"Temptations" | ||||
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Single by 2Pac | ||||
from the album Me Against the World | ||||
Released | August 29, 1995 | |||
Format | CD single, 12" single | |||
Recorded | June 1994, Unique Studios (New York City, New York) |
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Genre | Hip hop | |||
Length | 5:00 | |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Writer(s) | T. Shakur, R. Troutman, L. Troutman, S. Murdock, G. Clinton, Jr., G. Shider, D. Spradley, O.S. Harvey, Jr. | |||
Producer(s) | Easy Mo Bee | |||
2Pac singles chronology | ||||
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"Temptations" is a song by rap artist Tupac Shakur (2Pac) from the album Me Against the World. It was released as a single on August 29, 1995, and was released as a CD, cassette, and 12" promo. While rapping is solely performed by Shakur, Erick Sermon and producer Easy Mo Bee are also featured in the song, primarily as background vocalists. The song uses the bassline from the "Computer Love", and the theme focuses on relationship and infidelity issues. Debuting at number sixty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, the song did fairly well in the United States. It was also well received by critics, with many writers commenting on its romantic tone.
The song's music video does not have any shots of Shakur, since he was incarcerated at the time. Instead, the video features many celebrities such as Coolio, Ice-T, Warren G, Adina Howard and Kenya Moore. Taking place in a hotel, the video opens and closes with the concierge (Ice-T) complaining about Coolio (a bellboy). The main plot of the video follows Coolio while he is working in the hotel.
The idea for "Temptations" began in late 1993 when record producer Easy Mo Bee came to Shakur while he was on the set of Above the Rim (1994). At Rucker Park in New York City, Mo Bee approached Shakur with several different songs they could sample from in the Me Against the World album. Out of the pieces he showed the rapper, Shakur favored the Zapp song "Computer Love." Despite being frequently sampled in the past by other artists, Shakur proposed that they simply speed up the tempo of "Computer Love" and use a low frequency automatic filter to retrieve the song's bassline.