Hip-Hop Connection
It may seem like he's still with us what with the numerous albums, movies and books that continue to hit the market, but 2006 marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of Tupac Shakur. And to celebrate the life and music of the man, his former label boss Suge Knight is planning some very special things. Laughing off speculation of his Death Row Records' imminent closure and labelling it as no more than "a judges wishful thinking", Knight told us of no less than three upcoming Tupac albums with an ambitious schedule that will see all three records released in as many months. First up will be an album simply titled "2Pac Originals". The disc will allow fans for the first time to get their hands on 16 fully mastered songs, all appearing exactly as they were when Tupac recorded them, before they were later remixed and changed for previous posthumous LP's. Tracks include "Happy Home", "Words To My Firstborn" and "Secrets Of War".
As far as Knight is concerned, these songs becoming available was bound to happen sooner or later.
"The original songs, that's something [we knew] the fans wanted. We got all the samples cleared. We got all the original beats. It was only a matter of time before we put it out there, and 10 years seems like a long enough wait. This is the songs as Pac left them."
"2Pac Originals" will hit stores in July, whilst August will see the release of an even bigger LP. "Pac 'N Dre" is a collaboration album that many a hip-hop fan could of only dreamt of until now, but in opening up the vaults at his record label, Knight is ready to make it a reality.
"This album is gonna be for all those old diehard rap fans. All the Pac fans, all the Dre fans, the Death Row fans. It's 14 songs we got on there, all never heard before. Pac had two studio sessions with Dre when he got to Death Row, one right after he got out when they did "California Love" and another one later on after that. People actually think these guys only did two songs together. I look at them like they crazy for even asking that. N***a Pac couldn't go a single session with any given producer without laying down five or six songs!! This is 14 tracks, all the other songs they did. Dre produced it all. I had the masters sitting in my house since Dre left. When Pac died I never wanted to do anything with it. See this album was gonna come out before Chronic II, just before that. It was supposed to be on some sneak attack s**t like the industry never saw this one coming, the prelude to Dre's record. But then everything went down like it did. I phoned Dre up just after Christmas. Spoke to him, first time man to man one on one in eleven years. I just let him know where I was at in my life right now, what kind of mindframe I'm in. We kicked it over the phone, it was like old times for a minute. He agreed to putting the album out, he was down with that. He thought it was a great idea, that the time was right and even wanted to mix some of the songs for the final cut. He even said "Suge, go and change the album title round, do it as "Pac n Dre". See, the masters are labeled as Dre n Pac, it was always intended as a Dre record first with Pac helping out, Dre AND Pac, Dre first see. That's little s**t to some n****s, to others it's big. But Dre said nah change that s**t around, it's all about Pac. It's like, the world is gonna hear this Pac/Dre album. It's gonna be 1996 all over again."
If those two projects weren't enough for the legions of Shakur fans, September will see arguably the most exciting album of the bunch. The month of his death will be commemorated with the release of an as yet untitled collection of tracks which will feature 12 brand new songs with production from some of todays hottest hip-hop beatmakers. Kanye West, DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Timbaland, Devante Swing, and The Neptunes are among those who have contributed tracks to the album.
"That s**t is gonna be crazy. Like, if Pac were still here type s**t." says Knight
"What I did was get the few remaining unheard Pac verses we got and send them to the producer, then have them do the whole track over. I wanted the best producers past and present, whether they East Coast West Coast, whatever. It was funny how I got some of these people on board for the album. For instance Just Blaze. I was at a video game convention in LA with my son, and I seen him there. I like his style so I told him bout the album and he was down. Kanye West, I don't know how he found out but someone told him we were doing it and he called me up, so I sent him the vocals. I always wanted to do something with DJ Premier after we had him on the Lady Of Rage album, and see I known Guru since way back when Gang Starr did their first ever show on the West Coast. And someone like Devante, that's my n***a and he's just now getting back in the game with the new Jodeci record which is incredible so I had to have him on there."
Knight also unveiled plans to re-release a special limited edition 10 year Anniversary version of "All Eyez On Me".
"We still working on that now. We released it a few years back remastered, well now we done it over again and it sounds cleaner and crisper than ever. The sound is perfect. This will be three discs as well, we gonna put a DVD in with this one, with rappers and producers talking about their experiences of working on Eyez On Me. We actually got a clip on there of Pac in the studio with Quik, and Quik is laying the beat for "Heartz Of Men". Quik is making the beat up as he goes, just putting it out there throwing shit down, chopping up the Richard Pryor sample, and Pac is writing to it without barely thinking even. It's amazing to watch, it's like these two n****s just freestyling a song together, one on the beat and one on the lyrics."
Ten years on from Shakur's death and there seems to be no let up in the slew of releases.
"Pac was a legend like Elvis, like The Beatles" says Knight proudly.
"It wouldn't be right if we didn't celebrate the mans legacy in style. [It's] gonna be Pac's year all over again."
---
got this from another forum
it looks like somebody is a day early with the lame april fools gags
it would be a wonderful life if it was true though :angry:
It may seem like he's still with us what with the numerous albums, movies and books that continue to hit the market, but 2006 marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of Tupac Shakur. And to celebrate the life and music of the man, his former label boss Suge Knight is planning some very special things. Laughing off speculation of his Death Row Records' imminent closure and labelling it as no more than "a judges wishful thinking", Knight told us of no less than three upcoming Tupac albums with an ambitious schedule that will see all three records released in as many months. First up will be an album simply titled "2Pac Originals". The disc will allow fans for the first time to get their hands on 16 fully mastered songs, all appearing exactly as they were when Tupac recorded them, before they were later remixed and changed for previous posthumous LP's. Tracks include "Happy Home", "Words To My Firstborn" and "Secrets Of War".
As far as Knight is concerned, these songs becoming available was bound to happen sooner or later.
"The original songs, that's something [we knew] the fans wanted. We got all the samples cleared. We got all the original beats. It was only a matter of time before we put it out there, and 10 years seems like a long enough wait. This is the songs as Pac left them."
"2Pac Originals" will hit stores in July, whilst August will see the release of an even bigger LP. "Pac 'N Dre" is a collaboration album that many a hip-hop fan could of only dreamt of until now, but in opening up the vaults at his record label, Knight is ready to make it a reality.
"This album is gonna be for all those old diehard rap fans. All the Pac fans, all the Dre fans, the Death Row fans. It's 14 songs we got on there, all never heard before. Pac had two studio sessions with Dre when he got to Death Row, one right after he got out when they did "California Love" and another one later on after that. People actually think these guys only did two songs together. I look at them like they crazy for even asking that. N***a Pac couldn't go a single session with any given producer without laying down five or six songs!! This is 14 tracks, all the other songs they did. Dre produced it all. I had the masters sitting in my house since Dre left. When Pac died I never wanted to do anything with it. See this album was gonna come out before Chronic II, just before that. It was supposed to be on some sneak attack s**t like the industry never saw this one coming, the prelude to Dre's record. But then everything went down like it did. I phoned Dre up just after Christmas. Spoke to him, first time man to man one on one in eleven years. I just let him know where I was at in my life right now, what kind of mindframe I'm in. We kicked it over the phone, it was like old times for a minute. He agreed to putting the album out, he was down with that. He thought it was a great idea, that the time was right and even wanted to mix some of the songs for the final cut. He even said "Suge, go and change the album title round, do it as "Pac n Dre". See, the masters are labeled as Dre n Pac, it was always intended as a Dre record first with Pac helping out, Dre AND Pac, Dre first see. That's little s**t to some n****s, to others it's big. But Dre said nah change that s**t around, it's all about Pac. It's like, the world is gonna hear this Pac/Dre album. It's gonna be 1996 all over again."
If those two projects weren't enough for the legions of Shakur fans, September will see arguably the most exciting album of the bunch. The month of his death will be commemorated with the release of an as yet untitled collection of tracks which will feature 12 brand new songs with production from some of todays hottest hip-hop beatmakers. Kanye West, DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Timbaland, Devante Swing, and The Neptunes are among those who have contributed tracks to the album.
"That s**t is gonna be crazy. Like, if Pac were still here type s**t." says Knight
"What I did was get the few remaining unheard Pac verses we got and send them to the producer, then have them do the whole track over. I wanted the best producers past and present, whether they East Coast West Coast, whatever. It was funny how I got some of these people on board for the album. For instance Just Blaze. I was at a video game convention in LA with my son, and I seen him there. I like his style so I told him bout the album and he was down. Kanye West, I don't know how he found out but someone told him we were doing it and he called me up, so I sent him the vocals. I always wanted to do something with DJ Premier after we had him on the Lady Of Rage album, and see I known Guru since way back when Gang Starr did their first ever show on the West Coast. And someone like Devante, that's my n***a and he's just now getting back in the game with the new Jodeci record which is incredible so I had to have him on there."
Knight also unveiled plans to re-release a special limited edition 10 year Anniversary version of "All Eyez On Me".
"We still working on that now. We released it a few years back remastered, well now we done it over again and it sounds cleaner and crisper than ever. The sound is perfect. This will be three discs as well, we gonna put a DVD in with this one, with rappers and producers talking about their experiences of working on Eyez On Me. We actually got a clip on there of Pac in the studio with Quik, and Quik is laying the beat for "Heartz Of Men". Quik is making the beat up as he goes, just putting it out there throwing shit down, chopping up the Richard Pryor sample, and Pac is writing to it without barely thinking even. It's amazing to watch, it's like these two n****s just freestyling a song together, one on the beat and one on the lyrics."
Ten years on from Shakur's death and there seems to be no let up in the slew of releases.
"Pac was a legend like Elvis, like The Beatles" says Knight proudly.
"It wouldn't be right if we didn't celebrate the mans legacy in style. [It's] gonna be Pac's year all over again."
---
got this from another forum
it looks like somebody is a day early with the lame april fools gags
it would be a wonderful life if it was true though :angry:
*cries**!!!!