Tupac

With dollar signs in their eyes and spotty recordings in hand, an obscure record label shakes loose a few more songs from Tupac’s corpse. Decay does these songs wrong, and yet apparently this is the way Makaveli himself would have wanted it. Listen as producer Sho-Down butchers "Sucka 4 Luv,” which was originally the J Dilla-produced/adapted "Do for Love” off R U Still Down. The latter features an over-synthesised beat (probably lifted from a pre-programmed Casio keyboard) and an impotent vocal contribution by Kyle Rifkin. Also, hearing ’Pac beef about Biggie almost a decade since they both past is passé, except on "Fuck’em All,” a diss track with a lurching beat and lyrics almost as viscous as "Hit ’Em Up.” Redman, whose latest work might sound better if he was dead, adds a sloppy verse to "Throw Ya Gunz Up.” Not every song is hopeless — "Gotta Get Mine” is okay but don’t go near "Untouchable.” Three-quarters of the way in, this realisation: sketchy production and too many sub-par guests only serve to make the legend of ’Pac that much more vibrant, but the world would do well without this release.