"Temptations" is a song by rapper Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...

, released as the third single from his third album, Me Against the World

Me Against the World

Me Against the World is the third studio album by American hip hop artist Tupac Shakur. It was released March 14, 1995 on the Interscope Records label. The album was composed of un-used tracks from the Thug Life era, and from other studio sessions from 1993 to 1994...

. The song was produced by Easy Mo Bee

Easy Mo Bee

Osten Harvey, Jr., better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is a hip hop/R&B record producer, known for production work for late 80's artists such as Big Daddy Kane, but most notable for his affiliation with Bad Boy Records in its early years and his heavy production involvement in The Notorious...

. Its music video featured cameos from fellow West Coast rappers

West Coast hip hop

West Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the westernmost region of the United States, as opposed to East Coast hip hop, based originally in New York alone...

, Ice-T

ICE-T

* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...

, Coolio

Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is an American musician, rapper, actor and record producer.-Late 80s:He recorded two singles in the late 80s, titled "Watcha Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me"...

, Shock-G, B-Real

B-Real

Louis Freese, better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Cuban and Mexican heritage, and a film and TV actor...

 and Warren G

Warren G

Warren G , is an American West Coast rapper and hip hop producer. He is also Dr. Dre's half-brother.His biggest hit is the song "Regulate" with Nate Dogg released in 1994...

, as well as Salt-N-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....

, Treach

Treach

Anthony Criss , better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.-Career:...

, Bill Bellamy

Bill Bellamy

William "Bill" Bellamy is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He currently resides in California. Bellamy first gained national notoriety on HBO's Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam, where he is credited for creating or uttering before a televised audience, the phrase "booty call", described as...

, Marcus Chong

Marcus Chong

Marcus Chong is an American actor most noted for his role as Tank in the science fiction film The Matrix....

, Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

, Crystal Waters

Crystal Waters

Crystal Waters is an American dance music singer and songwriter.-Childhood and young adult life:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Waters is the daughter of Betty and Junior Waters, a famed jazz musician; her great aunt, Ethel Waters, was one of the first African-American vocalists to appear in...

, Jasmine Guy

Jasmine Guy

Jasmine Guy is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert in the television sitcom A Different World.-Biography:...

, and Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...

. Tupac couldn't be in the video for the song because he was incarcerated. The song was moderately successful in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, peaking at #13 on the U.S. Rap chart, #35 on the U.S. Hip Hop/R&B chart and #68 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

It samples "Sing a Simple Song

Sing a Simple Song

"Sing a Simple Song" is a 1968 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, the b-side to their #1 hit "Everyday People". The song's lyrics, sung in turn by Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Rose Stone, and Larry Graham, with spoken word sections by Cynthia Robinson, offer a simple solution for...

" by Sly & the Family Stone

Sly & the Family Stone

Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...

, "Watch Yo Nuggets" by Redman and "Computer Love" by Zapp

Zapp (band)

Zapp is a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Bobby Glover and Gregory Jackson [Cincinnati Ohio Funk Keyboardist]...

.^{http://www.the-breaks.com/search.php?term=Temptations&type=7}

"Temptations" was included on 2Pac's Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits (2Pac album)

Greatest Hits is a double disc greatest hits album for late rapper 2Pac, released by Amaru/Death Row Records in 1998. The album's non-chronological sequence highlights 2Pac's career; the 21 popular hits, some slightly re-edited for legal reasons, are accompanied by four previously unreleased songs:...

 album in 1998.

The song can also be heard in the movie "8 Mile

8 Mile (film)

8 Mile is a 2002 American hip-hop drama film written by Scott Silver, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Eminem, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, and Kim Basinger....

", starring Eminem, after the first battle, towards the end of the movie.

Song summary

As insinuated by its title, the song is about being faced with numerous temptations while making commitments to others. The song's lyrics also deal with infidelity

Infidelity

In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...

.

CD single

A-Side

1. "Temptations" (Clean Radio Edit) - 4:27
2. "Temptations" (Album Version) - 5:00
3. "Temptations" (Instrumental) - 4:58

B-Side

1. "Temptations" (Battlecat Hip-Hop Mix) - 5:07
2. "Temptations" (Battlecat Club Mix) - 5:46
3. "Temptations" (Battlecat Club Mix Instrumental) - 5:03

Promo single

1. "Temptations" (Radio Edit)
2. "Temptations" (Battlecat Hip-hop Mix Clean Edit)