Me Against the World

2Pac's third album is his most reflective, and the cover shows a quieter Pac. In a black-and-white photograph he leans against a wall, looking off to the side with a serious, faraway expression, with his name and the title in small type at the top.

The art direction and design are credited to Eric Altenburger. The cover's calm contrasts with what was happening to 2Pac at the time: he had survived being shot five times in a New York studio lobby in November 1994, and he was in prison when the album came out. In 2021 the artist Umar Rashid repainted the cover in acrylic and spray paint, and LACMA in Los Angeles has featured the painting.

Me Against the World was released on 14 March 1995 and debuted at number one, making 2Pac the first artist to top the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence. Its song "Dear Mama" was later added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.