2pac's "R U Still Down" appreciation thread

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

"Me Against The World" > "R U Still Down" > "Stricly 4 My Niggaz"......anyone agree?


..... and also, where did all the tracks come from for "R U Still Down"?  Were they all really recorded and finished before 1994, or were they old tracks that were remixed?   Was it origionally supposed to be his "Troublesome" 3rd album that got scrapped?  If so, why would they have scrapped that record, it's a great album!  It's better than 98% of the music on the shelf. 

It has everything from political content (Nothing to Lose, Open Fire), to superb storytelling (16 On Death Row), to spiritual influences (Wonder if Heaven's Got A Ghetto), he has East Coast Records (Thug Style), West Coast (I'm Gettin Money) Party tracks (Lie To Kick It, Fake Ass Bitches) sad songs (Fuck Ya'll) introspective songs (R U Still Down) this is classic 2pac, and the production is on the highest proffesional level in my opinion.  I still listen to this album, more than 10 years after Pac supposedly created it the album is still fresh!

[ImmortalOne]

RUSD is very underrated.....not sure if its better than Strictly though.

Basically, most of the songs on that album were recorded between 92'-94', so there are a few songs from the 2Pacalypse Now - Strictly sessions. But most of the album is more Thug Life/MATW era, and in fact, many of the songs are what was going to be the original Me Against the World album. Remember, Pac changed the album entirely because Biggie bit off of him and released Ready to Die.

The production is really nice in some areas, but mediocre in others. Lot of great songs on this though, much better than any of the recent posthumous albums that have come out. I still play it frequently, though not as often as MATW, AEOM or Makaveli.

[acbaylove]

RUSD is very underrated.....

It's no doubt the better Pac produced album from 1997 to 2005.

[Thuglife]

Im getting money is one of tupacs best songs

[ImmortalOne]

RUSD is very underrated.....

It's no doubt the better Pac produced album from 1997 to 2005.

with the exception of maybe Still I Rise.

[acbaylove]

RUSD is very underrated.....

It's no doubt the better Pac produced album from 1997 to 2005.

with the exception of maybe Still I Rise.

You know, i prefeer RUSD because they remixed the tracks without totally changing the beats, you know. They just made them more fresh, clean.. in a single word: better. And it's the only remixed album who's better than the OG project. The only one. Still I Rise got good productions too, but the OG tracks are by far better than the remixed ones. That's why i'mma go with RUSD.

RUSD released > RUSD original

[ImmortalOne]

^^^true, though much of Still I Rise was close to the og as well.

U Can Be Touched, Still I Rise, Tattoo Tears, Secretz of War were changed were messed up but the rest of the songs were close to og. Well, Black Jesus was changed also, though that song was changed for the better IMO.

I dont understand why Afeni would leave RUSD and Still I Rise close to their original form, but ruin albums like Better Dayz, UTEOT and LTTG.....

UTEOT would have been an AMAZING album in its original form, which makes that release all the more dissapointing to me.

[Twentytwofifty]

There is a reason those songs are leftovers.  The album is pretty weak.

[Sikotic™]

So many great songs on that album. "Open Fire", "R U Still Down", "Hellrazor","Only Fear Of Death", "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto", "When I Get Free".

Probably the best posthumous Pac record.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

And the videos for RUSD were beautifully artistic projects as well...  "Wonder If Heaven's Got A Ghetto" had him being dropped off in the desert and then the video became very surreal with that car he was riding in to join the other legends riding the bus, then he went deeper into some dreamworld where the numbers on the clock added up to "seven".. the video was biulding his "alive" legend, with him hiding out at a Muslim hospice and then hiding out in the country.  "Do 4 Love" was a cartoon, I wonder if ya'll remember it, it was very colorful, they put full effort into the project and it came out dope.

....btw, I agree with the comments made above by Sneaker Pimp about "Still I Rise", and although I've never heard the origional "Black Jesus" I doubt it could beat the version on "Still I Rise".

 

[ImmortalOne]

There is a reason those songs are leftovers.  The album is pretty weak.

 

[Acgrundy]

the title track is one of my fav pac songs of all time

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

the title track is one of my fav pac songs of all time

Co-sign... that's one of Pac's most thoughful tracks.

[Acgrundy]

thanks for making this thread.  I just bumped both albums tonight, good quality shit.  although I got say Str8 Ballin is 100x better than Get Money.

[Darksider]

good album with some cassic tracks like when i get free, r u still dow, hellraisor etc