After the comparatively serene brilliance of Me Against the World, 2Pac would never be the same again. His last year on earth – 1996 - was his most turbulent, and it showed in his records. The colossal All Eyez On Me revealed the life of a rapper spiraling out of control. Moreover, he was bound to a three-album contract with Suge Knight’s Death Row Records. He might have sold his soul to the devil, but deep in his heart, did he do it because he wanted to? The fact that he completed an album only seven months after All Eyez On Me suggests so – he must have been that eager to get out of there. Or was he constantly reminded of his 1994 shooting that he was not guaranteed a long life, thus resorting to churning out song after song and gaining the reputation of being the most prolific rapper ever? Perhaps he really did not like the thug image, but was pressured to do so out of obligation to his label’s – and Suge’s – expectations, and to clear his debt. Perhaps all was not rosy with him and Suge Knight. No wonder some delusional fans to this day could swear he utters the words “Suge shot me” in the first few minutes of his last album.

Then there’s his new alias, Makaveli, obviously inspired by Italian Renaissance writer Niccolo Machiavelli and his book, The Art of War (1521), which advocates the art of deception to fool one’s enemies (“No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution”). In fact, it was believed that Machiavelli faked his own death, and Tupac is believed to have followed his example. That sounds pretty clever - even though it is claimed that Machiavelli died on the 21st of June, 1527 at the age of fifty-eight, his final resting place is unknown. But until someone can prove otherwise, I still will not believe that 2Pac is somewhere in hiding, or on vacation in some Caribbean island sipping daquiris, as some bone-headed fans want to believe. The same goes for Machiavelli.

Well, regardless of the validity of these theories – and it does add to the appeal of the album - The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory reveals a guy who just seems to get worse. His paranoia is at an all-time high, and his verbal attacks have never been sharper, more direct or more outrageous. One cannot help but think that he was asking for it. By the time this album was released in November 1996, he had been dead for two months, the victim of a drive-by shooting and quickly deified as the patron saint of gangsta rap and the most mythologized and idolized figure in rap history. Naturally, this album was a blockbuster, eventually selling over four million copies.

Yes, it’s more of the same thug rap, but The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory is surprisingly a remarkable record, its leaner format (12 tracks, 60 minutes), being the main reason it surpasses its immediate predecessor in artistic quality. In fact, by listening to it, it is somewhat hard to believe it was recorded, according to legend, in seven days (thus the title). If that is true, it hardly shows. Most of the beats are well-crafted, and even though Dr. Dre was no longer around that time, there is some quality G-Funk to be found here. Moreover, the fact that all these beats were made by virtual unknowns is all the more remarkable. There’s the Spanish-influenced “Me and My Girlfriend”, the mesmerizing piano- and rock guitar-driven “Krazy”, the brooding “Hail Mary”, the haunting feel of “Against All Odds”, the pulsating “Life of an Outlaw” and the sun-filled “To Live & Die in L.A.” and “Just Like Daddy". Yeah, there are some dull tracks, like “Blasphemy”, but overall this is very impressive boardwork. And Tupac continues to improve his rhyme construction. For a guy that hardly relied on figures of speech, his once rudimentary metaphors were beginning to develop sophistication (“I leave this and hope God can see my heart is pure/Is heaven just another door?” he wails in “Blasphemy”), and his personification of a gun in “Me and My Girlfriend” is a somewhat unheralded classic.

It’s just too bad there has not been much of an improvement in lyrical content. Once again, 2Pac recruits his talentless proteges the Outlawz to tarnish otherwise terrific songs. One could only wish how much better the songs would have sounded if 2Pac had not fallen prey to nepotism – for instance, just when you are enjoying the first two verses from 2Pac in “Hail Mary” and “Krazy”, one of these no flow-having hacks arrives with his rushed verses to spoil the moment. The Outlawz’ participation in this project is perhaps the most annoying and frustrating thing about this album.

This is not to excuse 2Pac from this debacle, though, for it is not just the lackluster rhymes from his cohorts that tarnish this album. The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory reveals a man that has seemingly lost it, drowning in his senseless paranoia, without much focus and carefulness applied to his lyrical content. Everyone seems to be after him, or so he thinks. He lashes out at Nas, Puff Daddy, the Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep and Jay-Z – New York rappers that were never proven without a reasonable doubt to be his sworn enemies. He begins the album with a reporter simulating an incendiary news report:

…resources tell me a number of less fortunate rappers have joined together in conspiracy to assassinate the character of not only Mr. Shakur, but of Death Row Records as well. Nas, the alleged ring leader of it, is furious at Tupac, excuse me, Makaveli's verbal assault on Mobb Sleep, Notorious P.I.G., and several other New York rappers. Jay-Z, from "Hawaiian Sophie" fame, Big Little whatever, and several other corny-sounding m***********s are understandably shaken up by this release.

Oh, he lets these guys have it throughout the album. “I'm a Bad Boy killa!/ Jay-Z, die too!/Looking out for Mobb Deep, n***a, when I find you!” he whispers menacingly later in the first track, “Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)”. And in the last track, “Against All Odds”, he throws some more punches – at Nas (e.g. "God don't like ugly, It Was Written/A-yo, Nas, your whole damn style is bitten!"), Mobb Deep (“Next time grown folks talk, n***a, close your mouth!”), and Puff Daddy (e.g. “Puffy, let’s be honest - you a punk…”).

And did he say it isn’t about “East [Coast] and West [Coast] – it’s about n****s and b*****s, power and money, riders and punks” in “Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)”? Well, at least he was being consistent. Weary of the unabated shenanigans going on at the record label he helped build, Dr. Dre had left Death Row a few months ago. This obviously angered ‘Pac, or rather, this was yet another target for him to boost sales. Although it is “Toss It Up” that contains the most thorough diss of the one-time Death Row producer, ‘Pac cannot resist whispering in the outro of “To Live & Die in L.A.” that the song was really “California Love Part m***********g Two - without gay-a*s Dre,” then attack again right at the end of the album (“We shook Dre’s punk a*s, now we out of the closet,” claims ‘Pac in “Against All Odds”). And the Outlawz, obviously determined not to miss out, follow the example of their audacious leader in the dissfest. Imagine the gall of a peon like E.D.I. Amin calling out Xzibit in "Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)”: “Got a little question for that n***a that made "Paparazzi"/If you ain't in this rap game, for the m***********g cash, mayne/Then what is your m***********g purpose?”

And if you listen closely behind the couplet “N***as looking like Larry Holmes – flabby and sick/Try to player hate on my s**t – you eat a fat d**k!” in “Against All Odds”, you can hear ‘Pac throw in an ad-lib to confirm that he is in fact dissing the founders of the D.A.I.S.Y. Age: “Look at De La Soul!” Where did that come from? Hardly anyone knows.

It’s just a mess, really. Just when you think 2Pac has surrendered to a sense of calmness, he diverts pointlessly to hateful jargon. No song exemplifies this better than “Toss It Up”. In the first verse, there he is, having a fun time talking dirty to the ladies – “Me and you/Moving in the nude/Do it in the living room/Sweating up the sheets/It's the thug in me!” he proudly proclaims. Then, suddenly, in the second verse, he opens a can of lyrical whoop-a*s on Dr. Dre, hitting him hard with homophobic taunts (“Check your sexuality - as fruity as this Alize!”), accusations of his defection from Death Row (“Quick to jump ship, punk trick, what a dumb move/Cross Death Row, now who you gon' run to?”) and questions his street credibility (“Screaming Compton, but you can't return, you ain't heard/Brothers p****d cause you switched and escaped to the ‘burbs!”). With all the disses flung left and right, East and West, one could be led to believe that perhaps this is the album that should have been named Me Against the World, not that album that he released in 1995.

Despite the senseless verbal attacks that mar the album, there are some bright spots of lyrical content and delivery. There’s the aforementioned “Me and My Girlfriend”, and even though it cannot match earlier songs like “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and “Keep Ya Head Up,” “White Man’z World” is evidence of 2Pac’s more socially-aware past. “To Live & Die in L.A.” is a worthy sequel to “California Love.” And even when 2Pac’s tirade could get overwhelming, one cannot help but marvel at the sheer passion and charisma that he uses to deliver his lyrics of fury.

But ultimately The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory is a musical bastion of tragedy and irony. When he bellows, “West Coast ridah/Coming right behind ya/Should've never f****d with meeee!” in “Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)", one cannot help but realize that he was permanently “f****d” with soon after finishing up this album. It is indeed a bleak end to such a short career, because the muted future seems very uncertain. What would have happened if 2Pac had lived beyond his twenty-five years? Would he have left Death Row and eventually returned to and developed his Black Panther roots evident in 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.? Or would he have continued his journey on the self-destructive path he started with All Eyez on Me? How about the measure of balance he achieved with Me Against the World? Perhaps no one would ever be able to give reasonable answers.

It is just too bad 2Pac is no longer around to answer any of these questions. But maybe he wouldn’t have had a reasonable answer, either. How bleak indeed.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)
2. Hail Mary
3. Toss It Up
4. To Live & Die in L.A.
5. Blasphemy
6. Life of an Outlaw
7. Just Like Daddy
8. Krazy
9. White Man’z Burden
10. Me and My Girlfriend
11. Hold Ya Head
12. Against All Odds


REVIEWS IN MY 2PAC SERIES:

2Pacalypse Now (1991)
Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993)
Thug Life, Vol. 1 (1994)
Me Against the World (1995)
All Eyez On Me (1996)
The Don Killuminati: The 7-Day Theory (1996)
R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
Greatest Hits (1998)
Still I Rise (1999)
Until the End of Time (2001)
Better Dayz (2002)
Tupac: Resurrection Soundtrack (2003)
Loyal to the Game (2004)
'Pac's Life (2006)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving