2pac & Outlawz: Still I Rise (1999)

 

More than three years after his death, it's difficult to believe there's still unreleased 2Pac material out there, much less quality material. After no less than three posthumous albums built around what 2Pac produced when he was still alive (plus an assortment of bootlegs making the rounds), the well apparently still hasn't run dry, and Still I Rise is the inevitable result. As on the Notorious B.I.G. album released just weeks before though, there are some pretty wide gaps on Still I Rise between rhymes actually delivered by 2Pac. There's also an undeniable -- some would say obvious -- impression that this album just doesn't bear the mark of 2Pac himself. Making up the difference in both categories is Outlawz, a quartet of rappers keeping the flow going between 2Pac fragments. As with 2Pac's other posthumous releases, Still I Rise comes with four or five solid tracks that may have survived the cuts on a real 2Pac album. The title track and "Letter to the President" are obvious winners, still reliant on the syrupy G-funk that 2Pac made famous, and (thankfully) not influenced by the increasing late-'90s insurgence of muzaky hip-hop productions. And "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)" -- 2Pac's self-produced follow-up to 1993's "Keep Ya Head Up" -- is a surprisingly touching message track. For any of 2Pac's fans, it'll be so good to hear his voice again on new material that the cash-in nature of Still I Rise can easily be overlooked. It's just not the album 2Pac would have produced had he still been alive.

~John Bush, All Music Guide

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1.	Letter to the President - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
2.	Still I Rise - Outlawz / 2Pac
3.	Secretz of War - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
4.	Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head up II) - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
5.	As the World Turns - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
6.	Black Jesuz - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
7.	Homeboyz - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
8.	Hell 4 a Hustler - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
9.	High Speed - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
10.	The Good Die Young - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
11.	Killuminati - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
12.	Teardrops and Closed Caskets - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
13.	Tattoo Tears - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
14.	U Can Be Touched - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur
15.	Y'all Don't Know Us - 2Pac / Outlawz / Tupac Shakur

2nd II None: Classic 220 (1999)

Los Angeles cousins Tha D and KK attended high school in Compton with DJ Quik before landing a record deal with Profile. Their debut 2nd II None had two strong compositions: "Be True to Yourself" and "If You Want It," both of which did respectably. The album was re-released in 1999 as a precursor to a brand-new full-length, Classic 220.

1. Stragglaz
2. Up 'N da Club - AMG, DJ Quik, 2nd II None
3. Don't U Hide It
4. Whateva U Want - AMG, James DeBarge, 2nd II None
5. Make 'Em Understand
6. Pawdy - Playa Hamm, 2nd II None
7. Back up off the Wall
8. Y?
9. If U Ain't F#@In'
10. Don't Do Dat
11. Princess - James DeBarge, 2nd II None
12. Love U
13. Got a Nu Woman - AMG, DJ Quik, Hi-C, Playa Hamm, 2nd II None

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2nd II None (1999)

 

Tha D and K.K. once confessed publicly that they were not capable of freestyling in the grand tradition of rap, so it would be quite reasonable if 2nd II None were not the most groundbreaking album in terms of its concepts and rhymes. And it is, in fact, lacking to some extent in those departments. On this debut album, the duo tended toward conventional gangsta braggadocio and, unfortunately also typical of the form, a rather blatant strain of misogyny. Crews like N.W.A. and the Geto Boys, while similarly inclined, had nonetheless found ways to undercut or at least give context to the more repugnant, offensive, and sexist themes running through their songs in the way of a trenchant ghetto philosophy that spoke to harrowing issues of the inner-city experience. 2nd II None had little of that insight or ability to tweak gangsta rap clichés. What they did have was their own Dr. Dre sitting behind the boards in the person of DJ Quik, their skilled labelmate, and as a result the album does not lack in the least in the vitality of its sound, a deep, organic funk. His skilled way with a sampler and, frequently, live instruments makes it entirely possible to listen to wonderful tracks like "Underground Terror" and the smoked-out blaxploitation porno of "Mystic" without noticing the trite words at all. Still, Tha D and K.K. deserve credit for breaking gangsta rap out of its aversion to the more melodious aspects of urban music. The duo had a tendency to slip into smooth R&B crooning during choruses, a novel technique at the time, previously seen as an affront to street authenticity but since quite commonplace in hip-hop. It helped the album break into the mainstream, and the singles "Be True to Yourself" and the horny "If You Want It" remain minor old-school classics by consequence.

1. Intro
2. More Than a Player
3. If You Want It
4. Be True to Yourself
5. Let the Rhythm Take You (Feat. AMG)
6. Comin' Like This (Feat. DJ Quik, AMG, Hi-C)
7. Underground Terror
8. Just Ain't Me
9. The Life of a Player
10. Ain't Nothin' Wrong (Feat. DJ Quik)
11. What Goes Up
12. Mystic
13. Punk Mutha Fuckaz
14. Niggaz Trippin' (Feat. DJ Quik, AMG, Hi-C)

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