![]() ![]() LA is too sprawling and disjointed to ever have a schlocky communal anthem, but after two decades “I Love LA” is still the closest thing we've got. Of course, this is still the same sardonic songwriter as always, so Newman’s love of big, nasty redheads and the Beach Boys is balanced by a line like, “Look at that mountain, look at those trees, look at that bum over there, man he’s down on his knees.” Unlike pretty much every other ode to Los Angeles, “I Love LA” doesn’t tie itself to any one trope-the industry bubble, gangsta cred, beach bum life-and instead professes the crazy idea that LA as a whole, the very condition of living in this weird and wonderful city, is a cause worthy of celebration (and a rousing chorus). ![]() As he dismisses the Frank Sinatra anthem towns of New York and Chicago, a crunchy synth kicks in-‘80s production be damned-and a nasally proclamation that “we was born to ride” inspires a sense of, dare we say, pride in LA, Santa Anas blowing and all. Drawing from 1992 through 1994, when he came into his own, R U Still Down is a full display of Tupac Shakur’s complex, contradictory persona, but favors his introspective, inspirational side. ![]() It may not be the most, ah, complex composition, but Randy Newman's 1983 anthem has a simple message you can't mess with-overwhelming love for the city (while having a shitload of fun). Afeni Shakur oversaw the first posthumous collection of her son’s unreleased music a year after his death.
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