20 Years of Me Against the World: Number One While Tupac Was in Prison

In the chart week of April 1, 1995, Me Against the World reached number one on the Billboard 200 while Tupac was in prison. His sentence had begun just a few weeks earlier; he denied the conviction for sexual abuse until his death. Exactly 20 years later, on April 1, 2015, Billboard recalled that moment.

By No Means Universally Acclaimed upon Release

Today, many consider the album his best and a hip-hop classic, but upon its release, it met with very mixed reactions. A second Billboard article showed that reviews at the time were by no means unanimous. Author Erika Ramirez noted in her retrospective that the album brought listeners “face-to-face” with Tupac’s demons: on one side stood a rapper spitting at the camera and facing charges in court, on the other a poet writing of perseverance and freedom.

Earlier in March, AllHipHop had featured a video with producer Easy Mo Bee talking about his work on the album. For the 25th anniversary, see 25 Years of Me Against the World.