Better Dayz

by

2Pac

Edit

Well when I found out Tupac was releasing another album with more unreleased material I was thinking it was going to ruin his legacy in that the material he would release now wouldnt be as good as past stuff.

Anyway I went out and bought the album and all i gotta say is WOW!!!

This album is totally off the hook!! This proves that Tupac was the best rapper ever. The thing is there are some rappers that cant release a decent album when they are alive but this guys been dead 6 years and he comes up wid dis. All I gotta say that is totally amazin and it blew me away.

It may not quite be up there with "all eyes on me" but hey then again no album will ever be.

There isnt a bad song on this album they are either good or amazing.

1. intro - news reporter reporting on where these tupac songs are coming from then a countdown till release of album

2. still ballin (10/10)

3. When we ride on our enemies (8.5/10)

4. Changed man (10/10)

5. F*** Em All (8/10)

6. Never B Peace (10/10)

7. Mama's Just A Little Girl (9.5/10)

8. Street Fame (9/10)

9. Whatcha Gonna Do (8/10)

10. Fair Xchange (10/10)

11. Late Night (8/10)

12. Ghetto Star (8/10)

13. Thugz Mansion - acoustic (10/10)

CD2

1. My Block remix (10/10)

2. Thugz Mansion (10/10)

3. Never Call U B**** Again (8/10)

4. Better Dayz (10/10)

5. U Can Call (9/10)

6. Military Minds (8.5/10)

7. Fame (8/10)

8. Fair Xchange Remix (10/10)

9. Catchin feelings (8.5/10)

10. There U Go (9/10)

11. This life I lead (9/10)

12. Who Do U believe in (10/10)

13. They Dont Give A F*** About us (9.5/10)

If you aint got this album and you like any of Tupacs stuff shame on you. Just get it now cos its great.

If you were to count the actual number of CDs that have come out since Tupac Shakur's murder in September 1996, Better Dayz would actually be the 7th & 8th (Makaveli - 1; R U Still Down - 2 & 3; Still I Rise - 4; Until the End of Time - 5 & 6). One might expect the quality of recordings to go down with each passing release; however, they have remained remarkably consistent.

Like previous efforts, this album definitely contains some gold nuggets. Disc One includes "Still Ballin", "When We Ride on Our Enemies", "Street Fame", and "Ghetto Star", which are excellent songs that capture the very essence of Makaveli. Disc Two boasts the superb numbers "My Block", "Thugz Mansion", "U Can Call", and "Fame".

Two songs stand out, easily rising into the category of among 2Pac's best work ever. "Mama's Just a Little Girl" is not only heartbreaking and hopeful, but is incredibly innovative in the delivery of its lyrics and beats. And "Better Dayz" is one of those songs we've been waiting for - it almost seems like they should have saved it for his final CD.

As good as these tracks are, however, they can not disguise the fact that Shakur's estate is repeatedly falling into the same trap every year.

The problem is that for every brilliant song that is released, there are at least two "filler" songs that suffer from poor sound quality or overproduction by artists that really have no business being involved with 2Pac's legacy. Understandably, Afeni Shakur and Suge Knight have sought to update (sometimes completely change) many of the unreleased tracks in an effort to keep the sound current while expanding his fan base beyond the standard cult following. It just seems like sometimes they pick the worst possible people to accomplish this task.

Bringing in Nas to work on the project shocked me at first, but to be truthful I was pleasantly surprised to hear him apologize to Afeni Shakur as well as bow to 2Pac, calling him "The Ghetto King of the War". It was hard for me to stay mad at him when he fully admitted that 2Pac is superior and in effect asked "How can I be down?" I guess time will tell if he is sincere or not.

This album is not as thorough as "Until the End of Time", due to a smaller number of new tracks and a larger number of guest performers. It does reflect a growing sense of inevitability that we're approaching the day when his unreleased music runs out. But with so many releases slated for next year (the big 7th anniversary) and the promise of a few more projects after that (think "Thug Life Volume 2"), there is still much to look forward to.

If you are any kind of 2Pac fan, this album is definitely worth your time and money. Just don't get your hopes up that the production problems of the past few years have been corrected.

Rest in Peace, 2Pac. You are the greatest rapper to ever touch the game.