Around 1992, 2Pac formed his own rap group with his friend Randy "Stretch" Walker, known through common knowledge of the Digital Underground group and Crips gang member Tyruss "Little Psycho" Himes, later known as Big Syke. These three recorded the song "Thug Life" in 1992, the following year Tupac decided to name his group Thug Life (acronym for "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody") and includes Diron "Macadoshis" Rivers and Walter "Rated R" Burns. The group signs with Interscope Records and later welcomes the addition of 2Pac's stepbrother Maurice "Mopreme" Harding.
Shakur is still quite a political MC before this project, in which he decides to change direction and move to the gangsta bandwagon: obviously, he does things right and pulls out a violent disk. Too violent for Interscope, which makes the group record the album again and eliminates most of the tracks: a tape of ten songs comes out with a little less than three quarters of an hour of listening.
Production is provided by Thug Music, Professor Jay, Mopreme, Big Syke, Johnny "J", Warren G, Stretch and Easy Mo Bee: these guys make good funky beats with East Coast vibes and good samples from funk, soul and jazz, with some melodic g-funk synths. Most of the performers and guests are unimpressive, they're all uninspired and lacking in energy, while 2Pac easily soars above all with a fresh and regular voice, even if he's not at his best in career: the album focuses on a generic gangsta-thug lyricism with some socio-conscious variation and makes compactness its strong point.
"Bury Me a G" is a masterpiece produced by Shakur and Stretch: beautiful sample from "For the Love of You (Part 1 & 2)" by The Isley Brothers, 2Pac tears the cut after few seconds with a tight, silky, dope rapping. Good chorus performed by Tupac and Natasha Walker, good rapping by the others, Mopreme, Rated R, Big Syke and Macadoshis. Makaveli returns for the sixth verse and gives the song another stab, phenomenal track. "Str8 Ballin", "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" with a laudable Nate Dogg (later included in 2Pac's "Greatest Hits" album released posthumously) and the first single of the disk "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (inserted in the "Above the Rim" soundtrack as a Pac solo) are among the finest choices.
Distributed by Interscope, Atlantic and Tupac Shakur's label Out da Gutta, it achieved good commercial success and reached the top ten of the rap chart, obtaining gold certification in 1996. Recommended to Shakur stans.
Following the shooting in New York in 1994 in which 2Pac also held Stretch partly responsible, who had suffered the ambush with him without intervening against those responsible, the rapper decides to abandon the group and its members by founding a new group, the Outlawz. Big Syke and Mopreme are the two from Thug Life to join the Outlawz, continuing their artistic career alongside Shakur.
Rating: 7.5/10.
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