Thug Life Army

Although the hip hop click, and Tupac (2Pac) ‘students’ The Outlawz have worked with major hip hop and rap artists from TI, Eminem and Keisha Cole to E-40, Game, Biggie and of course 2Pac (Tupac Shakur); the Outlawz are rarely invited to award shows or contacted by producers of TV specials dedicated to their late ‘general’ Tupac Shakur (2Pac).

Like many groups before them – The Supremes, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience and so on, they have found out that when the ‘leader’ of the group is gone, most times the ‘group’ goes too. Most times, and in the case of the Outlawz, when the ‘leader’ of the click leaves the group, the group is not strong enough to stand on their own or they have other problems maintaining a presence in their craft.

We have to give the Outlawz their due props, but as I see it many of their problems are self made and the hip hop community is fast changing; you can’t wait 11 years and ‘want in’ or demand anything based on past performance.

The Outlawz had one of the best ‘teachers’ that the hip hop and rap genre has ever seen. They were raised on the wisdom of Tupac Shakur, the ultimate microphone professor, and it seems at times they did not learn anything from their lessons with the late great hip hop icon.

Now the Outlawz are declaring to music moguls, program directors, industry gatekeepers and hip hop bosses that, with all due respect, they want in the game. Their new album release titled We Want In, will launch throughout North America, the UK, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa on August 5th.

Outlaw member EDI says "We''ve been knocking for a long time now; Now we''re kicking in doors. We Want In is just another way of saying it's our turn." Edi adds "A lot of these cats out here took pages from our books and were inspired by our rhymes...we don''t want any of their money, we just want to do business."

Outlawz member Young Noble says "We not begging to be accepted -- come on, we''re Outlawz…We''ve worked with all of these dudes, kept it real with our fans and have held our own, but our money definitely ain''t matched our fame." Young Noble adds "Label heads and artists are always speaking on how they ride for Pac, but respect ain''t being shown for what we helped create. We on over 100 songs with Pac and 60 mill sold, how much work we gotta put in to get the credit we deserve?"

The Outlawz are launching the video for the album's first single; "We Want In" in the month of June. The street LP will be in stores August 5th.

For those who would like more on the Outlawz and We Want In news, Check Out:

The Official Outlawz Myspace http://www.myspace.com/outlawz