2Pac Looks For Better Dayz, But Runs Out Of Better Muzic

It’s been seven years now since the supposed death of now-legendary rap thug Tupac Shakur (I say supposed because many people do believe that he is alive, but hiding somewhere awaiting a “resurrection” of sorts). Despite the apparent fact that he is deceased, 2Pac albums have still managed to hit record stores, loaded with unreleased material in many different formats. In late 2002, the latest in the double-album 2Pac parade was released, the aptly titled Better Dayz. Consisting of 26 tracks, Better Dayz, as you’d expect, is loaded with both good, and bad tracks that were unreleased for a very good reason. All told, Better Dayz is as always a great album for 2Pac fans, despite the hit or miss collection of material included. What’s good is excellent, and what’s bad is…well, pretty bad.

From listening to the various tracks, it’s apparent that a large collection of material on this album was written and recorded during the later stage of his life, when he was in his Makaveli period. The album intro poses a great question, with the narrator asking “where are these songs coming from?” Naturally, the songs come from the…err…I’d say D-sides about now, of 2Pac material, consisting of songs that seem unfinished, subtle diss tracks, and remixes. Many are stuffed with guest appearances, most likely to fill up the unfinished recordings that were too short with just 2Pac verses. However, there’s still a little 2Pac-only material, but not quite as much as it would be had he not been killed. The tracks included jump to a variety of subjects, mixing the thug life attitude of his Death Row days, along with streetwise poetry that opens your eyes to living in a tough neighborhood. The album is decently produced by Death Row boss Suge Knight (who’s best act on Death Row these days is 2Pac, sorry to say), and 2Pac’s mother, who’s taken charge of his work and runs the Tupac estate, and it all mixes well with the rhymes 2Pac spits out on basically every track.

However, as said already, Better Dayz consists of just as much bad material as good material. Given how many of these posthumous albums have been released (including 3 other double albums and a 2Pac/Outlaws release), you really can’t be surprised that the well is starting to dry up – as prolific as the man was, he couldn’t have written what’s essentially 10 single disc albums worth of material. Disc 1 is easily the stronger disc of the double set, with numerous good tracks. Three of the first 4 tracks are quite good (not counting the intro), with “Still Ballin’” falling into the gangsta image that 2Pac showed in this time frame. The other 2 are what amounts to diss tracks, “When We Ride On Our Enemies”, and “F*** ‘Em All.” “Ride” is a blatant diss on The Fugees and Mobb Deep, and “F*** ‘Em All” is a diss on Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records. Both, naturally, describe how 2Pac was going to kill them – as such this stuff is just a timepiece for the frightening east coast/west coast feud that resulted in both Biggie and 2Pac getting killed.

The next couple tracks are more of the street poetry that early 2Pac exemplified. “Never B Peace” is a very insightful track on 2Pac’s reasoning as to why the hoods and ghettos will never clean up until outside forces help them clean it up. I don’t much care for the music of this track, but the track itself is pretty nice. The next one is easily the strongest of disc one – “Mama’s Just A Little Girl” is outstanding. It’s a remix of a previous release (which I’ve not heard, and I don’t even know what record it’s off of – I’m awfully slow and ignorant), but it’s a standout cut. Behind a light and infectious acoustic guitar piece (a common trait of numerous tracks on this record), 2Pac tells about a young girl who should have had it all but ended up being a mother way too early in her life – and it’s apparently about his mother, since he refers to himself as one of the kids. It’s just a great song, and the hook sung by Kimmy Hill is beautiful.

From here, disc one sort of takes a nosedive. “Street Fame” is great, with a sinister beat, complete with an equally sinister piano sample rolling throughout the song. Lyrically it’s another small diss track, calling out Lil Kim and other east coast rappers. On the whole it’s another gangster-life track loaded with great rhymes and detail. The final 5 tracks on disc one, though, are largely forgettable (and easily pointed out as outtakes that 2Pac probably wouldn’t want released, if he even wanted any of his posthumous stuff released), with the exception of the last one, and for odd reasons. The final track is an acoustic version of “Thugz Mansion”, which is played in original form on disc 2. The oddity about this track is the appearance of east coast rapper Nas, who, at the time of 2Pac’s death, wasn’t exactly a buddy-buddy relationship. In so many ways, it just feels like 2Pac is helplessly being taken advantage of, doing a track with someone who’s considered an enemy. It doesn’t help that the original version is a lot better.

Disc 2 begins with a remix of “My Block” – another classic off this album, when 2Pac’s songwriting skills are right in the forefront. Another acoustic song, it’s mixed in with the hook sung by young children who discuss how the streets are not really nice or safe, but they go and play in them anyway. It’s a bit haunting, but the acoustic production is top-notch and works well. Following this is the original version of “Thugz Mansion”, only without Nas. When listening it becomes apparent even more that 2Pac knew that his life was probably going to end soon, as he spends a bit of time discussing what he’s doing up in heaven. It’s a surreal track and honestly it almost appears as if he is performing his song up there.

The 3rd consecutive great tune off disc 2 is “Never Call You B**** Again” which, in a rare moment, shows 2Pac singing about love, and how he’ll never refer to this girl this particular…nickname again. It’s a pretty touching song actually, one of the few moments where he goes away from either street poetry or thug dissing. From here we head to the title track, “Better Dayz.” It’s not a coincidence they named this album after this song, as it’s the best of disc 2, by far. Great production and nice lyrics about a wish for better, less violent days (hence the title name, and all) round out the track and make it a standout.

The problem with disc two though is, after these songs, the quality sinks like a lead balloon. While songs like “Military Mindz” “Fame” and the “Fair Xchange” remix (off disc 1) are tolerable, good songs, the rest of the tracks are lacking in terms of decent music and lyrical prowess – actually, more like a real feel of repetition. You can only take so many diss tracks about Bad Boy or Biggie (though I have no problem with dissing anything involving Puff Crappy, Pee Diddy or whatever he calls himself these days; that talentless pile of dung deserves all he gets) before déjà vu kicks in. The closer “They Don’t Give A F*** About Us” is an okay finale, but it took a lot of effort just to finish the disc in utter boredom. The album just runs out of steam, far faster on disc 2 than disc 1 – and there’s another album coming this year. I fear the quality of that one, unless someone is hiding something mindblowing.

It’s obvious after listening to this album a few times, that it would be better off as a single disc, mixing in the best tracks of the two CD’s. I’d say you could get between 12 and 15 songs on a single Better Dayz album, and we’d have a winner; instead we get a record with some great highs and low lows – never a great combo. There’s very little “average” material, to be honest, just a lot of tired, repetitive material. Yet, I can’t help but pop at least disc one and play it, as the good songs are just too good to ignore. Still, the amusing thing is, that some of the bad material on this record would be great stuff from some of the manufactured rappers – hell Nelly would be a superstar if he just used 5th rate 2Pac material.

The Bottom Line

Whether or not you actually want Better Dayz depends on how big a 2Pac fan you are. Certainly if you’re a big Tupac fan, you’ll want this in your collection; but if you’re just a casual fan or someone just getting into 2Pac, you’d be much better off either grabbing Me Against The World or All Eyez On Me; or if you want a wide selection of material from different albums, Greatest Hits should fit the bill. As is though, Better Dayz is an average album that has a good selection of gems, but equal amounts of uninspired material that probably should have been buried in a vault, never to be heard from again. The folks in charge of 2Pac’s estate should be commended for keeping his legend going, but even they should know when they’re milking the cow just a bit too dry.

Track Listing

Disc One
1 – Intro
2 – Still Ballin’
3 – When We Ride On Our Enemies
4 – Changed Man
5 – F*** ‘Em All
6 – Never B Peace
7 – Mama’s Just A Little Girl
8 – Street Fame
9 – Whatcha Gonna Do
10 – Fair Xchange
11 – Late Night
12 – Ghetto Star
13 – Thugz Mansion Acoustic (Feat. Nas)

Disc Two
1 – My Block Remix
2 – Thugz Mansion
3 – Never Call U B**** Again
4 – Better Dayz
5 – U Can Call
6 – Military Mindz
6 – Fame
8 – Fair Xchange Remix
9 – Catchin Feelins
10 – There U Go
11 – This Life I Lead
12 – Who Do U Believe In
13 – They Don’t Give A F*** About Us
14 - Outro