2Pac Album Discography
There are various perspectives on what
2Pac’s album Discography is.
The most mainstream view of 2Pac’s
Discography of albums credited to 2Pac as a solo artist is a 10 album
collection consisting of
1.
2Pacalypse
Now
2.
Strictly 4
My N.I.G.G.A.Z
3.
Me Against
The World
4.
All Eyez On
Me
5.
Makaveli The
Don Killuminati The 7 Day Theory
6.
R U Still
Down
7.
Until The
End Of Time
8.
Better Dayz
9.
Loyal To The
Game
10.
Pac's Life
Other mainstream versions include those 10 but also observe
Thug Life Volume 1 and 2Pac and The Outlaws Still I Rise as part of the
official 2Pac Discography to make a total of twelve, and others include 2Pac’s
Greatest Hits double CD due to how historic of an album it is to make it 13,
and others go so far as to include The Best of 2Pac Thug and Life.
The perspective held by online 2Pac Scholars
is a 14 album collection that looks like this:
11.
2Pacalypse
Now
12.
Strictly 4
My N.I.G.G.A.Z
13.
THUG LIFE -
Volume 1 (Demo)
14.
THUG LIFE -
Volume 1
15.
Me Against
The World
16.
All Eyez On
Me
17.
Killuminati
18.
One Nation
19.
R U Still
Down
20.
Still I Rise
(2Pac and the Outlaws)
21.
Until The
End Of Time
22.
Better Dayz
23.
Loyal To The
Game
24.
Pac's Life
This expanded perspective including the Thug Life Demo
original version and One Nation I believe opens a can of worms because it
modifies the definition of what is considered official 2Pac, and of course what
is official 2pac has been debated for 19 years.
If we’re going to be adding a Thug Life album that never officially
released as well as a The Nation album that didn’t release until years later,
then where do we draw the line? Additionally,
there are many who observe The Makaveli 2-17 bootlegs as part of the
discography, and have their own legit arguments for that.
It’s possible that some of the internet historians may not
have been old enough to live through 2Pac’s entire career from the beginning as
it had unfolded as I did. You will see
how murky these waters become as we twist and bend the rules as to what is the
official 2Pac Anthology Discography Body of Work, whatever you want to call it
as the narrow scope widens.
So Let me go through my perspective of thinking through
2Pac’s Legacy and the considerations that may or may not have not been previously
considered, and of course, I welcome all of your input as well in the comments.
What we all agree on
2Pacalypse Now, released on November 12, 1991 is considered 2Pac’s
first studio album, but as we examine 2Pac’s body of work, how do we consider
the Digital Underground albums?
Digital Underground
Before I was a Tupac fan, I was a Digital Underground Shock
G Money B fan and they are the ones who introduced me to Tupac initially in the
music video for Same Song, but then later on reinforced him in the music video
Trapped. I initially was lured to the
song because Shock G was on the chorus and I used to think Shock G was so cool.
Digital Underground is best known for The Humpty Dance on
the album Sex Packets. When telling any
story about the biography or discography of Tupac, Digital Underground is an
important part as Tupac got his start in Digital Underground and Shock G and
Money B play a role in Tupac’s pre-death row era career.
Mainstream 2Pac History puts his first official appearance
as “The Same Song” by Digital Underground from the Nothing But Trouble
Soundtrack, a movie in which he appeared in, and it was also included on the
This Is An EP Release album by Digital Underground.
In addition to Same Song, On This Is An EP Release, Tupac
can be heard on background vocals on the track “The Way We Swing”. I’ve also heard that he had written part of a
song on Digital Underground’s first album Sex Packets but can’t verify it, I
read it once, and could never find it again.
On Digital Underground’s Sons of the P album released October 15, 1991,
a month before 2Pacalypse Now, Tupac has a verse on The Dflo Shuttle, and has
spoken words on Good Thing We’re Rappin and Family Of The Underground, which
also features Big Stretch.
On The Digital Underground’s The Body Hat Syndrome, 2Pac has
a verse on Wussup With The Luv and has a speaking part on The Humpty Dance
Awards.
Raw Fusion was a spin off group of Digital Underground consisting
of Money B and DJ Fuze, and 2Pac is featured on the song #1 with a bullet. Their album Life from Styleetron was released
on the same day as 2Pacalypse Now was.
Additionally, there is an unofficial compliation album known
as Tales of a 90’s N.I.G.G.A. and is a collection of 2Pacalypse Now unreleased
outtakes and Digital Underground era material. (show album cover and tracklist)
If we consider 2Pac a member of Thug Life and The Outlaws,
shouldn’t we also consider him a member of Digital Underground?
The Official Studio Albums
On November 12, 1991, 2Pacalypse Now came out, featuring the
singles and music videos Brenda’s got a Baby, Trapped, and If My Homie Calls. Featured guests on the album include Shock G,
Pogo, DJ Fuze, Money B, Mac Mone, Pee-Wee, Stretch, Dave Hollister, Ray Luv,
Angelique and Poppi. Producers of the
album include Digital Underground members Shock G, Money B, DJ Fuze, Raw
Fusion, Stretch of Live Squad, Big D The Impossible, The Underground Railroad,
Pee Wee and Jeremy.
Other notable tracks on the album are I Don’t Give a Fuck
and Violent which were part of a case where someone shot a police officer and
blamed it on the 2Pacalypse Now album.
Very similar to the Ice T Body Count Cop Killer single which was very
notorious at the time period. This album
has a heavy Digital Underground influence and had 2Pac not become the legend
that he is, could have possibly been considered a Digital Underground spin-off
album like Raw Fusion.
After 2Pacalypse Now dropped in ’91, a month later on
December 31, 1991 was the release of the Juice Soundtrack, for the movie which
starred Tupac. Strangely enough, the
soundtrack, which had Tupac’s image on the cover, didn’t contain any songs by
Tupac or Digital Underground.
2Pac’s second album is Strictly For my N.I.G.G.A.Z. and was
released on February 16, 1993 and consisted of 16 tracks. The title contains an acronym of which I
spelled out, which is Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished. The Z is just to make it plural. The original title for the album was rumored
to be Troublesome 21 and was supposed to come out in 1992, but officially
released with the Strictly title on February 16, 1993. The album had 4 singles and music videos
“Holler If Ya Hear Me” “Keep Ya Head Up” “I Get Around” and “Papaz Song”
Also notable on the album is “Last Words” featuring Ice Cube
and Ice T, which was a collaboration everyone wanted to see happen, not so much
with 2Pac, but Ice Cube and Ice T together.
Oddly enough, there is a prophectic title The Streets R Deathrow, but
this song had nothing to do with Death Row records. Additionally, 5 Deadly Venoms featured
Treach, Apache and Live Squad.
Poetic Justice came out in 1993 starring Tupac and Janet
Jackson. The soundtrack only contained one song by Tupac. Definition of a Thug Nword. Janet’s song Again was a big part of the
movie and was nominated for an academy and golden globe award, but I don’t
recall if it was on the soundtrack.
The Above The Rim
Soundtrack came out March 22, 1994 and featured Pour Out A Little Liquor
by 2Pac and Thug Life as well as bonus tracks Pain, and Loyal To The Game. This soundtrack was released by Death Row
Records.
Thug Life: Volume 1 was released on October 11, 1994
The original version of the album was scrapped and
re-recorded due to it’s content being too controversial. The version that was released consisted of 10
tracks. There are rumors that in
addition to the original album that was scrapped, there also is yet another
version of the album that has never been released.
The notable tracks on the album are Bury Me a G, Cradle To
The Grave, Pour Out a Little Liquor, How Long Will They Mourn Me and Str8
Ballin. There are music videos for
Cradle To The Grave, Pour Out a Little Liquor, and How Long Will They Mourn Me.
The first single was supposed to be Out On Bail, but that
didn’t make the album.
Here are the Thug Life songs that didn’t make Thug Life
Volume 1
1.
Niggas in the Pen
2.
Thug Life
3.
Out On Bail
4.
Judgement Day
5.
Time To Get My Drank On
6.
My Definition of a Thug Nigga
7.
Mr. Troublesome
8.
Is It Cool To Fuck
9.
I’m Getting Money
10.
High Til I Die
11.
Fake Ass Bitches
12.
Faced Shootouts
13.
Pour Out a Lil Liquor *other version
14.
Only Fear of Death
15.
Losin It
16.
Straight Out Da Gutta
17.
Runnin From the Police
18.
Lie To Kick It
19.
Heartless
20.
Thugz Get Lonely Too
21. Open Fire
22. It Hurtz The Most
23. Let Them Thangz Go
24. Hold On Be Strong
25. I’m Hopeless (Skit)
Apparently there were a total of
25 tracks, but I don’t have all titles.
Me Against The World is either the 3rd or 4th
2Pac album depending on if you consider Thug Life: Volume 1 to be a 2Pac
album. Most consider this to be the
third 2Pac studio album. It was released
on March 14, 1995 while 2Pac was in prison.
The singles from the album with videos were Dear Mama, So Many Tears,
and Temptations. Other notable tracks
were If I Die 2 Night, Me Against The World, Fuck The World, It Ain’t Easy and Death Around The Corner.
A week later on March 21, 1995 The Bad Boys soundtrack
released starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and had Me Against The World
on it.
The 4th album by 2Pac was the double CD All Eyes
On Me. It was released on February 13,
1996 under Death Row Records. This album
was a mega-success and considered one of the greatest rap albums of all time
and first double cd in hip hop. Some of
the singles with videos were California Love, 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted, How Do
U Want It, All About U, and I Ain’t Mad At Cha.
Other notable tracks from the album are Ambitionz Az a Ridah, Got My
Mind Made Up, Life Goes On, Only God Can Judge Me, Can’t C Me, Shorty Wanna Be
a Thug, All Eyez On Me, and more. Everyone
knows this album, it is by far 2Pac’s most famous album certified Diamond by
the RIAA.
On April 23, 1996 the Sunset Park Soundtrack was released
which contained the song High Til I Die by 2Pac
The 5th album by 2Pac is Makaveli, The Don
Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. It is
released under the name Makaveli and not 2Pac.
It was completely finished in 7 days and was written and recorded in 3
days. (the mixing took 4 days). This is where the 3 Day Theory title may have
spawned as you can hear Tupac say 3 Day Theory near the end of the song
Krazy. The Don Killuminati 7 Day Theory
was released on November 5, 1996. The
album is the first album to be released after Tupac’s supposed death. The 3 singles with music videos are Toss It
Up, To Live and Die In LA, and Hail Mary.
After Don Killuminati there was supposed to be an album
called One Nation. By 2Pac and Boot Camp Click.
It eventually came out.
The Gang Related Soundtrack came out on October 7, 1997 on
Death Row Records and contained 4 songs with Tupac. Life’s So Hard, Starin Through My Rear
View, Made N-words, and Lost Souls. Tupac was one of the stars of the film and
draw to the soundtrack, so I believe this should be considered as a peripheral
to 2Pac’s musical legacy.
Posthumous Albums:
After 2pac exited and Makaveli entered, unreleased song
albums started to emerge.
R U Still Down (Remember Me) is considered to be Tupac’s 6th album released on November 25, 1997. Tupac’s vocals from the album were recorded
between 1992-1994 during the Strictly and Thug Life era. The singles were I Wonder if Heaven Got a
Ghetto and Do For Love. Other notable
tracks are Hellrazor, and Only Fear of Death.
It is a double CD.
On November 24, 1998, 2Pac’s Greatest Hits was
released. This double album contained the
singles Changes and Unconditional Love which were previously unreleased as well
as the video version to California Love.
Troublesome ’96 and God Bless The Dead were also two more previously
unreleased songs on the album. The album
is certified diamond, and this album along with All Eyes On Me, are 2 of only 9
Diamond Hip Hop albums. It is the best selling rap greatest hits compilation of
all time and 20th best selling rap album. It is a double CD.
Still I Rise is an album by 2Pac and the Outlawz released on December 21, 1999. The only single on the album is Baby Don’t
Cry (Keep Ya Head Up part 2). Letter 2
The President was in the movie Training Day.
The Rose That Grew From Concrete is an album based on the
poetry/writing of Tupac, released October 17, 2000 and it consists of
celebrities reading Shakur’s poetriy and writing in a spoken word format.
Until The End of Time is considered 2Pac’s 7th
album and was released on March 27, 2001 .
These songs are from the Makaveli era.
It also is a double CD. The two
singles from the album were Until The End of Time and Letter 2 My Unborn. It was the best selling hip hop album of
2001. Other notable tracks on the album
are Lil Homies, This Ain’t Livin and My Closest Roaddogz
Better Dayz is considered
the 8th album by 2Pac.
It was released November 26, 2002.
The two singles were Thugz Mansion and Still Ballin. Other notable songs are When We Ride On Our
Enemies, and My Block, The tracks on
this album are primarily from the Makaveli era.
It is a double CD.
Loyal To The Game is considered the 9th album by
2Pac and was released on December 14, 2004 and was produced by Eminem. The singles for the album were Thugs Get
Lonely Too and Ghetto Gospel.
Pac’s Life is considered the 10th album by 2Pac
and was released on November 21, 2006 and was the 10th anniversary
of his fake death. Singles from Pac’s
Life are Untouchable featuring Krayzie Bone, Pac’s Life and Playa Cardz Right.
There also is Makaveli and Dillinger – Don’t Go 2 Sleep
released in 2004 copyright showing Makaveli Records. Afeni sued Daz over the album.
The rest of his discography becomes Murky to understand and
classify. We have
Tupac Resurrection (Soundtrack) was released November 4,
2003.
Nu Mixx Classics (2003)
2Pac Live was released August 6, 2004.
Beginnnings The Lost Tapes 1998-1991 was released on June
12, 2007
Nu-Mixx Classics Volume 2 was released August 14, 2007. The original title was EvolutionL Duets &
Remixes.
Best of 2Pac: Thug
and Life were released on December 4, 2007 and includes Dopefiend’s
Diner and Resist The Temptation, two songs previously unreleased.
In His Own Words
Thug Immortal The Last Interview
Trapp – Stop The Gunfight
Ultimately you have 2Pac Evolution 12 Disk set which might
be what others have referred to as The Makaveli Mixtape collection volumes 1-17
Really digging into the BS pile we have
Tupac Makaveli The Don The Way He Wanted It Volume 1 (2007)
and Volume 2. (2009)
Makaveli 2001 Revised
Did Makaveli invent the modern day mixtape?
What about Thugstyle?
There was supposed to be an album called Thug Style. I think I heard Karceno 4 Life mention that
in one of his videos.
With so many different combinations of the post Makaveli DK7
material, it’s hard to know what is what.
I had the initial Makaveli Bootlegs in 1998 when I got my first cable
modem and 4X cd burner, and then as the songs were modified and released on the
official releases, I became disillusioned with it all because I no longer knew
how to classify his collection. You have
some people who appreciated the instrumentals being updated to fit with the
time period, others who preferred the originals, there were modifications,
etc.
I’ve done my best to give a relatively thorough presentation
of The Entire 2Pac Body of Work. I hope
there was something in there you might not have known about. If I’ve left anything out, go ahead and let
all of us know about it in the comments.
If you also want to provide links, feel free. The YouTube spam filter might initially block
it, but I periodically go in and approve all comments.
If you have any info of any rumored future 2Pac Releases,
feel free to share as well.
If you would like to purchase CDs of any of the albums
mentioned in the video, they are all linked in the description below.
If you’ve enjoyed this presentation and are not already a
subscriber, consider subscribing to this channel. I try to deliver unique information that you
might not find elsewhere.
Thanks for watching.
And 2Pac Makaveli lives on through all of us. I’ll see you in the next video.
tupac Disital Underground Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFG8uUl5S18
My 2Pac Credentials:
I’ll be 37 next
month, born 1979 and have been a rap / hip hop fan since 1985 when 2Pac was
14. My 2Pac credentials include creating
the viral video in the year 1999, years before youtube, 2Pac The 7 Day Theory,
why he is still alive, which was parodied by Democratic Candidate for President
of the United States in 2008 Mike Gravel’s campaign “Mike Gravel, and later on I created the 2Pac 7 Day Theory
Part 2 sequel, as well as reviewing the White Book by Makavelli in a series on
this Youtube channel, as well as narrating The No Grapes Theory and Chaos
Merchants.
