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"California Love"
Single by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre
From the album All Eyez on Me
Recorded/Released	1995/1996
Format	12-inch single
Genre	Rap
Length	4:45
Label	Death Row
Writers	R. Troutman L. Troutman J. Cocker M. Hooks R. Hudson C. Stainton
Producer	Dr. Dre
Director	Hype Williams
Certification	Double Platinum (August, 1998)
Chart positions	#1(US Hot 100) #3 (EU) #4 (AUS) #6 (UK) #7 (GER)
2Pac singles chronology
"Temptations (1995)	"California Love" feat. Dr. Dre (1996)	"2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" feat. Outlawz (1996)
Dr. Dre singles chronology
"Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (1996)	"California Love" feat. 2Pac (1996)	"No Diggity" feat. Blackstreet (1996)

California Love is a rap song by Tupac Shakur featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman. The song was released as 2Pac's comeback single upon his release from prison in 1995. A popular remix version of the song appeared on his 1996 double album All Eyez on Me. It was nominated for a posthumous Grammy Award as a Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) in 1997.

The original version of the track was not available on any of Shakur's studio albums, but it can now be found on Shakur's compilation of Greatest Hits.

The tune was adapted from Joe Cocker's song "Woman to Woman" and the "California knows how to party" lines listing California towns are sung by Roger Troutman. The vocal "In the City of Compton" and "California knows how to party" is adapted from Ronnie Hudson and the Street People's "West Coast Poplock".The remix features sample from the song "Intimate Connection" by Kleeer written by Norman Durham and Woody Cunningham.

"California Love" was Shakur's only entry on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, ranked #346.

Contents 1 Writing and background 2 Music Video 3 Credits 4 Notes and references 5 External links

Dr. Dre did not plan to include the recording in 2Pac's project. It was one of only 2 songs produced by Dre on All Eyez on Me, and was originally going to be his single for his second album, as the original version has three verses featuring Dr. Dre's rapping. The only copy of this original version is now in the possession of DJ Jam, Snoop Dogg's personal concert DJ. Suge Knight's ideology was, "When it's time to work on a project, everybody needs to give everything to whoever's project it is" so he decided to put 2Pac on the remix, and it was made the single off his upcoming album. Dre's first version was unedited and home-studio recorded, and therefore differs to the version later included in 2Pac's Greatest Hits. ^[1]

Two different versions of video exist:

• The first video appears to have been inspired by the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and takes place in a desert. The casting includes singer George Clinton as the evil tribal chief, actor Chris Tucker^[2] (then-known only for his role in the film Friday) playing the evil tribal chief's yes-man, Tony Cox as the dwarf soldier and Roger Troutman (from with the band Zapp, the original writers of the song) carrying a talk box. The shooting takes place in the Thunderdome set^[2] known from the movie. It ends with a cliffhanger cut by a To be continued closing text. An alternative version, featuring the remix song re cut, removes the final caption and features 2Pac and Dre naming West Coast towns.
• The second video's intro shows a rapid succession of images taken from the first and second video. The premise is that the desert scenes of the previous videos were merely a nightmare 2Pac was having, and when he wakes up, he finds himself at Dr. Dre's summer house party. The rest of the music video takes place as if it were a home video and features several cameos, notably Roger Troutman who is now playing the piano, and a guest appearance by DJ Quik, and E-40. The video was made for the remix of the song.
• During the scene where Dr.Dre is riding in a car, he has an eyepatch that is made out of a football helmet chinstrap. This can be seen as an ode' to the film Waterworld, where Dennis Hopper wears the same eyepatch. This can also be linked to the fact that Waterworld is just Mad Max on water, rather than in the desert.

The first video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video in 1996. It achieved #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 #1 on the french MTV's 100 Greatest Rap Music Videos in 2006 (featured from 23 till 30 of July).

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Preceded by "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony	Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 13, 1996	Succeeded by "You're Makin' Me High" / "Let It Flow" by Toni Braxton
Preceded by "Hey Girl" by CdB	RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single 26 April 1996	Succeeded by "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Fugees
Preceded by "You're Makin' Me High" / "Let It Flow" by Toni Braxton	Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks number one single July 6, 1996	Succeeded by "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I) " by R. Kelly

• 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
• Production Assistant : Larry Chatman
• Video Direction : Hype Williams

1. ^ "XXL", The making of the album All Eyez On Me / interview with Tommy Daugherty, Harris Publications, October, 2004. Retrieved on June 11, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} Wilson, Elliott. "XXL", Pop Shots, Harris Publications, April, 2005, pp. 131-135.

• Chart Data
• Music Video Database

v • d • e Dr. Dre
Discography
Albums
Solo albums: The Chronic • 2001 • Detox
N.W.A. albums: N.W.A. and the Posse • Straight Outta Compton • 100 Miles and Runnin' • Efil4zaggin
Singles
Mainstream singles: "Deep Cover" • "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang" • "Fuck Wit Dre Day" • "Let Me Ride" • "Lil Ghetto Boy" • "Natural Born Killaz" • "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" • "Been There, Done That" • "East Coast/West Coast Killas" • "Zoom" • "Fuck You" • "Still D.R.E." • "Forgot About Dre" • "The Next Episode" • "Put It On Me" • "Bad Intentions" • "The Wash"
Featured songs: "Funky Flute" • "We're All In The Same Gang" • "California Love" • "No Diggity" • "Puppet Master" • "Ghetto Fabulous" • "Guilty Conscience" • "U Know" • "Chin Check" • "Hello" • "Just Be A Man About It" • "Fast Lane" • "The Knoc" • "Symphony In X Major" • "Encore" • "Imagine"
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