- June 93 - Sept. 93 : Thug Life Original second sessions, first Me Against The World sessions, East Coast oriented, mostly produced by Stretch.
- "Nothing 2 Lose" was an alternate title for the clean version of the album.
- It has been said the album was more or less finished circa October of 93.
- Widely reworked because of the Thug Life Original album being leaked and dropped, and because of 2Pac's troubles with justice.
- Sources : snippets leaked by Banned of Bomb1st, lost acapellas
### We followed the incomplete tracklist of the project before it turned into something new after Thug Life Demo was leaked. We completed the album following the indications of Banned of Bomb1st who says he has a material sequence of it. ###
9. Dear Lord (Hell Razor TL Original) feat. Stretch & Y?N-Vee - remake
Bonus Tracks :
15. Thug 4 Life feat. Stretch - og unfinished / acapella / remake
16. Nothing 2 Lose (Clean Version) feat. Natasha Walker - snippet
17. I Get Around (Thug Life Party Live) feat. Stretch
A totally vanished project
No official tracklist has been leaked yet, but most of the tracks have been confirmed (except for "Just Like Me") by Banned from Bomb1st forum, who claims being in possession of a material sequence of the album, and who leaked snippets of it. "Uppercut" could be just a b-side for a planned single, with also the clean version of "Nothing To Lose". So it could give space for another totally unknown song like "Looking 4 Me in the Whirlwind" (probably not recorded) or "Nothing Like Niggaz". But it could also be "Thug 4 Life" (maybe more a b-side for Thug Life Original), or "Ghost" (probably recorded earlier in late 92). Either "Uppercut" was among the 14 tracks... Nothing says if "If I Wasn't High" and "Who Do U Luv" are really different from the leaked versions (mix and featured artists).
It seems we have acapellas of parts of the album : "Open Fire", "Uppercut", that lead us to think that "Thug 4 Life" could eventually have been added to that project.
Start of a new project... circa June of 93
Circa March of 93, there is a "Thug Life Original" tracklist where appears "Do U Love The Thug Life ?", an anticipated concept title which probably months later turned into "Who Do U Luv ?". In May 19, 2Pac ended the recordings of Thug Life Original album and presented it to Interscope.
1. Unknown date (c. July of 93 ?). Untitled
This tracklist seems to be the first draft specially written for the project. We have the same key tracks from the next one but with a mysterious "with Thug Life" added to "Bury Me A G". Probably most songs of this list were not recorded yet (that's why some totally disappear after that). But it would mean that the group song was maybe firstly intended for this album to make a strong link to the first Thug Life Original concept album. Maybe 2Pac recorded the track solo waiting for the group to come and record their version circa late August.
The fact that Double Jeopardy made the hook of "Thugz Get Lonely Too" could indicate the song was recorded closely to the end of Thug Life Original sessions, why not the first song of the project. Then 2Pac was planning to record "Bury Me A G" but it happened a bit later (Macadoshis said Thug Life reunited for the Thugz 4 Life tour in August of 93).
On the other hand, the stars marked on the left could indicate the planned singles but also the already recorded tracks...
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3. Circa August of 93. Mr. Middle Finger / Nothing 2 Lose
Copy of an early incomplete tracklist the album, and lyrics for "Mr. Middle Finger" song. The track #7 "All I Got Is Niggaz" is very probably unrecorded, maybe an early concept for "R U Still Down".
However, the other titles already appearing in the previous tracklist could eventually be recorded... unless for once 2Pac has only written down the lyrics of his planned songs in order to record them later. So early versions of "Dear Lord (Hell Razor)", "If I Wasn't High (Lord Knows)" and "Just Like Me" could exist...
Given that a part of "Mr Middle Finger" can be heard in "Uppercut" acapella, it could mean both songs have been recorded around the same period, maybe a few days after that draft (if anything from it is already recorded). "Bury Me A G" Thug Life version could have been recorded around the same time, like "Hopeless (Intro)", when Mopreme and Thug Life members united for the Thugz 4 Life Tour in August (following Macadoshis). Maybe 2Pac and Stretch also recorded "Thug 4 Life" around that time, also in perspective of that tour.
"Here We Go", "Open Fire", "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch" and "Who Do U Luv ?" could be from September of 93... just before Natasha Walker who was recording with 2Pac (maybe "Don't Leave" or "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch") when she discovered Dogg Pound were listening to the Thug Life demo tape...
Thug Life 1 (West Coast) / Thug Life 2 (East Coast)
The original first Thug Life album was produced by west coast producers Warren G & Johnny J, with west side guests like Big Syke, Rated R, Richie Rich, Spice 1, Nate Dogg... This second project is clearly a more east coast vibe, mainly produced by Stretch of the Live Squad, with a strong presence of the singer Natasha Walker of the Y?N-Vee.
Probably the beginning of the Easy Mo Bee sessions were an attempt to complete/modify this project. It seems that Tupac has been early concerned by his dual music influence in him due to his New Jersey origin. He will again try to achieve this west/east project in the late One Nation (that was supposed to have an East and a West part, cf. One Nation part 2).
"Thug Life" was not the name of a group, but a state of mind
In
this second volume, Thug Life is even less a group album, but more a 2Pac solo
with some regular guests. Here it is mainly Natasha Walker and the
Y?N-Vee and Stretch of the Live Squad (featuring and producing).
So what is "thug life" ? Then it was more like a state of mind, a violent one, that can be also expressed by "mister middle finger" and "nothing to lose". But it is not just a non-sense aggressive gesture, it is like the black raised fist from Tommie Smith and John Carlos - with a sort of modernization -, like a clear symbol of radical rebellion, a "fuck everybody" feeling. Like Tupac said, after the fail of the Black Panthers to change the American system of oppression, the police brutality, the white supremacy ideology, the right-thinking classes... The next and only move that last to the youth is to raise the middle finger, to fuck the whole world ! That led us to the post acronym : The Hate U Gave Little Infants Fuck Everybody.
Halloween night in Atlanta, Manhattan nightclub... led 2Pac to shelve the album
The
night of Halloween, October the 31st of '93, Tupac was driving in Atlanta in his car (with
some friends) when he saw two white men harassing a black kid (no
witness). Tupac stopped and confronted them. They were two drunk
brothers, off duty police officers. The altercation grew up. It is said that racist slurs have been heard. Tupac and his friends probably showed their weapons. One
of the policemen has been charged of firing at 2Pac's Mercedes Benz.
They said they felt "threaten" when Tupac and his colleagues went out of
their car. Tupac replied. The two police officers fled and were touched
in the buttocks and in the back abdomen...
A few days later, Tupac with two other men (record executive Haitian Jack and road manager Charles Fuller) were charged in New York for "sodomizing a woman in Shakur's Hotel room". After that, Tupac had to be very careful to what he will release in the perspective of the process. Many of the songs in the two Thug Life sessions were very violent, especially insulting and threatening against the police... Tupac was risking many years of prison... That's probably the main reason for totally remake the album... that will turn into Out on Bail.
and started to record new songs (the Easy Mo Bee sessions) for a new project
DETAILED TRACKLIST
- 1993/08-09 (~). The sentence "I live the Thug Life, baby I'm hopeless" sounds like an anthem for the group. The original version is still unleaked and is known to be longer with more speaking and a scratched sentence of Cypress Hill. It is closer to the version they were playing live during Thugz 4 Life tour (Live in Maryland, Oct. 93), so maybe it was recorded for it. The leaked second version should have been made in Nov.-Dec. 93, either for Out on Bail album with the other remade songs, or for Thug Life Volume One sessions.
- Samples :
- Millie Jackson - "I Cry" (melody, bassline)
- Cypress Hill - "Cock The Hammer" (vocals : "cock the hammer, it's time for some action")
- 1993/07-08 (~). This first version has different lyrics than the retail version released in R U Still Down (1997). The known leaked version could be really softer and could have been recorded right after Mr. Middle Finger original album being shelved circa October of 93, opening the Street Fame / Out on Bail sessions.
- Samples :
- Mica Paris - "I Wanna Hold on to You" (drumline/melody)
- Ice Cube - "Summer Vacation" (vocals : "my homie got shot he's a goner, black")
- Ice Cube - "Us" (vocals : "That's why I got gang related rhymes")
- The D.O.C. & N.W.A. - "The Grand Finale" (vocals : "I got robbed when I came to Cali)
- Dr. Dre - "Chronic Intro" (sampling Gylan Kain of the (Original) Last Poets - "The Shalimar") (vocals : "like we always do about this time")
- 1993/07-09 (~). Solo version of the Thug Life song released in Thug Life : Volume 1 (1994, Interscope). It firstly appeared as a solo track in Mr. Middle Finger tracklists before 2Pac started to incorporate the group version to his solo album in Street Fame/Out on Bail tracklists (also included in Cradle 2 the Grave demo tape). It has been said 2Pac recorded both versions around the same date, circa beginning of September, not long after Mopreme birthday, the 17th of August (which he refers in his verse), but this first solo version could have been made earlier in July (like first songs appearing in the first tracklists). The solo version reappears in Original R U Still Down Project tracklist in early 94, in a slightly different mix (with no breaks).
- Samples :
- The Isley Brothers - "For The Love of You" (melody)
- The Meters - "Groovy Lady" (drumline)
- 1993/07-08 (~). Totally different music and lyrics than the released song in Me Against The World (1995). The "It Ain't Easy" interlude included in Stay True mixtape is said extracted from this song.
- Samples :
- The Commodores - "Assembly Line" (melody)
- 1993/07-08 (~). Awfully remixed in Loyal To The Game (2004, Amaru)
with a Nate Dogg chorus instead of Prince sampled voice, with a Pac
pitched voice and with an alternate vocal take (intro and outro
speechs, 2Pac saying
"best friends at your WIFE's house" in his
first verse, instead of "Woman" here). Included in Cradle2TheGrave tape (so in Out on Bail planned album), but partially erased or overwritten. In comparison of the most common leaked version (with intro and outro), this version has a different beat with breaks and a different vocal take, which will be re-used in the "Gigolos" remix included in Pre-Death Row Compilation (cf. F.T.W.), what could have been made for the b-side of a single. We presume 2Pac could have recorded this song with a mistake (the written lyrics say "Wife's house", and 2Pac also sings that in live) because of the word "woman" being also used later in his same verse. So he could have wanted to re-record the song, maybe in early 94 for R U Still Down '94 Original album in order to respect these original lyrics but the new recording was lacking of spontaneity, what made him chose this first version of the vocals - with the remixed beat by Frank Starchak - to be included in his project of Pre-Death Row compilation in 95 and not the re-recorded vocals which were chosen two times by Amaru/Interscope engineers for posthumous compilations (one with Tech N9ine, second with Nate Dogg).
- Samples :
- Prince - "If I Was Your Girlfriend (Sign 'O' The Times Tour, 1987)" (melody, vocals)
- 2Pac - "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z." (vocals interpolation)
- 1993/07-08 (?). Nothing is known about that song, even if the song has really been recorded but it reappears in an untitled tracklist which could be post Mr. Middle Finger (or prior)... so it is a probable unleaked song of these times.
- 1993/08 (~). Nothing is known about that song except that we can hear this line taken from it in "Uppercut" acapella : "Start A Riot If The Guards Can't Stop The Niggaz". In the tracklist, the next song is said "All I Got is Niggaz", what could be an anticipated concept for "R U Still Down".
- 1993/09
(~). The song was also recorded with Thug Life in a totally different version and released in Thug Life : Volume 1 (1994). Does 2Pac record solo and group versions at the same time
like "Bury Me A G" ? Two pieces of the song with notably a different chorus of Natasha Walker can be heard - presumably overwritten - in the Cradle2TheGrave tape, but it never appeared in any Street Fame / Out on Bail tracklists, so the song could have been given to the group circa October of 93. Some Shit Don't Stop single versions credit Mike Mosley as co-producer of the Thug Life track (the other simply credit Thug Music).
- Samples :
- Parliament - "Aqua Boogie" (melody, bassline, vocals)
- 1993/07-08 (?). This original could have an unheard first verse and could have more or less the same beat and background vocals than Sweet Sable's "Old Times' Sake" released in Above The Rim soundtrack (produced by Nikke Nicole). The song was probably re-recorded circa January '93 for R U Still Down original project.
- Samples :
- Eddie Kendricks – "Intimate Friends" (melody)
- Mountain - "Long Red (Live at Woodstock)" (drumline)
- The Five Stairsteps – "Don’t Change Your Love" (drumline)
- Scarface (Movie, 1983) (vocals)
- American Me (Movie, 1992) (vocals)
- 1993/07-08 (~). Released in Me Against The World with a lighter chorus. The first recorded version of the song, known as "If I Wasn't High", could be the Brian G version with many adlibs by Natasha Walker and the Y?N-Vee, which was included in Cradle2TheGrave demo tape. But there also could be a Stretch unleaked version, even why not with an alternate Tupac's vocals take. The song will be remixed and lighted in its chorus for Original R U Still Down project in early 94, remixed by Tony Pizarro and then by Moe-Z before 2Pac/Interscope finally chose the original Brian G arrangement but with the light chorus.
- Samples :
- The Blackbyrds - "All I Ask" (melody)
- 1993/09 (?). Awfully remixed in Loyal To The Game (2004, Amaru) with an alternate vocals take than the usual leaked OG. "Do You Love The Thug Life ?" was at a time a planned title for Thug Life Original album, and maybe an anticipated concept for "Who Du U Luv ?". So the song could be the first from Mr. Middle Finger sessions (circa june-july of 93), but maybe more likely the last song recorded before the project turned into Out on Bail which is firstly titled "Thug in Me" circa October 93. The unleaked first version could be different from the leaked one, maybe with a Stretch production, maybe without Stretch... The song remained in until late '93 before totally disappearing... maybe because a sample clearance issue.
- Samples :
- The Gap Band – "Jam The Motha" (melody)
- 1993/08 (~). Remixed in Loyal To The Game (2004, Amaru). The name of the female rapper was difficult to guess for a long time. People were talking about Yonnie (Thug Life member, cf. Honor Among Thugz) or Sister Soulja (from Public Enemy, Tupac still wanted to record with her in '95 for All Eyez on Me, cf. When I Get Free). You can hear Nic Nam rapping with this style on many tracks of the Y?N-Vee album released the 18th of October 1994, and in the first verse of "Say Whatcha Gonna Say" in Johnny J's solo album I Gotta Be Me (1994), both albums recorded in 93. For a long time, the only known version was the acapella and a Dante's OG vibe. The recently leaked (2023) unused remix (made for Resurrection OST) is known to be close to the original version.
- Samples :
- LL Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out" (vocals : "I'm knock you out", "heyy", "gangsta boogie")
- 1993/09 (~). Published in R U Still Down (1997, Amaru) without major changes (without some adlibs and the laughing end). This original TL mix is said using the leaked acapella with many adlibs in the background, which are not in in the Out on Bail version. The music could be also slightly different. Akshun had already produced "Guess Who's Back" on Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. album.
- Samples :
- Cal Tjader - "You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" (bassline interpolation)
- N.W.A. - "100 Miles and Runnin" (sound effects)
- Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - "Mickey's Monkey" (vocals)
- the movie New Jack City (1991) (movie sequence)
- 1993/09 (~). Re-recorded for All Eyez On Me in 1996 (cf. When I Get Free). This first version was planned to be included in Pre-Death Row compilation. The song was probably re-recorded in late '93 over a Led Zeppelin sample with an alternate vocal take and a clean chorus : "why they call you B-I-T-C-H", cf. Honor Among Thugz : Volume 1 sessions and Out on Bail.
- Samples :
- Paul Simon - "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" (melody/drums)
- Parliament - "Bop Gun" (vocals)
15. Thug 4 Life feat. Stretch & unknown singer (?) / Johnny J (?), Stretch (?) - ACAPELLA - Juda7 REBUILD - AmarOG REMAKE Wizzattz REMAKE Targoon REMAKE
- 1993/06-09 (?). Awfully remixed in Loyal To The Game
(2004, Amaru, Interscope). The fact that 2Pac dedicates to Kato
in his 2nd verse and not to Mental tend to indicate that the song was
recorded between April and
October of 93. Johnny J is credited as original producer in Loyal To The Game, so the song could have been recorded at the end of the Thug Life Original
sessions (2Pac there interpolates lines from songs he recorded for
that project), maybe for a B-side. Leaked mixes of the
song (with or without the singer) have an
empty
space for a second verse. A Stretch verse can be heard in the far
background of the acapella, by amplifying a lot. But
the verse is dramatically distorted, with another verse playing at the
same time or more likely adlibs at the same sound level (sounds also Stretch)... With the help of Bomb1st colleagues Redblue,
PacMusic and Dada7, I made an OG version with Stretch lost verse edited in.
At the end of the song, 2Pac says "Havenotz in this muthafucker", new name of The Kidz who he was
recording the project Ghetto Gospel with in 92 (their name still appears listed in Volume One early tracklist circa Dec. 93, cf. Honor Among Thugz). So maybe 2Pac was working on their project at that time, and
"Thug 4 Life" could even be a reference track for them (maybe also "Ghost"). A guy named Candyman 187 pretended that the
Havenotz group was initially with him and Kadafi, if true,
it would be more likely a late project Kadafi had in 96 (except if
Young Hollywood was in that group before joining Thoro Headz).
- Sample :
- Deniece Williams - "How'd I Know That Love Would Slip Away" (melody)
- Kid Dynamite - "Uphill Peace of Mind" (drumline)
- 2Pac - "Definition of a Thug Nigga" (vocals interpolation)
- 1993/09 (?). This version has altered soft lyrics "the realest black brother you ever saw". Probably aimed for the first single of the album. At the end of the song, there is a speaking outro which will be re-used by Tony Pizarro for the "Nothing to lose (Interlude)".
17. St. Ides Malt Liquor Commercial '93 (Freestyle) / DJ Pooh
- 1993/06-10 (?). 2Pac makes a short freestyle with a medley of well-known lines from old songs (you can hear "thug for life", "I gotta get mine"). The song could be from mid or late '93. He will record again for the malt label in early 96 with Snoop. DJ Pooh had already produced "Ghost" for 2Pac, probably in the end of '92 (like the three Bobcat tracks, his comrade from the Boogiemen producing team who worked together for King Tee, Ice Cube, Threat, Yo-Yo...) or around the same time in mid '93 but it is doubtful considering the lyrics are from the end of '91 (for The Kidz project).
- 1993/07/28. Jam session with live musicians. Let's notice that 2Pac wears the same clothes than on the Danny Clinch photoshoot (Aug. 93).
- 1993/07/28. Jam session with live musicians. It has the "Thug Life Party" hook by Stretch. A wonderful session but a pity Money B's microphone didn't work well ! In this video, we can also enjoy the final repetition before the show.
- 1993/07/28.
Jam session with live musicians. At the end of their part, during the interview transition with De La Soul, Shock G & 2Pac keep on extending "I Get Around".
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