2Pac Live [PA] [Slipcase]

Performer: 2Pac
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Liner Note Author: Rhonda Baraka. Recorded in 1996, the year of Tupac Shakur's murder, this live set displays the hip-hop legend at the height of his considerable powers. Energy personified, the rapper charges through a set of tried-and-tested tunes ("Ambitionz Az a Ridah") and new tracks of that time ("Tattoo Tears"). 2PAC LIVE shows the artist warts and all, with the set interrupted by a premature "Heartz of Men" (which Shakur declines to perform, saying he hasn't rehearsed it), but the main story here is the loose vitality with which he approaches his material. As the concert hits the climax of "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," 2Pac pounds out the chorus "Ain't nothin' but a gangsta party" like it's his own version of the National Anthem. Sure enough, these are words that shaped the rap idol's life and death. Recorded in 1996, the year of Tupac Shakur's murder, this live set displays the hip-hop legend at the height of his considerable powers. Energy personified, the rapper charges through a set of tried-and-tested tunes ("Ambitionz Az a Ridah") and new tracks of that time ("Tattoo Tears"). 2PAC LIVE reveals the artist, warts and all, with the set interrupted by a premature "Heartz of Men" (which Shakur declines to perform, saying he hasn't rehearsed it), but the main story here is the loose vitality with which he approaches his material. As the concert hits the climax of "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," 2Pac pounds out the chorus "Ain't nothin' but a gangsta party" like it's his own version of the National Anthem. Sure enough, these are words that shaped the rap idol's life and death.

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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