Thug Life Army

The Rose: Vol 2, the new release from Amaru Entertainment is truly a plus to the legacy of one of hip-hop cultures greatest rap icons Tupac Shakur.

After the ‘Loyal to the Game’ album outraged many true Tupac fans, this album should be embraced by all fans of the late rapper. Much love is offered to Afeni Shakur for this project. Afeni is the executive producer of the album and she does Tupac’s legacy proud with this project.

The album contains 15 tracks inspired by the late rap icons poetry, mostly from poems in Tupac’s ‘The Rose that Grew from Concrete’ book.

Here we see the ‘other’ side of Tupac. The side that many true fans know existed; the Tupac that is deeper than a rapper or just some hip-hop artist. Listening to Tupac’s poems put to beats just enhances the message of his poetry and enhances his intelligent and emotional words.

There is not a bad track on this album. The beats and production are unique and well presented.

Covering different genres of the music field from hip-hop, rap, R&B and soul this album is one of those sit back and just listen albums. To hear the array of artist interpret Tupac’s writings and to experience the way they are presented is truly amazing.

I was very impressed with this project. Artist who appear on the album include Shock G, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Ludacris, Talib Kwali, The Outlaws Dead Prez and many more.

Very impressive are the tracks from some of those you would not expect.

The track ‘The Eternal Lament’ feat/ Celina is a real stand out. Celina Nixon is a former member of ‘Pac’s Kids’ ( the students of the annual Tupac Summer Performing Arts Camp) and now is the Artists Director for the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation. Her track has a great beat and the woman can sing. A great example of the things that TASF has been doing. This track is a stand out .

Down south super hip-hop rapper Luda drops In The Depths of Solitude’, another stand out. Breaking from what you would expect from a Luda track, this spoken word track shows Luda’s love for 2Pac and that is one of the greatest things of this album. The luv that is shown in this album is great. This track by Luda shows Luda really understands who the real Tupac was and it is a stand out track.

Movin On featuring Lyfe Jennings is a soulful track that can bring a tear to your eye thru his soulful presentation.

Life Through My Eyes is the track by Memphis Bleek and is the only track that contains the voice of Tupac. It is good to hear Tupac and his hook fits this track well.

When Ure Heart Turns Cold is the Outlawz track and surprisingly they do a good job with it. Having lost interest in the Outlawz it is good to hear them drop a track that is really good. I guess it has a lot to do with the luv they have for Tupac and the connection they have, this is a good track to – surprisingly.

Black Woman featuring Jamal Joseph and Che Davis is the second spoken word track and it is a great track. A jazz soul beat winds you thru the thoughts of a Black Woman.

Only 4 The Righteous features Yo Yo, what else can be said. Tight flows and sweetness – that’s Yo Yo. She has great insight to Tupac in this drop. Her comments choke ya up, if you can understand that.

When Your Hero Falls featuring the Impact Kids is a laid back soul cut with a meaning that will also grab you and take you to another place.

And 2morrow is Shock G’s track that is very very surprising and just beautiful. Ya the word beautiful to describe a Shock G track. I know that is different but that is the only way to describe the love that this track spits. The beat grabs you and then Shock lets it go and if this don’t get at you then you are already gone and there is no hope for you. A classic track from a true classic of the hip-hop culture – Shock G.

If I Fail is the Dead Prez presentation. Knowing the type of person Tupac was, I would say any Tupac fan can get this track and be proud of Dead Prez’s contribution to this project. A great pick for them to put out and they did a great job reppin the words that they picked to spit.

The final track Poetry is by Amber and Morgan of ‘Pac’s Kids’. These young ladies are just 15 and 16 years old. They wrote and performed this track and remember these names – Morgan McKenzie and Amber Granderson – you will surely be hearing much more from these young women and it is gratifying to see the younger generation stepping up and showing what they got and doing it in such a professional and meaningful way.

All in all this project is great. You can feel the love that was put into it and if you were one who was dis-appointed with Loyal to the Game; support this project. In a rating of 1-10 this album is definitely a 9.8. Remember only God can create something ‘perfect’ but this album needs to be in every Tupac fans collection.

BUY IT – PLEASE do not download it off the net. And if you see sites that have it or tracks from it up – BOYCOTT that site. The money made off the sales of this project by Amaru will go to The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, in Stone Mountain Georgia.

If you’re a true fan of Tupac you know how he felt about people bootlegging his stuff. Respect Tupac and all those who involved in this project. The love that was put into this project can be returned thru you purchasing this project and supporting it. Much love and ''thank you'' go out to Afeni Shakur for this project.

‘The Rose, Vol. 2 - Music Inspired by Tupac's Poetry’ will be in stores September 20^th.

Please visit http://www.thuglifearmy.com/news/?id=1879 for full track list.

Visit http://www.tasf.org to see other ways to support the Legacy of Tupac Shakur.