Released October 11, 1994 Length 42:28 Release date 11 October 1994 | Recorded March 1993 – July 1994 Artist Thug Life Label Priority Records | |
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Producer Big Syke
Easy Mo Bee
Jam Master Jay
Johnny "J"
Mopreme
Nate Dogg
Stretch
Thug Music
Warren G Thug Life Volume 1
(1994) Me Against the World
(1995) Genres Hip hop music, Gangsta rap, West Coast hip hop, G-funk Similar Me Against the World, 2Pacalypse Now, Still I Rise, Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ, R U Still Down? | ||
Tupac bury me a g ft natasha walker of y n v
Thug Life: Volume 1 is the only studio album by American hip hop group Thug Life, started by rapper Tupac Shakur, and was released on October 11, 1994. The group featured Big Syke, Macadoshis, Mopreme, The Rated R and Tupac Shakur. Among the notable tracks on the album are "Bury Me a G," "Cradle to the Grave," "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (which also appears on the soundtrack to the 1994 film Above the Rim), "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" and "Str8 Ballin'." The album was originally released by Shakur's label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to heavy criticism on gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was scrapped and re-recorded with many of the original songs being cut. The album only contains ten tracks because Interscope Records felt many of the other recorded songs were too controversial to release. It has been said that 2Pac created two other versions of this album, with many of the songs still remaining unreleased.
Contents
Although the original version of the album never came to fruition as the album went through a number of changes, Tupac performed the planned first single from the album, "Out on Bail" at the 1994 Source Awards. Although the album was originally released on Shakur's label Out Da Gutta, Amaru Entertainment, the label owned by Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, has since gained the rights to it. Thug Life: Volume 1 was certified Gold. The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared later in 1998 from 2Pac's Greatest Hits album.
It sold 500,000 copies in the United States in 1994.
Critical reception
"Full of machismo and do or die stances," wrote Jake Barnes in Q, "the lyrics' hardcore posturing is perversely undercut by sweet and delicate backings from artists like Curtis Mayfield, George Clinton and The Isley Brothers."
"A shockingly considered, thoughtful rap record," opined Select's Matt Hall. "And a very chilling one."
Samples
Bury Me a G
Don't Get It Twisted
Shit Don't Stop
Pour Out a Little Liquor
Stay True
How Long Will They Mourn Me?
Str8 Ballin'
Songs
1Bury Me a G4:59
2Don't Get It Twisted3:20
3Shit Don't Stop3:46