Song #808: "California Love" by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman

Date: July 13, 1996
Weeks: 2

There are a lot of odd rules to the Billboard chart. Although it seems straightforward, the existence of B-side songs on a single became confusing. If the B-side song gets some radio airplay, it becomes difficult to separate the performance of the A-side track from the performance of the B-side track, especially when they have same sales. One of the more unusual rules that results from that is that both songs get listed together on the chart. But there is always one song that is more popular than the other. So far, I've been able to separate that out and easily determine which song was the popular one, based on its reputation. Unfortunately, this time I just have to take a really good guess. Even though "How Do U Want It" by 2Pac (featuring K-Ci and JoJo) is listed first, and K-Ci and JoJo are listed as the featured artists on the Billboard list, I realized that "California Love" is actually the more popular song. I've heard it used in a movie trailer, it made some year-end lists, and it seems to have more longevity to it.

Also, it's a way better song.

The song is based around an excellent sample, which is from Joe Cocker's "Woman To Woman." That song is all right, but this song takes that sample and turns it into an excellent foundation. It's a testament to how good the sample is that even though it doesn't change much, it doesn't get old or tired for the duration of the song. And it has to carry the song, because the only other music happening is vocal.

A lot of that vocal sound is provided by the heavily altered singing voice of Roger Troutman. Apparently this effect is produced by a talkbox. It's kind of a pre-Auto-tune device that  was mostly used to create funky effects like the ones here. It makes the voice sound like a synthesizer, and I think it works very well here. It's very unreal and unusual, and really makes the chorus stand out as something unusual and fun.

I've said before I'm no expert on rap, but I know what I like. And this song showcases two of the best. Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur both sound great. I didn't like Dr. Dre for a long time because his deep voice made everything sound so dire and serious, but apparently all he needed was fun music underneath him to make me like him. Tupac's voice is better and doesn't come with that same baggage, even if he himself comes with a bit more baggage. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. At any rate, these guys are widely regarded as two of the best rappers of the 90s, and I can certainly see why.

The lyrics extol the virtues of California as a place to party. There's a bit of nonspecific product-pimping, and a bit of casual use of women, but overall none of that is too bad, compared to a lot of later rap songs, or even several of its contemporaries. For the most part the lyrics are just about how great it is to be a rapper, or even a rap fan, in California.

My verdict: Like it. It's just a lot of fun, and I'm glad to finally find a 2Pac song that isn't supposed to be deep or meaningful in the wake of his death, but which is just a fun bit of pop music to be enjoyed.