Some call him the greatest emcee of all-time, others will say he was just the most influential. Some call him a poet, others claim he was a gangsta rapper. Some call him a saint, others say a demon. Tupac Shakur may have been one of those things, he may have been all of things, it all depends on which side of him you choose to focus. One thing that is for sure, he made a difference. That is something no one can take from him, in life or death. So here is 2Pac “Live,” an embodiment of another aspect of Mr. Shakur; his unrelenting energy.
Just like Pac used to scream himself hoarse in the vocal booth, his furious passion drove him on stage. This approach works great for high energy cuts like “California Love” and the venomous “Hit’em Up” or “Troublesome.” Pac is wise enough to take it down a notch for relatively somber tracks like “So Many Tearz,” “Never Call You Bitch Again” and “Tattoo Tears,” and he should have done the same for “Ambitionz As A Ridah.” While it was never one of my favorite Pac songs, his rendition of “All About You” is nearly perfect if it weren’t butchered by Tha Outlaws. In fact, they ruin many songs acting as his hype men by being over zealous and shouting over Pac every other bar.
Aside from Tha Outlawz you get guest appearances from Snoop for “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” and K Ci and JoJo for “How Do You Want It.” It is hard to really judge the merits of a live album unless you’ve actually seen the artist perform because then you can gauge how well their show was captured. With only having footage of Pac live, I can say that the album seems to succeed in that sense. On the other hand, the song selection could have been much better as could the overall presentation. It should’ve sounded like a continuous live performance, and it doesn’t at points. It can sound chopped and thrown together. Still worth a listen for any Pac aficionado.
