Buy

"2Pac" CD Cover Download

Amazon.com Review: An indispensable and definitive collection showcasing the passionate genius of the late rapper. The album's nonchronological sequence highlights the contradictory impulses that made Tupac's music so commanding; the 21 well-loved "hits," some slightly reedited for legal reasons, are accompanied by four previously unheard songs. Of the new material, the raw-sounding "God Bless the Dead" has been the subject of the most speculation, owing to its subject matter: a eulogizing of the late Notorious B.I.G.--a mysterious feat, since Tupac was killed six months before Biggie. And, making its first proper appearance on a Tupac album, the B-side "Hit 'Em Up" stands as the most intense outburst of pure venomous rage ever captured on tape. Whether he's waxing political, philosophical, or just plain paranoid, Tupac's empathetic, charismatic style remains unmatched. --Charley Gothic

Buy

2Pac CD Cover Download

Amazon.com Review: essential recordingSimultaneously serving as both endless fodder for intellectual debates and the album most likely to be blaring out of the adjacent car's window, All Eyez on Me is a phenomenon that packs a wallop with every listen. Unquestionably the most nihilistic album to top the Billboard charts--and it's doubtful that any will match it--Eyez also manages to dish out the good-times dance tunes and still flow seamlessly. Recording commenced within hours of Tupac Shakur's release from prison, and a year's worth of pent-up ideas are unleashed with a fury akin to lifting the lid on a box of plutonium. The line between high art and insufferable reality, possibilities and self-destruction, has never been so blurred. Eyez is a landmark achievement that is unlikely to be topped by any heir apparent to the hip-hop crown. --Gregg Turkington

Buy

2Pac CD Cover Download

Amazon.com Review: essential recordingThe gruesome details surrounding Tupac's third solo offering are enough to give any music fan the willies. Released when Tupac was in jail serving time for a rape conviction and just after his recovery from being shot-up gangland-style at a recording studio, this was his most introspective piece of work to date. The heavy-hearted album opens up with a radio commentary describing the circumstances surrounding his shooting, and then plunges headfirst into Pac's infatuation with death. "So Many Tears," "Death Around the Corner," and "If I Die 2Nite" are all dark, eerily prophetic tunes that lend credence to widespread theories which suggest that Pac anticipated his impending death. The perpetually thugged-out wonder reveals a more benevolent side when it comes to gender and family issues. On "Dear Mama"--a fitting tribute to his mother recorded in the "Keep Ya Head Up" vein--Pac takes listeners into the loving recesses of his heart, while on "Can U Get Away," he echoes similar respectful sentiments to black womynkind. This is probably Pac's most progressive issues-oriented release before he signed to Death Row and became a full-blown thug. --Dalton Higgins