This
marks the 8th and 9th release since the death of one of the greatest rappers of
all time. The majority of these songs have been circulating for years on
bootlegs but as expected most feature new production, the majority of which is
done by Johnny J. Unfortunately,
there are a few instances where the originals were better, especially the diss
cut All Out. The original Fuck Friendz was better by proxy of 2Pac’s sing song chorus that was
replaced here with a weak R&B hook. Actually the biggest misstep of this
album is the amount of mediocre R&B hooks. All that aside this album was
very well done. The material is from the Makaveli
period (mid 1996) and the producers do a nice job of making it sound 2001.

Disk 1 is far superior to disk 2, with M.O.B.
being the only subpar song. Thug N U Thug
N Me RMX is absolutely blazing with Pac
flowing incredibly with the beat and K-Ci
and Jo-Jo signing the chorus. Breathin
and World Wide Mob Figures both hit
real hard while Ballad Of A Dead Soldier
and Letter 2 My Unborn both bring the
substance. There is no shortage of Pac’s
deep lyrics here, Happy Home, When Thugz Cry, Words 2 My First Born and the title track all show why 2Pac was felt by so many.

The problem with the 2nd disk is the production gets bland and strays from
complimenting Pacs lyrics. When I Get Free is the best example. For
those who are wondering who 2Pac is
cutting up on Why U Turn On Me it is
directed at Wendy Williams. For some
reason they have removed her name in this version, legal reasons I suppose, he
gets pretty ruthless with her.

As much as I hate to see Death Row
making money off Pac‘s work I have
to give them respect for the way they are handling his material. Unlike that
bitch Puffy they are not hurting his
legacy by releasing albums that are nowhere near his usual standard and putting
on guest appearances that have nothing to do him with just to increase sales.
Any 2Pac album is a must for any
hiphop fan purely because there is no one better, this is no exception. His lyrics
throughout both albums are unbelievable, and he still touches you and gets in
your head in ways that no one else can. Even 4 1/2 years after his death he
remains a standard-bearer in hiphop. There is a reason that so many rappers
have bitten his style, he was simply the best. The legacy lives on, rest in
peace Tupac.