WELCOME - 2PAC UNRELEASED DISCOGRAPHY

This blog is dedicated to Tupac Shakur's unreleased material : leftover tracks, first takes and alternate mixes ("OG", "demo"...), presented in a whole re-organized discography following Tupac's ORIGINAL ALBUM PROJECTS, according to his handwritten papers, existing sequences and promo, demo tapes... AND Bomb1st Forum threads. Special thanks to users Banned & Filla.

Unreleased discography :

1986-1990 - Dayz of a Criminal (The Early Years) (2Pac aka MC New-York with his first groups : East Side Crew, Two From the Crew, Born Busy, One Nation Emcees, Strictly Dope, Jungle Posse)

• 2Pacalypse Now times

1991 - Tales of a 90's N.I.G.G.A. (Underground Railroad sessions, 2Pacalypse Now leftover tracks)

1992 - Troublesome 21 (shelved album - half of it will be remade in Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.)

1992 - Ghetto Gospel / Fragile (Changes sessions, The Kidz sessions, W.A.T.M. sessions, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. leftover tracks)

• Strictly 4 times

1993 - Thug Life Demo Tape ("Demo Tape" / Warren G & Johnny J early sessions)
1993 - Thug Life Original (Ready to be released shelved album)

1993 - Thug Life Original 2 : Mr. Middle Finger (scrapped album)

1993 - Street Fame / Out on Bail ("Cradle2theGrave" Tape / "Easy Mo Bee" sessions / rough recordings for a new solo album which will turn into Me Against The World)

• Thug Life times 

1994 - R U Still Down Original Concept ("Manu" tape / Interscope "Vibe Tribe" project, first version of Me Against The World)

1994 - Thug Life : Honor Among Thugz ("Makaveli6" / Volume One Promo / Thug Life Volume One & Two sessions)

1994 - Stay True ("Stay True" mixtape / Tony Pizarro sessions)

1994-1995 - F.T.W. (Fuck The World) ("F.T.W." tape / Me Against The World leftover tracks, alternate versions & remixes)

1994-1995 - presents... Dramacydal, Dramacyde (The Pleasure of $in) ("Dramacyde" tape / Young Thugz EP & Dramacydal sessions)

• Me Against The World times 

1995 - When I Get Free (1992-1996 Lost Tracks) (AEOM leftover tracks)

1995 - All Eyez on Me (Demo) (AEOM early mixes)

1995-1996 - Outlaw Immortalz : Thug Life Volume 2 (Shelved project / Outlaw Immortalz sessions)

1995-1996 - Thug Pound with Dogg Pound (unfinished project / Thug Life+Dogg Pound sessions)

• All Eyez On Me times

1996 - Euthanasia Surpreme : All New Heat / 100% Black Gold (Me Against The World pt. 2 sessions) 

1996 - Lil' Homies (Death Row compilation and Soundtrack project sessions)

1996 - Troublesome, Tha Secretz of War (Outlawz LP1 sessions)

1996 - One Nation (June sessions with BCC, Greg Nice, Asu...)

 

1996 - Makaveli, Mr. Killuminati (Makaveli leftover tracks)

1996 - Makaveli, The 3 Day Theory (Demo)

1996 - One Nation Part 2 (August sessions with Scarface, Kokane, Spice 1, Nutt-So...)

1996 - Ghetto Starz (Outlawz LP2 sessions) 

• Makaveli times

Home Compilations :

1990-1997 - 2Pac & Friends (The Featurings) 

1990-1998 - The Rarities (Radio Versions & Soundtracks)

1997-2002 - Best of Amaru's work (compilation of the posthumous albums)

Why ?

 

1. The original and unreleased recordings have a really important place in 2Pac's career. First, they are really worth listening, in spite of the lack of a final sound cleaning (the "final mixdown"). This even gives a different taste of his musical universe, a raw taste. A lot of tracks he recorded during his lifetime have been shelved (more than half of what he recorded !) not in reason of their quality but often because labels dare not to publish them (for example the Thug Life period), because events ('94 shooting), because 2Pac changed his artistic view after meeting new producers (Death Row signature...), because he put them aside for another project never completed, because he couldn't clear the sample (like for "Late Night") and most of all because 2Pac, called a workaholic by lot of his friends, recorded so many songs that he and his labels had to choose, to select.

2. There are many gems among all these original and unreleased and they can tell you an alternative but faithful story of Tupac. To get the full effect of all these unreleased tracks, the thing is to listen them in the right context... The problem in the discography of 2Pac’s unreleased materials is easy to get : there are so many unrealeased materials that it’s difficult to organize them in a coherent way, in order to listen them in their best context. For instance, when you listen to a 1991′s song like "Hymn of the 90′s Nigga" among Death Row’s tracks like "Late Night" or "Secretz of War", it would appear as a really weak song in comparison. It would get a full effect among stuff from the same period like "Tearz of a Clown", "Revenge of a Lunatic".

 

3. Amaru's posthumous compilations are not well build (from the good R U Still Down to the weak Eminem strange objects). They are kind of greatest leftover compilation and not albums. Many modern remixes to avoid paying the original samples and new guests who want to have their name on side of Tupac... and replacing original friends of Tupac or Tupac's own verses... Songs from very different era put together..

 

4. Bootlegs titled "Makaveli 1, 2, 3... 12" have been leaked circa 1997-2000. They contain many of 2Pac's unreleased material in its original form. But they are also juxtaposition of random tracks. The sound quality is very different from one track to another. Nothing to do with an original album. And the quality of the leaks are now very low in comparison of what is now available.

 

Then there is a huge amount of fan-made bootlegs, unofficial tapes of unreleased OG and demo floating on Internet, or fake original mixtapes (like the so-called "Makaveli, The way he wanted it"), but they are all juxtaposition of random tracks, nothing to do with a real album.

 

The bootlegs and tracklists we've formed tend to look and sound like albums.

How ? 

Different things can help with that. First, the lyrics of course can give indications about the period and the project the song was recorded for. The kind of sound, the mix state, can as well indicate which session the record is from. And, we can be helped by the information 2Pac himself gave in interviews, and above all in the handwritten papers he left (especially the track lists). You can find a lot of information.

2Pac has had many projects, the one shelved, the one forgotten, the other transformed... He was planning his albums before recording or even writing. His albums were more than compilations. That's why we try to re-build them.