Thug Life: Volume 1 (1994)

I could have chosen any 2Pac album to talk about today. All his CDs have been rotating in my car for several months. This is about the 3rd time I "discovered" (for lack of a better term) 2Pac and listened to/got into his albums. As some of you may know, I have never been the biggest 2Pac fan. But within the past 3-4 months, he's now in my top 10. For whatever reason, I can't get enough of his music these days...

Anyway, "Volume 1" is among the best work in his catalog IMO. It's right up there with the best of the best. The production is a meeting of golden age east coast and g-funk, and every beat is banging here. And since 2Pac raps so much, it sort of seems like a 2Pac album with guest rappers. But really, these guys all share some really good chemistry. I can't say a single one didn't hold their own throughout the whole album, and there simply isn't a skip track in sight. As far as favorites go, "Pour Out a Little Liquor" and "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" (feat. Nate Dogg) are among the best Pac songs out there.

My Rating: 5 stars

My updated 2Pac rankings/ratings (The top 2 are interchangeable to me. While I feel Me Against The World is his best work start to finish, All Eyez just reaches higher highs IMO, I like the standouts more, and it basically has no real filler. It's become my favorite double hip-hop album too. They each have their strengths....so it's a tough pick):

1996: All Eyez on Me (5 stars)
1995: Me Against the World (5 stars)
1994: Thug Life: Volume 1 (5 stars)
1996: The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (4.5 stars)
1993: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (4 stars)
1991: 2Pacalypse Now (3.75 stars)

4.5 stars for Thug Life.

Pour Out a Little Liquor>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That and Dear Mama are my two fav Pac songs of all time....classic joints!

I'll go with 5 stars as well...there are no skip tracks on here. It's just too bad they had to scrap the OG version of Cradle to the Grave off the album, I feel that one is way better than the album version and I really love the album version too...lol

Love this album! I also love the # of tracks on the album. I don't need 24 tracks with 8-10 being skip material. "Bury Me A G", "Pour Out A Little Liquor", "Cradle To The Grave", "How Long Will They Mourn Me", etc.....I dig them all. I always wondered why there was never a Vol. 2 though.

Glad to hear your coming around on Pac Alan! He may not have been the best lyricist, but nobody outside of Scarface has ever spit with more emotion.

Hot damn Alan!! Boy if you was right here I swear.....

Glad to see you truly gave him a listen. I know the hype sometimes makes it easy to dislike an artist or not want to give them a try. But Pac lives up to most of the hype.

Thug Life Vol. 1 is a very personal clasic album to me. Luv this fucking album. While I do not have it at 5 stars its easily 4.5-4.75. I have no prob w/ a 5 star rating for it either. My top 3 trks from this album are:

Under Pressure
Bury Me A G
Stay True

I agree with most of your ratings for his albums also. Peep some of his post death albums. Like R U Still Down?, Still I Rise, and Until The End Of Time. You will not be disappointed. Esecially with those 1st two.

I myself have been wondering about "Still I Rise". "R U Still Down" is dope.

I can't say 5 stars for this one because personally I feel the real dope tracks are dope but there are tracks that bring this down for me IMO. I will stick to the 4-4.25 star range. Personally, Str8 Ballin', Bury Me A G & Pour Out A Little Liquor are my favs. However, I can't say all of the tracks are on the level of those 3. ...Still one of my personal favs. I just can't rate it that high.

The top 3 are Bury Me A G, How Long Will They Mourn Me, and Str8 Ballin. Pour Out A Little Liquor and Under Pressure aren't too far behind those 3. Really the only track i can do without is Sh!t Don't Stop, but it's not the worst song i've heard.

Also, My Pac ratings

2Pacalypse-4.0-4.25 stars
Strictly For My N*****-4.5 stars
Thug Life-4.5
Me Against The World-5 stars
All Eyez On Me-4.75 Stars
Makaveli-5 Stars
R U Still Down-4.25(maybe 4.5 on a good day) stars
Still I Rise-4.5 Stars

The rest of his posthomous albums have their moments for the most part, but none of them are on the level of R U Still Down and Still I Rise.

I'll call this 5. It's earned it... might have the most longevity and strongest replay value of any album.

Terry, Shit Don't Stop is my favorite track.

Yeah Shit Don't Stop is up there for me also. My least fav may be Street Fame.

Taylor you do not have Still I Rise? Get it!!!

It's not a bad song. I just get annoyed by the hook, and it seems out of place on the album IMO. I just kinda throws off the albums momentum a little bit.

I do agree it was poorly placed in the tracklisting.

I Just copied & pasted, so forgive the N-bombs please.

All Songs Recorded: August, 1993 Through May, 1994.


1. Cradle To The Grave [Professor Jay & Syke Original Mix] (B-Side on the Papa'z Song Single 1994)

2. High Till I Die Feat. Don Jagwarr, Rated R & Macadoshis (OG Unreleased Don Jagwarr Remix)

3. Niggaz In The Pen Feat. Mopreme & Mouse Man (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

4. Thug Life Feat. Big Syke (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

5. Is It Cool To Fuck Feat. Macadoshis & Rated R (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

6. I'm Losin' It Feat. Big Syke & Spice 1 (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed On R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 11/25/97)

7. It Hurts The Most Ft. Big Stretch & Mopreme (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

8. Thugs Get Lonely Too Feat. Rated R (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed On Loyal To The Game 12/14/04)

9. Time 2 Get My Drank On (Interlude) (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

10. I'm Gettin' Money (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed On R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 11/25/97)

11. Bury Me A G (Original Unreleased 2Pac Solo Version With 2 Additional Verses. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)

12. Hellrazor Feat. Stretch (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed On R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 11/25/97)

13. Judgement Day Feat. Dee Tha Madd Bitch, Mopreme & Stretch (Original Unreleased Outtake.
2Pac verse Partially Remixed On Loyal To The Game along with part of Hymn of the 90's bunny to form the track N.I.G.G.A. 12/04/04)

14. Enemies With Me Feat. Stretch, Young Thugs & Sh'Killa (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed On on R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 11/25/97.
There is a HQ version of this exact same track minus the Stretch & Sh'Killa Verses. Not Sure if fan made but its not the true OG)

15. Who Do U Love Feat. Stretch (Original Unreleased Outtake. [Stretch Verse sounds spliced in from a lower quality source]
Remixed on Loyal To The Game minus the Stretch Verse 12/14/04)

16. Out On Bail (Original Unreleased Outtake. Remixed on Loyal To The Game 12/14/04)

17. Faced Shootouts (Outro) (Original Unreleased Interlude Outtake. Remains Unreleased As Of 6/12/12)
[Adjusted the Speed Pitch while keeping the tempo for a more enjoyable track as it was originally slowed down]

18. High Till I Die Feat. Rated R & Macadoshis (True Original Unreleased Outtake.
Same exact song but with 2pac breakdowns & minus Don Jagwarr's breakdowns) [Bonus Track]

19. Cradle To The Grave (Madukey Official Remix) [Bonus Track]

20. Pour Out A Little Liquor (Madukey Official Remix) [Bonus Track]

21. How Long Will They Mourn Me (With Extra 2Pac Verse Taken From The Clean Edit Promo Single - MoonChild Redux) [Bonus Track]

22. Thug Life (2Pac Solo Version - Speed Pitch Fixed, Tempo Kept - MoonChild Redux) [Bonus Track]

23. Thug Life (2Pac Solo Version - Fast Tempo - MoonChild Redux) [Bonus Track]

24. Faced Shootouts (Outro) (Fast Tempo - MoonChild Redux) [Bonus Track]

25. Faced Shootouts (Outro) (Slowed Down - True OG - Unreleased) [Bonus Track]

MoonChild bootleg for those interested, just posted yesterday. He put in major work to compile & clean up the quality.

http://www.mediafire.com/?9lew7docuu3r237

That's the reason why I don't care for the track either Terry. The hook on that song is awful, IMO.

I gave this another spin last night and I still feel that there are some tracks on here that just don't fit the criteria of a 5 star/mic album. On one side you have Str8 Ballin', Bury Me A G, Pour Out A Little Liquor, How Long Will They Mourn Me, Under Pressure & Cradle To The Grave and on the other side you have Don't Get It Twisted, Shit Don't Stop, Stay True & Street Fame. I understand that we can't agree on everything, I just feel that the 2 sides of tracks that I am referring to just don't make this a 4.5/5 star album in my opinion. Dope album none the less and this is still a personal fav of mine. Str8 Ballin' and Bury Me A G are 2 of my favorite 2 Pac songs ever.

Stay Ture is a personal classic for me. Don't Get Twisted, Don't Stop, & Street Fame are the average to above average trks on the album.

Tic706 wrote:

Hot damn Alan!! Boy if you was right here I swear.....

Glad to see you truly gave him a listen. I know the hype sometimes makes it easy to dislike an artist or not want to give them a try. But Pac lives up to most of the hype.

Thug Life Vol. 1 is a very personal clasic album to me. Luv this fucking album. While I do not have it at 5 stars its easily 4.5-4.75. I have no prob w/ a 5 star rating for it either. My top 3 trks from this album are:

Under Pressure
Bury Me A G
Stay True

I agree with most of your ratings for his albums also. Peep some of his post death albums. Like R U Still Down?, Still I Rise, and Until The End Of Time. You will not be disappointed. Esecially with those 1st two.

Yeah, for whatever reason it took me a long time to really come around on Pac's material. I haven't really ever listened to so much of one artist in a 3-4 month period ever - Pac is spinning non-stop. I'll be checking out his posthumous releases for sure...