2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted

Two men who both had run-ins with the justice system in 1996: Tupac was fresh out of prison, and Snoop Doggy Dogg had been acquitted of murder charges in February 1996. Together with producer Daz Dillinger, they turned that into 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted. The song officially remained a promo single, but through its video and the 2012 Coachella hologram, it grew into one of the album’s best-known tracks.

Daz’s Beat and a Title Like a Wanted Poster

The song came together in October 1995 during the first days of the album sessions. Daz crafted the beat, and Snoop is listed as a co-writer. The production incorporates elements of The Message (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five); the album credits also list The Posse (Shoot ‘Em Up) by Intelligent Hoodlum as a sample. DJ Quik handled the mixing, with Dave Aron serving as recording engineer.

The title sounds like a wanted poster: two of America’s most wanted men. Both were considered polarizing figures at the time: Tupac after prison, Snoop after the murder trial he had weathered.

Jabs in the Video: Parody of Biggie and Puff Daddy

Gobi M. Rahimi, one of Tupac’s production partners, directed. According to the overview on the Music videos page, Tupac himself co-directed. The video aired starting in late April 1996.

The intro parodies a conversation between Tupac and characters named “Piggy” and “Buff Daddy”—plainly Biggie and Puff Daddy-about the November 1994 ambush. Tha Dogg Pound and Nate Dogg make cameo appearances. The same actors reappear a few weeks later in the video for Hit ‘Em Up.

Musically, the video version differs from the album cut: the lyrics are cleaned up, the chorus enters with a delay, and the beat contains an additional arpeggio.

No. 46 in Airplay and 409 Million Streams

The song reached No. 46 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. It also remained a fixture on compilations: on Greatest Hits (1998), it sits at track 2 of the first CD, and in 2007 it opened Best of 2Pac, Part 1: Thug (Album).

In the streaming era, the track gained ground: by October 7, 2026, it had reached around 409 million Spotify streams (count via kworb.net). It is certified in New Zealand (2× Platinum, 2025) and the United Kingdom (Silver, 2023).

From the Final House of Blues Show to the Hologram

At the House of Blues concert on July 4, 1996, 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted was the final song-during Tupac’s last recorded live performance. In 2000, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performed it on the “Up in Smoke” Tour as a tribute, featuring an inserted recording of Tupac’s verse. On stage at Coachella in 2012, Snoop finally rapped it as a duet with the hologram (see the news report).

On Nu-Mixx Klazzics (2003), rapper Crooked I replaces Snoop’s verse because Snoop had left Death Row. On screen, the duet lives on: the song plays in the first episode of the series Gang Related and in the biopic All Eyez on Me (2017), where Tupac and Snoop record it in the studio.