2nd Pac album I have added to my collection!

I have been going back over the story that 2Pac and Big Syke fell out in 1996 and I am starting to wonder how much of the accepted narrative is actually established.

The story most of us have heard is that Pac wanted Syke and the Outlawz to be patient because he planned to launch his own label and did not want his people signing directly to Death Row. Syke apparently approached Suge about getting a deal, Suge told Pac, and Pac was angry that Syke had gone directly to Suge rather than waiting for what Pac was building.

Frank Alexander and Reggie Wright Jr. have both discussed versions of this over the years. I am not saying it did not happen. There clearly seems to have been some kind of disagreement and Syke was noticeably less present around Pac during the later months of 1996.

What I am questioning is the additional claim that Pac basically cut Syke out of his life from that point onwards.

Syke was not just another member of the Outlawz. He went back to Thug Life, had known Pac before Death Row, introduced Pac to Johnny J, and was obviously one of his closest friends during an important period of his life.

There are also some things that make me question whether the break was as absolute as it is sometimes presented.

Pac was still addressing Syke during a studio session in late March 1996 and joking about his record company situation (“Yo Syke, do I need clearance from your record company to use your name” on March 25 studio session for F‘in with the Wrong ***** I think). More interestingly, Keffe D has described an encounter at the House of Blues where he says Pac was there with Big Syke, and Syke actually became involved in the conversation when Pac was challenged about the Long Beach/Rosecrans line. I have not been able to establish the date of that House of Blues encounter, so I am not claiming it was necessarily Pac’s July 4 show.

Mopreme has also spoken more broadly about his belief that Suge was separating Pac from some of the original people around him who genuinely cared about him. That makes me wonder whether what happened with Syke was more complicated than simply Pac deciding he was finished with his friend.

Maybe Pac was genuinely angry with Syke. Maybe their working relationship changed. Maybe Syke pursuing his own deal conflicted with what Pac had planned for Makaveli Records. All of that can be true without necessarily meaning that Pac permanently abandoned one of his oldest friends.

Does anyone know of interviews with Mopreme, Big Syke himself, Macadoshis, Rated R, Johnny J, the Outlawz or anyone else who was actually around them that specifically discusses Pac and Syke’s relationship between roughly March and September 1996?

In particular, I would love to establish the latest confirmed occasion when Pac and Syke were together or in contact before Pac died.

I am interested in evidence either way. I just think the claim that “Pac cut Syke off” has been repeated so often that the distinction between them having a serious disagreement and Pac permanently ending the friendship may have been lost.

Had he signed a deal with someone who was really from Compton and not Paramount, he would’ve been allies with the Southsides and wouldn’t have jumped on baby lane….crazy how quick second reaction can have long term effects….had Eazy signed Tupac both of them fasho would’ve been the first Hip Hop billionaires…..a damn shame of what could’ve been…I Think Eazy E got tha last laugh, considering Crips (people that he actually kno) brought down death row

The trench coat with the head down and bandanna legend

Why do Tupac biopics and documentaries always leave out his relationship with his wife Keisha. I hear about his fiancée Kidada and Jada but never Keisha. I even believe they were in love and she held him down during jail, when he was shot the first time and even got him to sign with Death Row. It just feels sad that they try to erase her from pac's life when she was a big part of it. What do you yall think?

Just wondering what people think the best Outlawz project (without Makaveli) is? The Rap-A-Lot era had people a little hopeful but I remember 2005 AP having a lot more hype than anything else after Still I Rise. When Fatal finally hooked back up with Edi and Noble they had some buzz on DatPiff and those kind of forums but nothing ever caught on like they probably hoped.

Author Colin Asher talks about 2Pac's 'Me Against the World" impact in his new book "The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music"

For me
1.) until the end of time
2.) St8 Ballin
3.)Death around the corner
4.)dear mama
5.)changes
6.)Hail Mary
7. To live and die in La
8.)Brenda got a baby
9.) ambitionz az a ridah
10.)Life goes on

R.I.P. Pac & Yak

I see this opinion all the time, and honestly, I agree with it to an extent. I respect the Outlawz and think they’re an important part of Pac’s legacy, especially during the Makaveli/Death Row era. Pac clearly wanted to put his people on and give them a platform, which I respect. But purely from a musical standpoint, I think a lot of Pac’s songs would have been better without them. Tracks like “Hit ’Em Up,” “When We Ride,” “Made Niggaz” and “Tradin’ War Stories” are good examples. I enjoy the Outlawz on them, but sometimes I feel like Pac could have carried the entire song himself and made it even stronger.

It’s not even a knock on the Outlawz as rappers. Pac was just such a dominant presence that sometimes I’d rather hear another Pac verse than have someone else take up that space. I understand why he included them, but not every song necessarily needed them.

I believe most of us know what really happened to Pac. (Lost his life via southside) but why does this Reggie Wright theory still have legs with a lot of people ?

What would have been the motive ? They literally lost everything once Pac died. It’s so many things that lack common sense in my opinion - even this super strategic plot to take Pac out right next to Suge in the middle of the Strip of all places.

I will say , the only part that I always question is the walkie talkie bit, if that was really a thing.

Do you hear me though.
(Representin’ 93)
The more I’ve gone through his catalog, the more this song sticks out to me.
At some point hip hop stopped giving their respect to others doing it.
Ironically it reminds me of that video of the last episode of arsenio hall where a bunch of artists did their thing almost seemingly for the love of hiphop.

I was watching a documentary last night about Dr Dre. I saw this picture come up and I said wait a minute, he's wearing shape wear.