The Best of 2Pac, Pt. 2: Life [PA] [Digipak]

Performer: 2Pac
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: PART 2 of this 2Pac greatest-hits collection, which was assembled in coordination with Pac's mother, Afeni Shakur, combines some of the iconic rapper's earliest solo material ("Brenda's Got a Baby") with his best-known hits ("Keep Your Head Up") and a healthy dose of posthumously released cuts ("Ghetto Gospel," "Never Call U Bitch Again," "Still Ballin'"). LIFE also features the original solo version of "Thugz Mansion," as well as the previously unreleased track "Dopefiend's Diner," which finds Pac's flow mimicking the Suzanne Vega favorite "Tom's Diner." The separately packaged two-part Best of 2Pac series released in 2007 absolutely pales in comparison to the double-disc Greatest Hits collection previously released in 1998. Whereas that first collection had been fairly definitive, featuring 25 songs from the late rapper's prime, including all the key hits as well as the non-album favorite "Hit 'Em Up," The Best of 2Pac features four less songs, and of the 21 songs spread across two packages (less than an hour of music per disc), about a quarter are posthumous productions or remixes. For every classic like "California Love," there's a latter-day remix such as the newly produced version of "Dear Mama" on the Thug release or the "previously unreleased" song "Dopefiend's Diner" on the Life release. This posthumous material may be worthy of release, but a "best-of" collection sure isn't the place for it, especially one as skimpy as this, where the two separately packaged Thug/Life CDs could easily be combined into one single-disc collection if the latter-day productions and remixes were cut. Truth be told, The Best of 2Pac is yet another in a long line of posthumous cash-ins apparently overseen by 2Pac's mother. With the well-compiled Greatest Hits double-disc still on the market, there's no need for a lesser collection such as this (though a single-disc definitive best-of collection would have been welcome). The Best of 2Pac is simply more product to stock at your local big-box retailer (two seperately sold products, in this case), and it's no wonder, like many of its posthumous predecessors, it was released during the holiday shopping season. Clearly, 2Pac has become a cash cow for those who control his catalog; too bad the product being milked annually is almost without exception of poor quality and appears to be hastily or indifferently assembled. ~ Jason Birchmeier The seperately packaged two-part Best of 2Pac series released in 2007 features four less songs than the fairly definitive double-disc Greatest Hits collection previously released in 1998, and of the 21 songs spread across two packages (less than an hour of music per disc), about a quarter are posthumous productions or remixes. For every classic like "California Love," there's a latter-day remix such as the newly produced version of "Dear Mama" on the Thug release or the "previously unreleased" song "Dopefiend's Diner" on the Life release. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Beginning his career in the early 1990s as a member of the Oakland rap-funksters Digital Underground, 2Pac rose to become perhaps the single most controversial figure in rap music, easily equal in popularity and notoriety to Snoop Dogg on the West Coast and sometime rival Notorious B.I.G. out East. Taking his moniker from a South American revolutionary, 2Pac managed to embrace themes of black self-determination and social conscience without dulling the edge of his thug image. Achieving almost unrivalled popularity while alive, 2Pac had a penchant for religious and iconic motifs, ensuring his status as a rap martyr after his murder in 1996.

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