"Trapped" is a

political hip hop Political hip hop (also known as political rap and conscious hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the 1980s as a form of political expression and activism. It typically addresses sociopolitical issues through lyrics, aiming t ...

song written and performed by American rapper

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

. It was released on September 25, 1991, through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from his debut solo studio album ''

2Pacalypse Now ''2Pacalypse Now'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper 2Pac. It was released on November 12, 1991, through TNT Recordings and Interscope Records, while EastWest Records America, a division of Atlantic distributed the album. The recor ...

''. Recording sessions took place at Starlight Sound Studio in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

was handled by Ramone "Pee-Wee" Gooden, who utilised samples from the

Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including " Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

's "Holy Ghost" and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

's " The Spank". It deals with

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

. The first verse tells a story of 2Pac being harassed by the police with one even shooting at him. He then fires back and says he did it because he was tired of constantly being profiled and abused by police officers. The song was featured on 2Pac's 1998 posthumous ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' album.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

features

Shock G Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground. ...

singing part of the song's chorus and depicts Shakur in jail. It features cameos by J-Dee of

Da Lench Mob Da Lench Mob was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, associated with Ice Cube. The group consisted of rappers Shorty, T-Bone, J-Dee, and Maulkie. History The group made its debut on Ice Cube's first solo album, '' AmeriKKK ...

and Stretch. It was filmed on August 11, 1991. It appeared as a bonus on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

for '' Tupac: Resurrection''. Around the time the music video was debuting, Tupac was assaulted by the

Oakland Police Department The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is a law enforcement agency responsible for policing the city of Oakland, California, United States. As of May 2021, the department employed 709 sworn officers and 371 civilian employees. The department is div ...

after he cursed at them for demeaning his name and prolonging the issuing of a ticket sustained during a jaywalking incident.

Track listing

Personnel

*Tupac "

" Shakur — lyrics, vocals * Ramone "Pee-Wee" Gooden — producer, songwriter *Raymond "

Ray Luv Raymond Tyson, better known by his stage name Ray Luv, is an American Bay Area rapper from Santa Rosa, California, United States, who is best known for his contribution to the Bay Area hip hop scene in the mid-1990s. Biography Raymond Tyson was ...

" Tyson — songwriter *Gregory "

" Jacobs — backing vocals *Dank — backing vocals *Wiz — backing vocals *Atron Gregory — executive producer *Kevin Hosmann — art direction *Victor Hall — photography *Tom Whalley — A&R

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1991 songs 1991 debut singles Tupac Shakur songs Political rap songs Interscope Records singles Songs about police brutality Songs written by Tupac Shakur