Tupac:
Loyal To The Game

Release Date: 13 December 2004

Reviewed By: Usman Sajjad

1. Soldier Like Me - ft, Eminem

2. The Uppercut - ft, Edi. Noble

3. Out On Bail

4. Ghetto Gospel

5. Black Cotton - ft, Eminem, Kastrom, Noble

6. Loyal To The Game - ft, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck

7. Thugs Get Lonely Too - ft, Nate Dogg

8. N.I.G.G.A - ft, Jadakiss

9. Who Do You Love?

10. Crooked Nigga Too

11. Don't You Trust Me

12. Hennessey - ft, Obie Trice

13. Thug 4 Life

14. Po Nigga Blues - ft Ron Isley

15. Hennessey - ft, Edi, Sleepy Brown

16. Crooked Nigga Too (Raphael Saddiq remix)

17. Loyal To The Game - ft Big Syke.

Nas - Street's Disciple
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Some may find it unbelievable, or even really miraculous that seven years after his death, Tupac Shakur is emerging with even more new material. With his twelfth offering, ‘Loyal to the Game’, my personal opinion to his unreleased material was either the rap great is hiding away in an underground bunker somewhere in New Mexico or Hawaii, or secondly, whilst on Deathrow Records from ’95-’96, Pac spent days and nights endlessly recording vocals which he was sure would last him a decade from then. Well, that second option sounds realistically true, seeing as the West Coast star was rumoured to have recorded his critically acclaimed album in less than 48 hours upon being released from prison on rape charges.

However, after the success of the ‘Tupac Resurrection Soundtrack’, Eminem has been recruited by Afeni Shakur to direct the production on the new album. The first single off the album leaked onto the Net was the relationship-dedicated ‘Thugs Get Lonely Too’ featuring the finely laced G-Funk vocals of Westside’s finest, Nate Dogg, over the well known plodding beat from Slim, baring similarity to the Dr Dre beat on 50’s ‘In Da Club’. Em even appears first hand on the hook alongside Pac, whose lyrics successfully blast out of the speakers and bond with the deep beat from Eminem on ‘Soldier like Me’. However, even though Jadakiss marvels alongside Pac on ‘N.I.G.G.A’ with lyricals such as ‘N*ggas are like photographers/ All they take is headshots’, the beat they are both spitting over seems too generic.

Production starts to go awry, with the unnecessary presence of Elton John on the hook of ‘Ghetto Gospel’, deforming the whole track into utter garbage. On ‘Black Cotton’, Em’s singing on the hook and EDI’s mediocre delivery, result in an average outcome.

On ‘Loyal to the Game’, the rawness comes back into the elements of the album, with G-Unit assisting Pac. Both Lloyd Banks and Young Buck lyrically impress, whilst 50 smoothly croons over the hook. However, with listening to the track a few times, as the track comes to an end we hear Pac shout out ‘2Pac in the mother******* house, G-Unit in this motherf******* house’. Is it just me, or is Tupac actually saying that, leading us to believe the rap legend may even still be around now to be aware of G-Unit’s presence... I advise you to take a listen and see for yourself. This is similar to other tracks such as ‘N.I.G.G.A’, where he appears to call out ‘Jada’.

Moving on, and more confusions of sound come into the picture on ‘Henessey’, with a simply awful Eminem beat alongside an equally unimpressive performance by Obie Trice. However, with a Red Spyda remix later on in the album, a soulful touch is added with the assistance of Sleepy Brown, known for his OutKast assists on the hook of ‘The Way You Move’. Scott Storch, producer of ‘Lean Back’ and ‘Baby Boy’, brings the exact sound of the ’93/’94 circa back on ‘Po N*gga Blues’ featuring the magic vocals of Ron Isley. On ‘Don’t You Trust Me’, Eminem creates that soulful touch found best in the likes of Kanye West when he swoops on a Dido sample for the hook (much like his own hit ‘Stan’), with the track lyrically baring similarity to Pac’s earlier record ‘Do For Love’.

Overall, the album has been a musical experience, and has exceeded my expectations with the presence of different musical influences and sounds. Yet, with attempts on the album to blend Tupac’s unreleased material fully with a beat, there are cases in which the sounds far from mesh. The missed attempts on ‘Thug For Life’ and ‘Crooked N*gga Too’ really prove this fact. The real classic sound of Tupac could have been recreated by hiring the producers who moulded albums such as ‘All Eyez On Me’, when he was still alive, such as Daz Dillinger, DJ Quik and Dr Dre. Instead, it may be seen as an insulting act to loyal Pac fans, as Eminem, someone who never personally knew 2Pac, is needed to create his twelfth album.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Top 3 Tracks
6. Loyal To The Game feat. G-Unit
15. Henessey (Red Spyda remix) feat. Sleepy Brown and EDI
12. Don’t You Trust Me? Feat Dido

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