- August - November '94 : recording sessions for a "Young Thugz" single and EP.
- December '94 - August of '95 : tracks recorded for the Dramacydal album and its B-sides.
- The first project, which can be considered as a kind of interact between Thug Life Volume 1 and a then-to-be recorded Volume 2, was stopped after 2Pac was shot at the Quad studios.
- The second project was shelved ready to be released circa August of 95 because 2Pac was freed from prison and had new pressing projects.
- Sources : Enterprise Reference Promo (unleaked), Dramacyde Promo (unleaked)
### The first disc follows the only tracklist for a 10 tracks album (half filled) completed with known/supposed tracks from that time. The second one follows the unleaked Promo of the shelved album, with the addition of B-side tracks. ###
DISC ONE : YOUNG THUGZ EP
- Late Night (Rough Mix) feat. 2Pac & Aunt Glo
- Killin' Fieldz feat. 2Pac (speaking)
- Don't Make Enemies With Me (Rough Mix) feat. 2Pac, Live Squad & Sh'Killa
- Addicted To The Streets (Rough Mix)
Thug Mansion (Original Version) ??- Runnin' (Moe-Z Remix) feat. Stretch, The Notorious B.I.G, 2Pac & Radio
- Thug Life feat. 2Pac (speaking) & Killa
Last Laff ??Bury Me A G pt. 2 feat. 2Pac & Natasha Walker- Where Will I Be ('94 Version) feat. 2Pac
Retaliation Is A Must ??Introduced 2 Tha Game (Remix)
Bonus Tracks :- Killin' Fieldz (Instrumental)
- Where Will I Be (Instrumental)
- Tracks 2, 9, 11, 12 were maybe early intended to be released as a single, circa late '94.
- Tracks 1, 3 & 4 were given as a demo tape, cf. Enterprise Reference.
These tracksare unleaked but also not confirmed to be recorded or not...
DISC TWO : DRAMACYDE - Discogs page - LISTEN
Intro- Addicted 2 Tha Streets (Remix) feat. Felony
- Late Night (Til My Dyin' Day) (Moe-Z Remix) feat. 2Pac, Aunt Glo & Kenyatta Forman - snippet
- Thug Mansion (Gotta Get Away) feat. Killa
- Blinded (Don't Wanna Be Broke) feat. Funky Drummer
- Interview with a Problem Child (Revenge Is Sweet) by Mutah feat. Paul Arnold
- Sittin' On The Top Of The World
- No Further (Around The Way)
The Other Side- Just Like Daddy
- Hard 2 Imagine
DramacydeMake No Mistakes feat. 2Pac & Thug Life
Bonus Track- Where Will I Be ('95 Version) feat. 2Pac & Felony
- Hard 2 Imagine (Soul Power Remix)
- Hard 2 Imagine (Instrumental)
- Tracks 1-13 are the unleaked Dramacyde Promo of the Dramacydal album circa end of summer 95, finally shelved by 2Pac when he left prison (at the same time than his "R U Still Down" Lost Tracks compilation project).
- Tracks 11, 14, 16, 17 were included in Hard 2 Imagine 12'' promo (June 1995).
What are these kids playing around ? they are thoro heads (fearless boys) !
1994-1995. Dramacydal is Big Malcolm (Edi), Mutah (Napoleon), K-Dog (Kastro) & Young Hollywood aka Felony (Kadafi). The group was firstly going under the name of Thoro Headz, without Mutah, and they were around 2Pac for a long time. Edi later told one story when 2Pac was touring with the Digital Underground in 1990, they had a concert in New York. 2Pac purposed him to come to see him at the end of the live. They went and waited for him but he was not there and they stayed among all the older people. Edi was the oldest and he was only 15 years old...
In late 1991 and mid 1992, they started to record some little things with 2Pac. They were supposed to have a song in his project of Ghetto Gospel compilation. It was even said a single or EP was recorded at that time. What is sure is that they recorded "Flex" with 2Pac which was supposed to be released in Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. but it was probably replaced by another featuring track like the Ice-T/Ice Cube collaboration... But it was finally released as a B-side to Holler If Ya Hear Me 1993 single.
Yafeu Fula (Young Ho) parents knew Tupac's mother for a long time before both kids were born, through their Black Panther commitment. Yafeu lived and grew up close to Tupac's family, specially when his parents were incarcerated when he was 4 years old... He is like the little brother of Tupac who was six years older, but his step-sister Sekyiwa Shakur, born in 1975, was only two years older than Yafeu.
Katari Cox (K-Dog) was Tupac's cousin and Malcolm Greenidge (Big Malc) was his best friend. Mutah Beale (Mutah) was a childhood friend of Yafeu.
Young Thugs beginnings... straight into the legend !
In late 1993, they are now running with the name of "Young Thugs", and they start to tour with Thug Life, for instance they are in Atlanta in October 30 for a show, and they were in the car during the night when 2Pac got off and shot at two off-duty cops harassing a black man in the street (cf. Out On Bail). Probably earlier that day before the show, they had the chance to record "Runnin' From The Police" with Biggie, Stretch and Easy Mo Bee for the next 2Pac solo album. During the time 2Pac was in jail, they possibly also recorded "Addicted To The Streets", the track was maybe intended for the new Thug Life compilation project 2Pac had at that time (cf. Honor Among Thugz).
From holidays in Honolulu... to the studios with 2Pac
In July of 1994, 2Pac and Stretch went to Hawaii to give a concert. Maybe Syke, Mo' and the other Thug Life members couldn't come so 2Pac took the Young Thugs with him. It seems Mutah was not with them yet...
Maybe the thing worked well. When 2Pac went back in studio, Tony Pizarro was working on his album (cf. Stay True). After having mostly finished to work upon his solo album, 2Pac quickly organized a recording session for the Young Thugs with Bread & Water the 18th of August. This time, Mutah was with the group and they recorded "Killin' Fields" and "Where Will I Be" together, but this time not for a 2Pac project. It was the first step to their own project as a group ! They might also have recorded something with Tony Pizarro (like the unconfirmed "Last Laff") around his last days of August...
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| Tupac's arrival for the show |
The beginning of an extended play project ?
About two weeks later, 2Pac is recording new songs with Moe-Z for his album after "Stay True" was transferred to Volume 1 (cf. Fuck The World), he passed them the mic for "Outlaw", and maybe after having recorded "Throw Your Hands Up", he made them record the new "Thug Life" song where he is just speaking... Then, in late September, 2Pac recorded a second song with Soulshock & Karlin featuring them : "Me Against The World". The title of the song even appears in an early draft for a Young Thugz project... Was it initially thought for them ? Anyway, the song quickly entered the solo album tracklist, so they were about to be on two songs of the album. What a promotion ! There was clearly a project for them, more than just a single...
After he ended recording songs for his album, after having filmed Bullet in October of 1994 with Mickey Rourke, 2Pac recorded three new songs with them : "Bury Me A G pt. 2", follow up to the fresh release of the Thug Life song, "Late Night" known as "Til My Dyin' Day" and "Don't Make Enemiez With Me" feat. Stretch & Sh'Killa. All produced by Stretch who was also featured in Thug Life Volume 1.
At that time, 2Pac was drafting a tracklist of E.P. for them... what somehow resulted into the Enterprise Reference demo.
Duane Nettlesbey, engineer and co-producer of "Addicted to the streets" :
Me and Stretch did this beat out at Country's apartment in Hawthorne, CA. Stretch did everything but the bass, I played that. Damn I love this beat. One of my favorites. Big Yak was so cool. I think this was for the Dramacydal album we worked on, but it never came out.
Young Thugz : intermediate project before the Volume 2 of Thug Life ?
Of course, at the time he released Volume 1, 2Pac was already thinking to release a second volume. They already had enough material and the "Makaveli 6" tape could give info about the tracks 2Pac was thinking to include in it (cf. Honor Among Thugz / Exodus). Some songs with the original line-up of the group, songs with Stretch, songs without him, solo songs by him... exactly like the first Volume.
So we could imagine a kind of E.P. which could have also included some 2Pac solo tracks in order of really push the project, tracks like "Thug Style" for instance, which was maybe remixed at the same time than Bread & Water tracks for Young Thugz and strangely disappeared from 2Pac projects after that... Maybe "High 'Til I Die" which disappeared just in November from the Me Against The World album and is enlisted in early Dramacydal tracklists in December.
In order to really sound like that first volume, 2Pac wanted to work again with the people who had made the album... so maybe Thug Life members, Mopreme, Tony Pizarro, Moe-Z, Stretch, the engineer Duane Nettlesbey behind "Thug Music"...
He probably called all the team before the Quad shooting...
Dramatic times : Quad shooting & judgement time...
After that day, 2Pac was having a rest in Jasmine Guy's house. Everybody was choked. And he wrote "Dramacytal" in his notebook. He just found a characteristic new name for the group !
2Pac will then write new lyrics and tracklists for their project... Initially, the project included the old Young Thugs tracks and the solo song "High 'Til I Die" which had left 2Pac's album... It was supposed to have another song produced by Tony Pizarro titled "Last Laff", but nothing says if it was recorded or not. What we could say is that Tony Pizarro worked again upon 2Pac's album intro in January of 1995...
The studio sessions were set... The re-named group was about to start recording new songs while 2Pac was going to prison... Unfortunately, Yafeu Fula alias Young Hollywood alias Felony, had to leave the group because he was also awaited at the Juvenile prison...
Moe-Z produced most of the songs for them and remixed "Addicted To The Streets" and "Late Night" in order to give less credits to Stretch who was now unwelcome... Soulshock & Karlin made three other songs with them. Mike Mosley gave one beat.
For the last sessions of the album, circa March, the Thug Life members reunited to record a new version of "Shit Don't Stop" and to shot a video for it, last single of the album and supports for the rapper in prison... Moe-Z made the remix.
They also recorded the song "Make No Mistakes" for the Dramacydal, in order to achieve the link between both projects. Song also produced by Moe-Z. They even receive a 2Pac call from the prison whilst they were in studio to have a verse of him on the track !
Mopreme produced another song with them, maybe one of the last songs they made, like he co-produced "Don't Get It Twisted" for Volume 1. Duane Nettlesbey, was the co-producer of "Top of The World" with him and might have produced another song for the album :
I did a couple of more beats for that pre-Outlawz album that no one will probably ever hear. "Top Of The World" where I sampled 'Zoom' by the Commodores, and "Retaliation Is A Must" which is probably the best beat I ever did.
"Retaliation Is A Must" was never released because no one retaliated for what happened to Pac at that studio in New York. Everyone in Thug Life was too scared to, that's why Pac said Thug Life is dead. Stretch talked about it, and they killed him a year later to the day that Pac got shot and robbed. Pac was my friend and wheen he died, I lost it and ended up in Soledad prison for three years. When I got out, everyone had taken credit for my music. Lost everything.
The release of Me Against The World... B-side of "So Many Tears".
In March 15, when 2Pac's solo album is dropped, the group shines in the title track and in the closer songs. The title song is also included in Bad Boys Soundtrack a few days later.
In June, 2Pac will give them the opportunity to release a song of their album as a B-side of his second single So Many Tears... Offering them maximum exposure.
Maybe newly reintroduced in the group, Young Hollywood recorded a new version "Where Will I Be", maybe as well for the album (where he was featured in only one song : "Addicted To The Streets", "Late Night" having been rerecorded without him).
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| Felony visiting 2Pac and introducing his new friend Fatal |
July the 1st, 2Pac signed a 3 albums contract with Interscope in order to repay bail he owes them. The When I Get Free (Lost Tracks) compilation was planned for the end of the year, or the next. 2Pac was writing drafts for a new album to record as soon as he could get out of prison. Dramacydal album was the project ready to be released... Maybe Interscope was not very confident about this project with young unknown rappers, not spectacular, album where 2Pac had only two verses, one recorded through the telephone in prison...
And everything will change after Suge Knight came to prison to purpose to pay the bail and so to re-buy the 3 albums contract : 2Pac went free and plans three new different projects : a new solo double album which will become All Eyez On Me, eventually completed by a second solo album (Me Against The World pt. 2), and a whole new second volume of Thug Life with the new supergroup Outlaw Immortalz gathering old members with Dramacydal... (cf. Thug Life : Volume 2)
In the first tracklist of it, 2Pac strangely included the track "On Top of The World", produced by his older stepbrother Mopreme, last ashes of the born-buried Dramacydal album.
During the time 2Pac was recording the last songs for Me Against The World / Fuck The World, his friends started
to prepare their album. When 2Pac went to jail and the engineers were
mixing Me Against The World, they recorded songs that sound to have a little flavor of MATW, with same singers and producers (mostly Moe-Z team but as well Mopreme).
When 2Pac signed in on Death Row, the album eventually got shelved. Some
tracks are really good. Especially because 2Pac wrote a big part of
their songs (what could also lead the group to not insist to release it -
choosing to record their own songs)
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7. Circa mid '95. Dramacyde.
Dramacydal recorded eponymous track "Dramacyde" and "Make No Mistakes" with Thug Life and vocals from Tupac (recorded in jail ? in the phone ? taken from another old song ?), maybe just for the chorus. Stretch is this time almost completely erased, appearing as the producer of "Addicted 2 The Streetz" but under his group name Live Squad.
8. Circa late summer of '95. Dramacyde Promo.
The shelved promo of the album has just a different track order than the previous tracklist. But the leaked version of "Sittin' on Top of The World" we have has no Yo-Yo featuring, and maybe "Addicted 2 The Streetz" could be a bit different than the Stretch's version. It is said "Thug Mansion" could also have an alternate chorus version...
DISC ONE : 2PAC PRESENTS... YOUNG THUGZ EP
-
1994/11/29. Also known as "Late Night '94". Included in Dramacydal's Reference Entreprise Promo.
- Samples :
- MC Shan - "The Bridge" (drumline modified)
- Louche Lou & Michie One - "Rich Girl" (vocals interpolation)
- 1994/08-10. Thorow Headz became "Young Thugz" (with the addition of Mutah) for their first group
track where 2Pac is just speaking. This song and "Where Will I Be" were probably intended to be released as a single announcing the new project following Thug Life Volume 1. 2Pac talks about Toni Braxton who
began to be known in 94.
- Samples :
- Bo Didley - "Hit Or Miss" (bongos, drums)
- Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution" (drumline)
- 1994/10-11 (~). Released in R U Still Down (1997) in a restricted mix to 2Pac & Dramacydal. Included in Dramacydal's Reference Entreprise Promo. The song was recorded before the N.Y. shooting and was maybe remixed for Death Row (or before 2Pac was signed, for Dramacydal album), but without Live Squad's & Sh’Killa's verses. So it became a sort of accusation against his ex-friend Stretch. Sh'Killa was a female rapper, South Central Cartel's protegĂ©. Banned from Bomb1st forum says that she is not in the final mix intended for the Dramacydal album (before the whole song being scrapped).
- Samples :
- Love Unlimited Orchestra - "Makin' Believe That It's You" (melody)
- 1994/10-11. Included in Dramacydal's Reference Entreprise Promo.
- Is there a different version from the leaked one ?
- 1993/11 - remix 1994/08. Third version of the song, the one that will be given to One Million Strong compilation. Radio is the raggamuffin voice of the hook but he is also a rapper. Moe-ZMD produced half of his album Recognize da Real, as well for Interscope. Labelled "Radio" in the compilation and in the single version, and often available in a censored form, the song has often been mislabelled and the hook has been attributed to Prince Ital Joe either to Red Fox (by myself...).
- Samples :
- Bootsy's Rubber Band - "Munchies for your Love" (melody)
- 1994/03-08. Song recorded between March and August (because with Tony Pizarro). Nothing is known about that track.
-
1994/12 (~). Included in Hard 2 Imagine Promo
12'' (1995, June 25) as "clean" version (but that credit is more likely
describing the title track). This song re-used the beat and the chorus
of the Thug
Life song. Verses are all different. This new version was probably
recorded for Young Thugz EP and was supposed to make a link between this
new project and the recently released Thug Life : Volume 1.
"Young Thugz" being a kind of "Thug Life 1.5" before eventually a
Volume 2 (which wasn't really even thought at that time : "The Heat
(Representin' 4 Ron G)" could be considered as a sort of anticipated
first recording for it).
- Samples :
- The Isley Brothers - "For The Love of You" (melody)
- The Meters - "Groovy Lady" (drumline)
- 1994/12 (~). According to Duane, the song would have been recorded over his best beat, not a long time after 2Pac was shot, but Dramacydal could not assume the song.
- 1993/11 - 94-2004 (new mix ?). Original included in Cradle 2 The Grave demo tape (cf. Honor Among Thugz). Remixed in Kadafi's Son Rize Vol. 1
(2004). Nothing says if this remix - with Young Ho/Kadafi rapping first
- is an OG remix or if it was made only for the mixtape.
- Samples :
- Isaac Hayes - "Ike's Mood" (piano)
- Biz Markie & T.J. Swan - "Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz" (drumline)
- 1994/08-10. K-Dog aka Kastro talks about 95 as being the next year (but this version was firstly known as the remix by mistake...). The
re-recorded version when he talks about 96 is more famous. People used to think the song was recorded on Death Row, even after the death of Kadafi because he didn't put a new verse. The new version could have simple been recorded in mid 95 to replace this outdated version they like. This time they knew their album would probably been released in late 95 or even 96...
- Samples :
- James Brown - "Get Up Offa That Thing" (trumpet)
- 1994/10-11. Nothing is known about the song but it features the same Moe-Z than in "Throw Ya Hands Up". It was probably one of the main song of the planned project, just before Tupac got shot...
- Samples :
- The Crusaders - "Street Life" (chorus interpolation)
- Parliament - "Flash Light" (vocals)
- 1994/08/18. Probably taken from an original shelved single Killin' Fieldz / Where Will I Be 12''.
- Samples :
- Bo Didley - "Hit Or Miss" (bongos, drums)
- Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution" (drumline)
- 1994/08/18. Probably taken from an original shelved single Killin' Fieldz / Where Will I Be 12''.
- Samples :
- James Brown - "Get Up Offa That Thing" (trumpet)
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Mutah, Big Malc and K-Dogg, back
cover of the single "So Many Tears" |
DRAMACYDAL - DRAMACYDE
- 1995. Recorded at Moe-Z's house.
- 1994/10 (?) - 1995. Slightly cleant version in comparison of the single version (cf. Dramacydal, Enterprise reference). Probably one of the first song recorded in this album.
- 1994/11/29 - 1995 (?) (new mix and new verse). Also known as "Late Night '94". This version is said without Young Hollywood, with another Big Malc/Mutah verse, and with an alternate ending.
- Samples :
- MC Shan - "The Bridge" (drumline modified)
- Louche Lou & Michie One - "Rich Girl" (vocals interpolation)
- 1994/12 (?). The song has some 2Pac words recorded from jail through the phone as an intro. The song was firstly planned to be included in Young Thugz EP but we don't know if an earlier version has been recorded. It is also said another version could exist with a different chorus... Probably also written by 2Pac, he will re-use the topic his solo "Thugz
Mansion" (cf. Me Against The World pt. 2). There was a first leaked og vibe of 2Pac's "Thugz Mansion" made by Krysis that was using the same chorus and music than this Dramacydal track. It is sometimes written
Faith Evans as the singer but the voice is
similar to those on Me Against The World. So it could be the Moe-Z' chorists Killa & Milia, Jasmine Guy or Puff Johnson from Soulshock & Karlin's "Me Against The World".
- Samples :
- Rufus & Chaka Khan "Best of Your Heart" (melody interpolation)
- Sly & The Family Stone "Sing a Simple Song" (drums partially)
- 1995/?. 2Pac helped Big Malc to write the hook. Maybe it is the evolution of the old "Don't Wanna Be A Drug Dealer" concept written in an early tracklist.
- 1995/?. Written by 2Pac. Firstly known as "Revenge Is Sweet", what was the title for the old bootleg of the album.
- 1995/?. The song was supposed to feature Yo-Yo but the leaked version has nothing like that. In one Thug Life Volume II tracklist, there is a "On Top of The World" remixed by Moe-Z title, intention to recycle Dramacydal material but probably never made...
- Samples :
- The Commodores - "Zoom" (melody, drumline, vocals)
- 1995/?. The actress Jasmine Guy and 2Pac met during a guest apparition he made for A Different World sitcom in 1993. She hosted him at her home after he got shot in the Quad studios and he went out of the hospital fearing for his life. It is said 2Pac wrote many songs for the Dramacydal at that time.
- 1995/?.
- 1995/?.
- Samples :
- Thug Life - "Cradle To The Grave" (vocals : "That's the way that daddy raised me")
- 1995/?. B-side from the 2Pac's single So Many Tears, released the 13th of June 1995.
- Samples :
- Grover Washington Jr. - "Take Me There" (melody)
- Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution" (drums modified)
- 1995/?.
- 1995/?. It is said to have some lines or even a verse given by 2Pac from prison through the phone (maybe just a chorus).
BONUS TRACKS
- 1994/08 - 1995/06 (?) (new Dramacydal minus Felony verses). 2Pac and Young Hollywood recorded their verses in August 94 for the Young Thugz EP.
This second version got new verses from the other Dramacydal members. For that reason, some people were saying this version had been made
after
their death... But Dramacydal voices sound still young so I presume they
re-recorded a new version in mid 95 (around the time of "Hard 2 Imagine" single, when Young Ho aka Felony was not with them but was maybe already hanging with Fatal), thinking the song and the album would be out only in '96 : "where will I be next year", so in '97.
- Samples :
- James Brown - "Get Up Offa That Thing" (trumpet)
- 1995/?. Included in Hard 2 Imagine Promo 12'' (1995, June 25). Probably intended for the B-side of the first single but the A-side song was finally was released itself as a B-side of So Many Tears single (instead of the Easy Mo Bee remix featuring Stretch ?).
- 1995/?. Included in Hard 2 Imagine Promo 12'' (1995, June 25).
- Samples :
- Grover Washington Jr. - "Take Me There" (melody)
- Melvin Bliss - "Synthetic Substitution" (drums modified)
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| always taking care of the children and giving them a good smile... |
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