Track List:
01 - Soldier Like Me (Return Of The Soulja) (feat. Eminem)
02 - The Uppercut (feat. E.D.I. and Young Noble of the Outlawz)
03 - Out On Bail
04 - Ghetto Gospel (feat. Elton John)
05 - Black Cotton (feat. Eminem and Kastro and Young Noble of the Outlawz)
06 - Loyal To The Game (feat. G-Unit)
07 - Thugs Get Lonely Too (feat. Nate Dogg)
08 - N.I.G.G.A (Never Ignorant About Getting Goals Accomplished) (feat. Jadakiss)
09 - Who Do You Love?
10 - A Crooked Nigga Too
11 - Don't You Trust Me
12 - Hennessey (feat. Obie Trice)
13 - Thug 4 Life
Bonus Tracks
14 - Po Nigga Blues (Scott Storch Remix) (feat. Ron Isley)
15 - Hennessey (Red Spyda Remix) (feat. E.D.I. of the Outlawz and Sleepy Brown)
16 - A Crooked Nigga Too (Raphael Saadiq Remix)
17 - Loyal To The Game (DJ Quik Remix)
When Tupac passed away in 1996, few would have expected there would be such a steady release of unheard material, with a new album or two being released to the public every year from what seems to be a never ending supply of unreleased tracks (you can’t help but wonder how long Amaru can continue this trend).
So here we are, following the less than great sales figures from Tupac’s last two posthumous releases “Until the end of Time” and “Better Dayz” Afeni has decided to change the production formula and recruited hip-hop’s current biggest star, Eminem, to co-executively produce the album, in an attempt to preserve Tupac’s legacy and showcase his work to the newer hip-hop fans who didn’t experience his music when he was alive.
While many are quick to bash Eminem, mainly because he is in the mainstream so much and reaping so much success, it has to be admitted that on the whole he has done a good job on the production of this release. Some of the common criticisms of Eminem’s production techniques are present on the album though, like the boring and repetitive beats on “Hennessey” featuring Obie Trice, “Out on Bail” and “Uppercut”, but he really has shined on tracks like “Don’t You Trust Me” featuring Dido, “Ghetto Gospel” featuring the unlikely combination of Elton John and “Loyal to the Game” featuring G-Unit, which feature the type of beats you would expect Tupac to work which really fit well with Tupac’s flow and lyricism despite the guest appearances from people Tupac is unlikely to have worked with.
Despite the quality of these tracks, my main objection to Eminem producing the album is not only the fact that it is flooded with Shady/Aftermath guest appearances, but that I can’t imagine Tupac working with G-Unit or Eminem if he was still alive today.
As a Tupac fan I am always happy to hear new Tupac material, but when you have heard a leaked version of an unreleased track and then heard the Eminem produced version it makes you wish Amaru would just release an album of Tupac tracks in their original form that sound how Tupac intended them to sound instead of changing them for what they think people want to hear. An example of this is “Out on Bail”. If you have seen the live performance of this at the Source awards (it’s available on a Source Awards DVD for those that haven’t heard it) you could see how much emotion and energy Tupac put into the song and performance. Then you listen to the version on LTTG and somehow Eminem has managed to take all that emotion and all that energy out of the track and make it just sound boring.
Eminem is not responsible for all of the production on the album. The last four tracks are produced by Scott Storch, DJ Quik, Red Spyda and Raphael Saadiq and these are among the better tracks on the album. Scott Storch’s “Po Nigga Blues” featuring Ron Isley is one of the best tracks on the album.
Overall, this is a must buy album for any Tupac fan and has enough quality tracks on for the more curious hip-hop fans, but it could have been a lot better.
Hot Tracks: Ghetto Gospel, Loyal to the Game, Don’t You Trust Me, Po Nigga Blues, A Crooked Nigga Too (both)
Artist: Tupac Shakur