Meaning of “All Eyez On Me” by 2Pac (ft. Big Syke)

“All Eyez on Me” is the title track to Tupac’s fourth-studio album, which proved to be the rapper’s last LP in terms of those which actually came out while he was still alive. 

The Suge Knight iteration of Death Row Records dropped this song, as part of the album at large, on 13 February 1996. In other words, it was never issued as a single. However, this tune is one of Pac’s better-known outings, as the album itself proved to be a major success and his signature work. 

For example, as of this writing “All Eyez on Me”, is widely regarded as one of Pac’s top-10 songs. In addition to that, it has managed to achieve BPI silver status.

The Team behind “All Eyez on Me”

The producer of this track is Johnny J (1969-2008), who may be a musician you’ve never heard of, but he was a regular collaborator of Tupac during Amaru’s later years. 

According to Johnny, a couple of days after Suge Knight bonded Pac out of jail in 1995, the latter contacted J to meet him in the studio. 

And the first instrumental he played for the rapper was “All Eyez on Me”, which Johnny felt wasn’t complete at the time, but his wife encouraged him to utilize nonetheless. Unfortunately for the producer, like Pac he also went on to die prematurely, committing suicide at the age of 39.

The featured artist on the track, Big Syke, has likewise left the mortal plane, having died of natural causes in 2016, being 48 years old at the time. For the record, Syke was down with the little-known Shakur-led group Thug Life, which did get around to dropping one album, “Thug Life, Volume 1”, in 1994. And he also ran with Pac’s better-known cronies, the Outlaw Immortalz, though operating in that regard under the stage name Mussolini.

The credited writers of this song are as follows:

• Johnny J
• Tupac
• Big Syke
• Thor Baldursson
• J.P. Pennington
• Jürgen Koppers (1941-2006)

Pennington wrote “Never Gonna Stop” (1979) by Linda Clifford, which is sampled into “All Eyez on Me”, and Koppers produced it. So the presumption would be that Baldursson, a mid-to-late 20^th century musician from Iceland, was also involved in that composition, thus also explaining his acknowledgment on the Tupac track.

The Lyrics of “All Eyez On Me”

The reason we still come across movies, documentaries, etc. about Pac’s life is because he was very famous and influential during his day. During the last few years of his life, more or less beginning with Shakur starring in 1992’s Juice, he defined what it meant to be a gangsta rapper. 

And those of us who were around during those days can attest to the fact that the media ate it all up. 

Rappers had been presenting themselves as street-based bad boys from time immemorial. But Shakur was the first case of one such individuals who was not only famous but also living that life in a way that could be easily verified by the world at large.

And it is that concept which the chorus seems to speak to. The term “all eyes on me” is both literal and a colloquialism, pointing to the idea of being the center of attention. Or put otherwise, since Tupac was in fact famous, people knew and would observe him wherever he went (as alluded to in the intro). 

But the fame, notoriety and wealth even did virtually nothing to stop Amaru from practicing “the life of a boss player”. And that is one viably-theoretical way of interpreting the chorus, all lyrics considered, as speaking to the vocalist’s commitment to keeping it real no matter how many people are observing him.

“Live the life of a thug ni–a until the day I die
Live the life of a boss player ’cause even gettin’ high
All eyes on me
All eyes on me”

That said, Tupac’s focus in the first verse is primarily on opps. And it isn’t all in the generic, he’s-going-to-murder-his-enemies’ type of way, although such sentiments are very much embedded throughout this piece. 

Rather, Shakur comes off as sort of a sage as far as that particular topic is concerned, as by the time this song was dropped he definitely had experience dealing with the likes of “player-hatin’ nig-as”. And he also proceeds to give a shoutout to his gun-toting homeys as well as, in a roundabout way, stating his commitment to remain a thug despite just getting out of prison.

Verse 2

In his solo verse, Big Syke takes on a position similar to that of Tupac. Here, he goes about presenting himself as a “crime boss” who’s dedicated to making paper and staving off haters while “all eyes” are on him.  There really isn’t anything particularly noteworthy being relayed in the passage. 

And with that in mind, it can be said that “All Eyez on Me”, which is relatively lengthy at a tad over five minutes, is one of those types of songs that as it plays on, the listener may sorta zone out as opposed to taking in everything that’s being said.

Verse 3

One of the things that made Tupac’s style unique is that most of the time when he featured another artist(s) on one of his tracks, he would always drop two verses, i.e. the first and the last. And so it is with this song.

This verse, at least during its first few lines, more firmly sticks to a particular topic, which is Tupac’s relationship with law enforcement. As relayed they’re out to get him locked up, which the vocalist’s defense being that he “was raised wrong”, thus explaining how Shakur developed his thuggish ways.

Afterwards, Pac proceeds to once again portray himself as a “boss player”, this time with more of a focus being put on his wealth and way with women. And the point being more explicitly made here is that he’s doing so for the entire world to see, flossin’ or more simply put, showing off. So we can gather that Shakur definitely wasn’t averse to having the spotlight.

Outro

Now remember that Tupac dropped this song fresh after coming out of prison, looking at approximately 2-4 years but ultimately being bonded out after 7 months. And he always maintained his innocence against the sexual assault charge that got him there in the first place. 

Or as Pac believed, he was basically set up by his co-defendants and accuser. And that is what he proceeds to speak to in the outro, how ‘cops, b*-ches, everybody’ is trying to bring about his downfall. 

So here, the concept of “all eyes” being on the vocalist takes on a different meaning, along the lines of him being “under surveillance”, with po-po and others hoping that he does something wrong so that they can nab him. But Shakur’s response is that he isn’t some stupid criminal, i.e. ‘walking around with kilograms’ of drugs in his pocket for instance.

So this conclusion is slightly different yet in congruence with our earlier explanation. Pac does recognize that he’s the center of attention and even revels in that reality. But in terms of all those who are watching him, who he’s most mindful of – after miraculously making out of prison prematurely if you will – is his enemies, i.e. police, accusers and informers, whom Shakur had become convinced would rather see him incarcerated than free.