As a big fan and enthusiast of Tupac's life and artistic work, in 2003 Eminem asked Afeni Shakur, the rapper's mother, to produce 2Pac's next posthumous album and obtained permission. This effort was born, in which Afeni delivered some unreleased recordings of songs realized while her son was under contract with Interscope.
2Pac's ninth album, fifth posthumous. The production conceived by Mathers is completed by live instrumentation performed by Luis Resto on keyboards, Steve King on bass and guitar, King also takes care of the mixing together with Eminem. He wants to use his typical minimal production style present in his records and those of his label Shady Records to build 2Pac's new posthumous album, Shakur's gritty rap certainly sounds good over this type of rhythms, obviously. In reality, it doesn't go exactly like that.
There isn't a single track that sounds decent or worthy even if you prayed for it. Eminem joins 2Pac on "Soldiers Like Me" on his own minimal beat, then the next cut is a posse with the Outlawz. A couple of solo cuts follow, including the well-received "Ghetto Gospel" which boasts a sample from an Elton John track, the second single from the CD. Eminem returns to the mic with the Outlawz to spit with Pac on "Black Cotton", then Mathers gives G-Unit a showcase on the title track. Nate Dogg saves "Thugs Get Lonely Too", the project's designated first single. Jadakiss doesn't leave any particular impression as the guest of choice number eight. Three more solo cuts by Shakur that don't tell me anything, then Obie Trice has his space to shine by joining the legend in one of the last tracks of the product, preceded by "Thug 4 Life", another solo. There are also four bonus tracks, all remixes with guests such as Ron Isley, EDI Mean, Sleepy Brown, Raphael Saadiq and Big Syke on productions by Scott Storch, Red Spyda, Raphael Saadiq and DJ Quik. All pretty negligible.
Released by Amaru and Interscope with Universal distribution, the album is marketed for the markets of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and India. In its homeland the album sells 300,000 physical copies and is first on the Billboard 200 (the fifth album by Pac to do so, third posthumously), entering the charts all over the world. In two months it's certified platinum by the RIAA. Ridiculously praised by critics, this is yet another album that stains 2Pac's artistic legacy and the worst thing released under his name so far (excluding those Death Row remixes that make you vomit).
Forced music, poor rap, every guy who gets close to the mic ends up disappointing in these cuts that are scraps of scraps of scraps of scraps of scraps of 2Pac's recordings with Interscope, that is, you have to think that the artist rejected them for his albums while he was alive, then after his violent death, not even his mother nor the executives of his label wanted them to build the next three posthumous projects (four counting also the album "Still I Rise" with the Outlawz, which is released by Interscope under the authorization of Death Row, being composed of recordings of this last label) which are all double albums, for a total of 82 more or less original tracks including the interludes. This means that what you are hearing on this record is material that has been sitting at the bottom of a vault for a decade, which is now clearly exhausted. Ultimately, a disgrace to everyone involved in this thing. Stay away, 2.5/10.
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