The fact that Tupac came out with a double album six years after his death is remarkable. What\u2019s even more remarkable is that this was not his first album since his death; actually, it\u2019s not even his first double album. Double albums are a nightmare in hip-hop; too many artists attempt them and very few succeed. But Tupac is one of the few rappers to have pulled off such a task with the classic All Eyez On Me<\/i>, so going into this album I knew if anyone could pull it off, it would be him.<\/p>\n
Better Dayz<\/i> is pretty much filled with three different types of songs: songs for the community, songs for the thugs, and songs for the bedroom. The problem with this is, especially on a double album, many times throughout the album you will ask yourself, \u201cHaven\u2019t I heard this before?\u201d Two times you will actually be correct, because for some reason the powers at be decided to include two versions of \u201cThugz Mansion\u201d and \u201cFair Xchange.\u201d The two versions are so much alike there is absolutely no point in including both. Another problem with this album is that the songs for the community and the songs for the thugs often contradict each other. This prevents Tupac\u2019s positive message from really getting out there; on \u201cChanged Man,\u201d for example, his claims of being changed are at odds with the other tales of drug deals, killing and disrespecting women. <\/p>\n
Most of the weaker tracks seem to be on the second disc;\u00a0 by disc two, the material becomes repetitive. Songs like \u201cFame,\u201d \u201cCatching Feelings,\u201d \u201cThis Life I Lead\u201d and \u201cThey Don\u2019t Give A Fuck About Us\u201d are all on the second disc, are all directed towards the thugs, all feature the mediocre Outlawz, and are all way too similar. <\/p>\n
Yet Tupac does succeed when delivering to thugs on \u201cStill Ballin\u2019,\u201d \u201cWhen We Ride On Our Enemies\u201d and \u201cStreet Fame.\u201d \u201cWhen We Ride\u201d is a vicious Fugees and Mobb Deep diss that leaves the listener charged and could pump adrenaline through a 90-year-old. Also, \u201cU Can Call\u201d and both versions of \u201cFair Xchange\u201d are very similar sexual rants, reminiscent of \u201cTemptations\u201d but are not as clever or as laid back. Both \u201cU Can Call\u201d and the first version of \u201cFair Xchange\u201d have excellent beats from Jazze Pha and include explicit descriptive lyrics of Tupac\u2019s bedroom explorations. These songs work because of Tupac\u2019s passionate delivery and bravado, which virtually no other MC can reproduce.<\/p>\n
And what of the community songs? Tupac shines here.\u00a0 \u201cMama\u2019s Just A Little Girl\u201d is a touching narrative about teenage pregnancy in the hood, while \u201cMy Block\u201d is the best song on this album and contains a beautiful underwhelming beat by Frank Nitty accompanied by a moving children\u2019s choir. Tupac\u2019s lyrics are very reflective and display his intelligence and ability to analyze his surroundings; delivering a powerful four verses full of ghetto introspection and passion, \u201cMy Block\u201d is the only song on this album that really could compete with his career highlights. <\/p>\n
This album runs into the pitfalls of the majority of hip-hop double albums. It contains too much filler, too many guest appearances and average production. Better Dayz<\/i> lacks the fluid crisp sound of All Eyez On Me<\/i> and the classic introspection of Me Against The World. <\/i>Tupac\u2019s legacy to hip-hop heads and his commercial fan base will always be those two records, making this one a must-own for fans only. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":28488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5679],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-39944","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-2pac","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39944"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}