Suge tried to put out 2Pac ORIGINALS CD

[Giesuz]

That "Vault" project was a fan rumour blown way out of proportion. What it was, was to be an inhouse project (one that was to be started by the likes of Daz, Big Hutch) to revitalize 2Pac's unreleased work, which would have worked out to around 4-5 discs worth of material. This wasn't all to be released as some big boxed set, but to have a selection of "releasable" tracks to select from as a lot of the work was incomplete, or required touching up. This is also where rumours of diluting the tracks to duplicate the total number of unreleased tracks derived from.   

i remember a coming soon info on the official death row website around 1999 where they stated 2Pac The Safe a 4-Disc Set

[Black Excellence]

everything shoulda been kept original, wit additional co-production at the very most

[Jimmy H.]

That "Vault" project was a fan rumour blown way out of proportion. What it was, was to be an inhouse project (one that was to be started by the likes of Daz, Big Hutch) to revitalize 2Pac's unreleased work, which would have worked out to around 4-5 discs worth of material. This wasn't all to be released as some big boxed set, but to have a selection of "releasable" tracks to select from as a lot of the work was incomplete, or required touching up. This is also where rumours of diluting the tracks to duplicate the total number of unreleased tracks derived from.   

It wasn't a rumor.  It was on the opening to the Death Row official website.  Saw it with my own eyes. They had it on their upcoming projects list and for a time, there was an opening ad demo that advertised "Untochable" with Crooked I as the first single. Amaru ended up putting the kibosh on this and it was split into two projects.

i remember a coming soon info on the official death row website around 1999 where they stated 2Pac The Safe a 4-Disc Set

It would have been later than 1999 but yes, I think it was called "The Safe".

[sms130]

That "Vault" project was a fan rumour blown way out of proportion. What it was, was to be an inhouse project (one that was to be started by the likes of Daz, Big Hutch) to revitalize 2Pac's unreleased work, which would have worked out to around 4-5 discs worth of material. This wasn't all to be released as some big boxed set, but to have a selection of "releasable" tracks to select from as a lot of the work was incomplete, or required touching up. This is also where rumours of diluting the tracks to duplicate the total number of unreleased tracks derived from.  

It wasn't a rumor.  It was on the opening to the Death Row official website.  Saw it with my own eyes. They had it on their upcoming projects list and for a time, there was an opening ad demo that advertised "Untochable" with Crooked I as the first single. Amaru ended up putting the kibosh on this and it was split into two projects.

i remember a coming soon info on the official death row website around 1999 where they stated 2Pac The Safe a 4-Disc Set

It would have been later than 1999 but yes, I think it was called "The Safe".

Yeah, "The Safe" aka "The Vault" aka "Clearing Out The Vault" 4-disc box set project is true. It was posted on the official Death Row website as far back as the summer of 2000. At one point, I remember going to the site (after the release of Too Gangsta For Radio) and the site would open with the last part of Friends (the version that appeared on Too Gangsta For Radio) playing, stating that the album is coming soon. The still unreleased version/unleaked of "Untouchable" with Crooked I was set to appear on the project as the first single (as well appear on Crooked I's unreleased Death Row album called "Untouchable"). I've mentioned this on several forums over the years. I've heard rumors as to why that album was shelved and broken down into 2 albums (that was both planned to be released in 2001). Those 2 album later became "Until The End Of Time" and "Better Dayz". I remember hearing that Better Dayz (aka the second album from the Makaveli period) was planned to come out in November of 2001. In 2000, that "Dead Man Walking" album that Death Row put out on Snoop was originally the Greatest Hits project that came out in 2001. They changed it, delay the project, and made an album of unreleased material as DMW.

[DeeezNuuuts83]

^ I remember that, it was shelved at the last minute.  If I remember correctly, it was even advertised in the Best Buy ads too, then it never came to be.  It had the same cover, except I think it did say Snoop Doggy Dogg (and not Snoop Dogg).  I wanted it just to have Midnight Love.

[sms130]

^ I remember that, it was shelved at the last minute.  If I remember correctly, it was even advertised in the Best Buy ads too, then it never came to be.  It had the same cover, except I think it did say Snoop Doggy Dogg (and not Snoop Dogg).  I wanted it just to have Midnight Love.

Yep! The track list was a little different (in terms of the order of the songs) and that's it. I've heard that Death Row decided at the last minute to pull the "At his Best (DMW)" release because they've got word of Snoop working on the album that was "Tha Last Meal" and wanted to compete (in a sense) against that album like how they did with Dr. Dre back in 1999 with their "Chronic 2000" release.

[Jimmy H.]

I've heard rumors as to why that album was shelved and broken down into 2 albums (that was both planned to be released in 2001). 

Yes, the original announced plan when they changed it to two albums was that one would come out around the first quarter in 2001 and the other in the fourth quarter. I would assume they pushed it back a little so they could have some space in between projects, which was probably a good idea. I thought it was pretty much explained around the time of the announced change that the reason it happened was because Death Row did not have permission to release a project of that size without the approval of both Amaru (Pac's estate) and Interscope who were still owed albums under Pac's original contract.

I've seen no proof to suggest that Suge specifically was fighting to keep the songs original. I think the greatest conflict was about guest spots. Death Row would support remixing music and adding one of their own artists on there or someone Suge was close with like Ja Rule. I mean, whatever works but when they were originally putting together Chronic 2000 with unreleased Dre music, they were altering the original tracks to include artists who Dre would not have worked with and the single for "Dead Man Walking" included Swoop G on it, even though he had just done a number of songs shitting on Snoop. I mean, we can throw out hypotheticals or we can look at what was actually happening. When they did a Dogg Pound album in 2001, did they keep it all original production and use only artists that worked with DPG or did they remix some of the songs with their own producers and artists at that time? They even went through the trouble of licensing a new DPG song through DJ Clue, just so they could have something current.

[Giesuz]

^ I remember that, it was shelved at the last minute.  If I remember correctly, it was even advertised in the Best Buy ads too, then it never came to be.  It had the same cover, except I think it did say Snoop Doggy Dogg (and not Snoop Dogg).  I wanted it just to have Midnight Love.

Midnite Love was officially released years before on Snoop's Doggfather Single

[DeeezNuuuts83]

^ I remember that, it was shelved at the last minute.  If I remember correctly, it was even advertised in the Best Buy ads too, then it never came to be.  It had the same cover, except I think it did say Snoop Doggy Dogg (and not Snoop Dogg).  I wanted it just to have Midnight Love.

Midnite Love was officially released years before on Snoop's Doggfather Single

I know that, but singles tend to go OOP more quickly. I bought the album when it came out, so at the time, I didn't pay attention to the singles released.