Tupac's Mom Renovates Foundation Center, Says Next LP Will Be The Last

[2pac4prez2006]

Tupac's Mom Renovates Foundation Center, Says Next LP Will Be The Last
04.18.2005 9:33 PM EDT

Foundation is renovating its performing-arts center in Georgia.
Afeni Shakur (file)
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Afeni Shakur, mother of slain icon Tupac Shakur, has spent the last several years keeping her son's name alive. And although the trove of unreleased music from the rapper seems to be reaching its end — Afeni said the

"I perceive a crisis in young people and I want to share my concern. The most important thing for young people is to stay alive." — Afeni Shakur

last album of unreleased material will come out next year — she's renovating the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation's Peace Memorial Garden and Visitors Center in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in the hope of establishing a more lasting memorial.

Though Afeni has been remembering her son with annual concerts around his June 16 birthday, she and her partners in the foundation felt that more could be done.

"When Tupac died, the first year and afterward, we thought the way to celebrate him was to have concerts and events every June in Georgia," Ms. Shakur explained. "And after we spent so much money and only affected the people right there, we decided we'd build a foundation and work with young people on an ongoing basis."

Each summer, the foundation holds a performing-arts camp for children suffering from troubled home lives. The camp, which is set on nine recently renovated acres of countryside in Stone Mountain, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta where Afeni resides), will be formally reopened on June 10. Afeni, a former Black Panther and a recovered drug addict, referenced her own tumultuous past when describing the foundation's main goal.

"When Tupac was 13 and I was homeless," she said, "Tupac was in the 127th Street Ensemble [theater group] right here in New York. Those people, I believe, saved his life. So what we try to do is be that for the next generation of young people."

Next year, Afeni said she intends to place a life-size sculpture of Tupac at the garden's entrance.

Meanwhile, a video with a stark message has been released for "Ghetto Gospel," the recent single from Tupac's posthumous LP Loyal to the Game (see "Eminem 'Went Crazy' With Tupac's A Cappellas For Loyal To The Game"). The clip, directed by Nzingha Stewart, is about a young man who dies, while his mother mourns the loss and recognizes that the destructive pattern continues. The video reflects Afeni's own concerns.

"This year, Tupac would've been 34 years old," she said. "He died when he'd just made 25. I perceive a crisis in young people and I want to share my concern. The most important thing for young people is to stay alive."

Afeni is also working on an as-of-yet-untitled film detailing Tupac's early life, as well as a traveling Broadway play. Author Quentin Skinner has also written a biography of the rapper, which will be published later this year.

"[Loyal to the Game] will have no more singles," Afeni said. "We'll do a spoken-word album this year, and next year we'll do the final unreleased song album for Tupac.

"And then we're going to beg you all to come and see us at the [Peace Memorial Garden and Visiting] Center."


From MTV

 

[DocDre]

if this really is his last album (god I hope so) its time for those idiots at amaru and interscope, to give back to the real fans. Give us the uncut original deathrow recordings, no new beats, no new verses nothing like that. Mix it down and hit us with the real shit.

 

[imported_MAKaveli_10]

No it can't be the last. He must have alot more than what she is telling.

 

[alleyezonme12]

afeni is just hyping up the new album, if she says its his last then more ppl will be interested in it

 

[AmerikazMost]

No it can't be the last. He must have alot more than what she is telling.

i think she's just tired of putting up with everything... these albums weren't for the fans, they were to raise money for the Center... and now that it's finished, there's no need to go through the work to put out more albums

 

[Dave D]

there is soo much shit left. I dont believe this is the last album.

 

[ManiacDego]

i think she's just tired of putting up with everything... these albums weren't for the fans, they were to raise money for the Center... and now that it's finished, there's no need to go through the work to put out more albums

that was 2pacs wish ??? to collect money. fuckin up the music
and to build a foundation only in LA.. what a help
so i go and collect all the pics from the foundation and use it as poster..
i think they will make more money by dropin a mutherfuckin pac cd in his OG form (or betta djs)
what a fuck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ApacalypseNow]

hmmm the last Pac album.....I dunno what 2 expect

 

[makthedon777psc]

Makes no sense. Why would she only release 1 more album when she can release a lot more. I hope and Think that Dante is right, otherwise Afeni proved again that she's (again) not loyal to the fans of her son.

 

[2PacThug4Life]

there is no possible way that this is pac's last album. tha people at TB have 2 albums worth of unreleased songs. tha only way this will pac's last cd of material is if it has 8 cds in it.

did you notice how afeni kept sayin tha last album of unreleased material, maybe there is gonna be an album of other kind of material after. *coughs*og*coughs*

 

[Dante]

there will NOT be a unreleased box set. stop and think for one second... amaru and especially the outlawz have burned so many bridges (charging pac's original collaborators insane amounts of money for his verse, removing producers, reporducing songs to sound similar to the original but now not being legally obligated to give them primary production credits, and twisting pac's music to become a vehicle for the outlawz' own successes). beyond that, releasing the originals would require a very intensive sample clearing process that would never be fully successful. prince isn't too keen on people sampling his music, and royalties would be insane. that's a major reason why a lot of the new pac material (and recent hip hop) for that matter has transitioned into original loops instead of samples - sampled artists are getting hip to getting an inc reasingly larger cut. simple fact is that an unreleased box set is neither feasible or realistic in consumer price. who but the hardcore pac collectors would pay over $50 (more like $100) for a box set of pac tunes over some very dated and simple production? shit, half of this board wouldn't even buy it anyway and just leech it from one of a thousand yousendit links.

i don't believe there's one album left. afeni has well over 80 tracks left by my knowledge alone, and there's no excuse not to release the music. afterall, the music funds the tasf - which seems to be her main focus these days. this has to be all pr hype to help draw interest to the new album. they tried it before with eminem's name, and now they're trying to make people get out there and buy the last album. i wouldn't be surprised if this was the last "makaveli era" album or something stupid like that, with plenty more "2pac" or "tupac" around the corner.

either way, i don't buy it.

 

[2PacThug4Life]

there will NOT be a unreleased box set. stop and think for one second... amaru and especially the outlawz have burned so many bridges (charging pac's original collaborators insane amounts of money for his verse, removing producers, reporducing songs to sound similar to the original but now not being legally obligated to give them primary production credits, and twisting pac's music to become a vehicle for the outlawz' own successes). beyond that, releasing the originals would require a very intensive sample clearing process that would never be fully successful. prince isn't too keen on people sampling his music, and royalties would be insane. that's a major reason why a lot of the new pac material (and recent hip hop) for that matter has transitioned into original loops instead of samples - sampled artists are getting hip to getting an inc reasingly larger cut. simple fact is that an unreleased box set is neither feasible or realistic in consumer price. who but the hardcore pac collectors would pay over $50 (more like $100) for a box set of pac tunes over some very dated and simple production? shit, half of this board wouldn't even buy it anyway and just leech it from one of a thousand yousendit links.

i don't believe there's one album left. afeni has well over 80 tracks left by my knowledge alone, and there's no excuse not to release the music. afterall, the music funds the tasf - which seems to be her main focus these days. this has to be all pr hype to help draw interest to the new album. they tried it before with eminem's name, and now they're trying to make people get out there and buy the last album. i wouldn't be surprised if this was the last "makaveli era" album or something stupid like that, with plenty more "2pac" or "tupac" around the corner.

either way, i don't buy it.

you won't buy it . what if it's an album as good as Still I Rise?

 

[DocDre]

you won't buy it . what if it's an album as good as Still I Rise?

whats so good about sir

 

[2PacThug4Life]

whats so good about sir

imo it's tha best album to come out after pac's "death"(xcluding 7 Day).

 

[Dante]

you won't buy it . what if it's an album as good as Still I Rise?

i don't buy it is an expression meaning i don't believe it.
dante not blowing money on 2pac stuff would make the world implode.

 

[7hug.Life]

didn't Afeni say better dayz was the last album?

 

[2PacThug4Life]

didn't Afeni say better dayz was the last album?

yessir , she also said LTTG was tha last album too.

 

[JarG]

well if snippets of new album in 2006 will be good so i will but that album

 

[MCaussade]

there will NOT be a unreleased box set. stop and think for one second... amaru and especially the outlawz have burned so many bridges (charging pac's original collaborators insane amounts of money for his verse, removing producers, reporducing songs to sound similar to the original but now not being legally obligated to give them primary production credits, and twisting pac's music to become a vehicle for the outlawz' own successes). beyond that, releasing the originals would require a very intensive sample clearing process that would never be fully successful. prince isn't too keen on people sampling his music, and royalties would be insane. that's a major reason why a lot of the new pac material (and recent hip hop) for that matter has transitioned into original loops instead of samples - sampled artists are getting hip to getting an inc reasingly larger cut. simple fact is that an unreleased box set is neither feasible or realistic in consumer price. who but the hardcore pac collectors would pay over $50 (more like $100) for a box set of pac tunes over some very dated and simple production? shit, half of this board wouldn't even buy it anyway and just leech it from one of a thousand yousendit links.

i don't believe there's one album left. afeni has well over 80 tracks left by my knowledge alone, and there's no excuse not to release the music. afterall, the music funds the tasf - which seems to be her main focus these days. this has to be all pr hype to help draw interest to the new album. they tried it before with eminem's name, and now they're trying to make people get out there and buy the last album. i wouldn't be surprised if this was the last "makaveli era" album or something stupid like that, with plenty more "2pac" or "tupac" around the corner.

either way, i don't buy it.

well said, amen... there's no way that this is the very last LP of 2pac songs in any shape or form... She's said the same thing before and she'll say it again to draw hype... It's unfortunate but true that we probably shouldnt expect to see any such box set of OGs or anything of that nature... But really, most of the songs in OG format will find their way to the net and leak in CDQ form eventually anyway...
We all know that there is plenty of unreleased and even unheard pac for a few more albums... some may never actually get released for various reasons but Im sure this will not be the last of it.... let's just hope that the next release isnt as f----ed up as the last one....

 

[7MalkoM7]

if this really is his last album (god I hope so) its time for those idiots at amaru and interscope, to give back to the real fans. Give us the uncut original deathrow recordings, no new beats, no new verses nothing like that. Mix it down and hit us with the real shit.

real talk