gangsta rap is about to expire in favour of R&B related tunes and melody (Coolio) in general. 2Pac has decided to take the George Clinton p-funk path with distorted vocals, adventurous keyboard and a deep groove, although the main topic is still concentrated on the mean streets of L.A." Ralph Tee from Music Week RM Dance Update gave the song four out of five, describing it as "a fusion of funk 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 in the year 2095. The casting includes actor Clifton Powell as the party chief "Monster," actor Chris Tucker as his MC,{{ cite news

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

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.

Live performances

2Pac performed the song live on January 6, 1996 at Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans during the Tribute to Eazy-E tour. He then performed the song live with Roger Troutman on Saturday Night Live on February 17, 1996. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performed the song during the Super Bowl LVI halftime show on February 13, 2022. Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar performed the song at The Pop Out: Ken & Friends show on June 19, 2024. Dr. Dre, Anderson .Paak, and Sheila E. performed the song live on January 30, 2025 at FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

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, 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's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made list in 1999. In April 2005 it reached the Bronze medal spot on MTV2 and XXL's 25 Greatest West Coast Videos. It also achieved number 1 on the French MTV's "100 Greatest Rap Music Videos" in 2006. It went number 51 on VH1's countdown of the 100 Greatest songs of the 90s in 2007. In 2009, "California Love" was ranked number 23 on ''Entertainment Weekly'''s "The 100 Greatest Summer Songs".

Personnel

• Writer – Tupac "2Pac" Shakur (2nd Verse); James "J-Flexx" Anderson (first 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

References

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