"All Eyez on Me" is a song by American recording artist Monica. It was written in collaboration with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels for her original third studio album, All Eyez on Me, released in 2002. Produced by Jerkins, it incorporates excerpts of Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "P.Y.T.," penned by Quincy Jones and James Ingram. Picked as the album's leading single and Monica's first release on Clive Davis' then newly founded J Records label, "All Eyez on Me" was released in June 2002 to US radios. Its impact on the charts, however, was moderate in comparison with previous releases as it reached the top 20 in Belgium and the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand but completely failed to enter the higher half of the US BillboardHot 100 chart. The lukewarm response to the track and its follow-up "Too Hood" eventually resulted in the reconstruction of the same-titled album, which received a Japan-wide release only and was subsequently retooled into a new version, branded After the Storm.
Writing and recording
"The world has had plenty of tragedy to deal with recently so I wanted to do something that had a 'feel good' flavor to it So when you go out and have a good time, if you get dressed up in the right thing, all eyes will be on you — it doesn't matter if it's Monica or whoever else."
—Monica Arnold, MTV News
"All Eyez on Me" was one of the first songs Monica, Rodney Jerkins, and his Darkchild crew worked on in the Patchwerk recording studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one out of nine songs the singer wrote or co-wrote for the album. Monica has described the track as a "party record" and "a feel-good song for the summer," stylistically comparing it with Michael Jackson's 1983 hit single "P.Y.T. ", which the song partially samples. "The same way that 'P.Y.T.' was, I was hoping 'All Eyez on Me' would be - more relaxing and you could have a good time. It's not based on anything emotional or anything sad." Jackson hand-delivered the original masters of the song for the production. The song's title also is a nod to Tupac Shakur, whose same titled song from 1996 was "somewhat of an inspiration", Monica explained. "I always liked the idea of 'all eyes on me,' even from his perspective. Because sometimes that's what our life becomes. I thought that would grab the attention of a lot of people." In an interview with Vibe Magazine she replied, that song is "not one of those vain, stuck-up songs, like, 'Everybody's lookin' at me'." The song doesn't appear on the re-tooled version of the album After the Storm because it didn't flow with the rest of the album, "I felt that the first single was a great song, but it didn't reflect the rest of the album, it was misleading" Monica explained.
Music video
The music video for "All Eyez on Me" was directed by Chris Robinson and primarily filmed in Hollywood, California between July 14–15, 2002. "The theme of the video is me just getting up, going about a normal day," Monica said. "I got a chance to just go shopping and stuff like that, but this scene is more of me dancing and having a good time, like the song says, in the club. So that's basically the whole theme of it. Just to have a good time." The video features guest appearances by rappers Missy Elliott, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Trina, and Mia X, and Monica's younger brother Montez Arnold. "All Eyez on Me" was partially choreographed by Devyne Stephens. The video world premiered at the end of BET's Access Granted on July 26, 2002.
Chart performance
First released stateside, "All Eyez on Me" debuted at number-one on the U.S. BillboardBubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart in the week of June 29, 2002. A week later the song entered Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks as the Hot Shot Debut of the week, debuting at number 67. However, it took until mid-August 2002 for the single to be released to mainstream audiences, and it entered the Billboard Hot 100 as another Hot Shot Debut at number 70. It eventually peaked at number 69 a week later, thus making it Monica's lowest-charting leading single to date as well as her least-successful, video-accompanied single release since 1999's "Street Symphony." Although the track suffered from low sales, "All Eyez on Me" was slightly more successful on Billboards component charts: It reached number 19 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart and the top 40 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Top 40 Mainstream charts. Outside the United States, "All Eyez on Me" charted at number 29 in New Zealand and number 39 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart as well as inside the lower halves of the national top 100 charts in Germany and Switzerland. The track would eventually become Monica's latest-charting single in years as no further single has been released or charted there ever since.
