Tupac Shakur And The Making Of Outlawz

“Tupac Shakur Infamy” is the follow up to Shakur and Tupac Shakur’s last album, “Xplain.” While not as bad as their previous efforts, this album still has its flaws. For one thing, a lot of the songs here seem old and generic. The production and flow are still very uninspired, with most of the music revolving around old school sounding production. The overall tone of the album also suffers from being produced for a mainstream audience, which is a bit surprising considering the underground attitude that the album was released under.

Despite these faults, “Tupac Shakur Infamy” still packs a wallop and contains plenty of quotable lines. If you have not listened to Shakur before, especially since his other albums have been rather mainstream in tone, you will be pleasantly surprised at how his words fit into this new release. His words flow naturally and his delivery is just about perfect. The most surprising aspect about this album cover, however, is how much it resembles the image of a typical death metal music album cover. It doesn’t really scream out to the world “Death Metal,” but it does have the necessary Death Metal elements that the genre is known for.

The album cover itself is about five minutes long and features a rather interesting story. It starts with the main theme, which is basically Shakur taking potshots at his contemporaries. He takes jabs at the likes of Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, and Metallica as well as their members. These ribald jibes are interspersed with some positive lyrics that really make the listener want to hear more of what the rapper had to say.

Although the content is a bit unexpected, the content itself is still quite exciting. The songs themselves are pure metal with minimal fuzz, but there still are moments when the vocals seem to be dipped in a certain heavy metal tone. In one song, Shakur even seems to compare the devil to his favorite drink – cocaine. While some may not take such a serious stance towards drugs and alcohol, the point is still moot: these songs still come off as real, heartfelt songs.

One thing that the Shakur albums of yesteryear had that the newer ones don’t is an actual member of the original band involved. Shakur did perform some of his early material on the classic Thriller album cover, but he always remained a silent partner during his years with Metallica. With Outlawz, though, he’s finally singing along with his longtime Metal Mastermind partners. The result is a reunion that leaves true fans excited about what the future holds for the Shakur empire.

Regardless of how long you’ve been a fan, you can’t deny that Tupac Shakur still is a force to be reckoned with. On albums such as No Limit, his presence was as undeniable as ever. On Shakur’s final album, All Eyez On Me, he reaches a new level of stardom that he hasn’t reached since the late ’80s. With that in mind, it seems safe to say that the Shakur story has lived up to its massive success since the late ’80s, which is impressive in and of itself. If you haven’t had a chance to experience the electrifying effects of Shakur and the electrifying impact of his music, then you definitely owe it to yourself to do so.