The Making of "All Eyez on Me"
- Thread starter Tha Don U2K
- Start date
XXL : THE MAKING OF 2PAC - "ALL EYEZ ON ME"
"Skandalouz"
Featuring Nate Dogg
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Nate Dogg: That song was done in 10 minutes. The beat was always already made. We don't go in the studio and wait on nobody to make a beat. We'd Never stay in their long enough. [Working with 'Pac was] like working with your little brother. He was a little wild muthafucka, full of life. He got an opportunity and ran with it. 'Cause he didn't want to be on Death Row Records. And I think he had a three or four.....I'm not sure what kind of album deal he had. But he wanted to get off, though. So he pushed out at least two to three songs a day.
"Got My Mind Made Up"
Featuring Dat Nigga Daz, Kurupt, Redman and Method Man
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: The original record was me, Rage, Redman, Method Man and Daz. I told Daz, "Man, this is the one, we need to drop this, we need to put this on Dogg Food." 'Cause we did it when we was making Dogg Food. When 'Pac came home, we put it up for 'Pac, like "You want this record?" 'Pac was like "Hell, yeah, I want that record!" And he dropped his verse where Rage's was, 'cause Rage said she'd put her verse on something else, and that's how that record made it on 'Pac's album. Me, Method Man and Redman and Daz and Rage-that was the original record, and Inspectah Deck was on it at the end. That's him you hear at the end: "Wish....this....bliss...."Thaat's inspectah Deck. I went and picked up Red and Meth and Deck personally and too them to Daz's house. We knocked the record off in about three, four hours. It was a done deal, and then we....we didn't use it, 'cause Daz wasn't feeling like mixing it and doing all that. We end up taking it to 'Pac when 'Pac came 'cause Suge was like, "When it's time to work on a project, everybody needs to give everything to whoever's project it is."
Daz: We did that song at my house. Kurupt had brought Method Man and Redman over to my house. And Inspectah Deck was on the song too. He was at the end-"I.N.S., the rebel...." Just his voice. They had taken his voice. They had taken his verse out and kept the background 'cause it sounded good. It wasn't originally 2pac song. I had transferred it at Dr. Dre's house and had left it out there. [2pac was] flossing like. "I got a beat with Method Man, Redman. Dre made it." That's what Dr. Dre told 2pac. That's how the whole fued started between Dre and 'Pac. 'Cause I happened to be walking by the studio like, "That's my beat. I did that." 2pac [was] like, "that's your stuff?" from that situation, that's when he and Dre started fueding. Dr. Dre was taking credit and wasn't doing nothing, wasn't coming around.
"California Love [RMX]"
Featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman
Produced by Dr. Dre
Tommy D: f##k it, I can say it: Dre really didn't want nothing to do with that record. He didn't like it at all that 2pac came to Death Row, which I thought was kind of interesting, 'cause I remember he said, "That's it, I'm done with Death Row now that 2pac is here." I was like, "What the f##k!?" I mean, if you look at that album, he didn't do shit on "All Eyez On Me" except for "California Love," which basically was, ughhh, that was going to be his single for Aftermath, right? And Suge heard that shit and said, "f##k it," and rushed up to Dre's house and made him put 2pac on there. So basically he lost his first single for Aftermath, and it ended up being the first single for 2pac. Because the original version of that is three verses with dre rapping on it. The only person who's got that original version is DJ Jam, Snoop's DJ. So basically Suge was like, "f##k it, we're putting 2pac on that shit, and this is going to be the single off the record..." that shit was dope. Suge ain't no dummy.
"Life Goes On"
Produced by Johnny J
Johnny J: We had people in sessions you want to call them street guys or hardcore, they were deep into their thing-and they broke down in tears. I can't believe I saw that. [that record] just had so many people emotional
Dru Down: That was more on the serious tip. When they got serious about something, there wasn't too many people up in the studio. When a nigga wanna really be serious, 'Pac just dumped out all the weed on the mixing board-about four ounces of smoke-and was writing. And niggas had to be quiet. It was on the real low, quiet tip. That was a serious time.
"2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
Featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Dave Aron: We were in the studio and 'Pac was there, and Snoop was in there. In walks big Suge, and this was before they did "2 of Amerikaz...." He's so big, and he walks up. Snoop's kinda talll, but he was very skinny. He grabs 'Pac with one arm, and he grabs Snoop with the other and pulls them both together, almost squeezing them into one. He's like, "I think you guys oughta do a song together. I think that'd be great." That was awesome to see how big he was, and he put 'em both together like that. And they ended up doing that song.
Daz: 'Pac was going to court. Snoop was going to court. There was a lot of chemistry between them.
Rick Clifford: 'Pac was very adamant that the album was spontaneous. Everything that you hear, everybody got one take. They couldn't go back and fix anything. 'Pac said that number one, hip-hop is different from R&B. If a guy can't get out and spit eight to 16 bars, he's not ready yet. Then he said he loves the first take because there's a certain feel to it. He said if people go back and try and fix it, they would start thinking about it, they would lose the feel, they would mess it up. So the only one who refused to get out there like that was Snoop. Snoop said he'd come back tomorrow and do it. I think Snoop went home and wrote his stuff, learned his stuff came in and knocked it off, first take. All Snoop said was, "Wait a minute. You ain't going to put me out on one take. I'll come back and do it tomorrow"
"How Do You Want It"
Featuring K-Ci and JoJo
Produced by Johnny J
Dave Aron: Danny Boy was originally on the hook. I already had it mixed. And at the last minute. 'Pac wanted to put K-Ci and JoJo on it. Maybe that was a decision between him and Suge and whatever I don't know.
K-Ci: One night we were sitting in the crib, and Suge Knight gave me a call, 'cause we real good friends with Death Row family and everything. They asked us would we like to do a song with 'Pac, and we were like, "Hell Yeah, why not?" That's our boy. So we got in the studio that same night, actually, that we got the phone call. Man, we were just tripping in the studio, having fun. If y'all read between the lines, y'all know what we was doing up there. [We] had the girlies up in there, doing our thing. The song came out blazing. The funny part was at first, when 'Pac was trying to sing it, trying to teach us how it go. I was like, "I see where you're trying to go, 'Pac, but it's not sounding too good." Anyway, then we heard him doing his rhyme, and we're like, "Man, we got to rip this, because he came strong."
"Ambitionz Az A Ridah"
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: First day he came home, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah"-that was the first record that he did. Suge brought him in. The word went through the office that 'Pac was home. Everybody [who was] at the studio at that time was up there. I came a little bit later, and when i came, Daz already had the beat started. 'Pac wasn't in the studio for any more than 45 minutes before he had his first verse done and laid. that fast. He didn't even wanna chill; all he wanted to do was get on the mic. Whatever day he landed in Los Angeles, two hours after he landed, he had his first verse laid.
Dave Aron: That's the first song I ever did with 2pac. The day he got out of jail, he didn't go to the clubs. He didn't go try to meet women. He went straight to the studio like he was on a mission, and he recorded "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and "I ain't Mad At Cha." 2pac came in, and he was fresh out of jail. I seen them give him his Death Row Medallion that same night. And then he came right in. He was ready to go. He was very hyped, very focused, a lot of energy-mad energy. And you could tell he was really one a mission. He really had a real vision of what was going on, and he wanted to get a lot done in that short amount of time.
Daz: The idea came from the me sampling Pee Wee Herman. So if you listen to Pee Wee Herman [the Champs' "Tequila"], I just put the gangsta twist on it. I gave it to 'Pac. Came back to the studio, and it was done.
"All About U"
Featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg, Fatal and Yaki Kadafi
Produced by Johnny J And 2Pac
Nate Dogg: It was me, him and Snoop, and we was talking about all the girls that we had seen before. The whole thing came from a video shoot. We was at a video shoot, and it was so funny how, if it wasn't Snoop that knew the girl, 2Pac knew her, or i knew her. It's like, "Damn, everywhere we go, we see the same girls." And that's how the song came about. It was the same as it always is: A little liquor, a little weed, we aight. 'Pac was one-taking his verses. He did that a lot. We was having so much fun, the song just came out.
Johnny J: That was one of the most hilarious records i've ever done with 2pac....I used Cameo's old school cut [1986 single, "Candy"]. Nate Dogg, Snoop, everybody sitting around on speakers, doing their thing. Next thing i know [sings]: "Every other city we go. Every other video..." I'm like, "Nate, I know you gotta be fucking playing." They're like, "Nah, man. We're dead serious. That's the hook- we're talking about video hoes"
Dru Down: It was me, 'Pac, Syke, Rage and a couple Outlawz in the studio. We always had bitches in the studio. The only thing crazy was, the Outlawz niggas-Fatal Hussein and Yafeu Fula-was gonna get on the track. It was like an interlude at the end. I did the beginning [uncredited ad-lib-bing]: they was gonna do something at the end. Then them muthafuckas did something where they fucked up. They couldn't get it right. They was too high and too drunk. They was messing up. They was in the microphone booth, and they was fucking up, and 'Pac said, "Y'all gotta get the f##k up out of there. I don't know what the f##k ya'll are doing." They was just playing around. They was taking too long, wasting time. They laughed they ass up in there and all the way out.
"No More Pain"
Produced by DeVante Swing
Dave Aron: I was at the studio at 8 late-10, 11 p.m. At 3 a.m. DeVante showed up by himself. He wanted to lay a few more parts before they mixed it. It was a very sparse track. But the keyboard parts he put in were very eerie and weird sounding. He was very quiet that night. Very focused. It was interesting to watch him work. He finished about five or six in the morning and said, "I want to mix this now." We mixed it that same night. It was a long night.
"I Ain't Mad At Cha"
Featuring Danny Boy
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: We knew when that was done, it was over. Oh, yeah 'Pac heard the beat and flipped out. And basically he was just like, "Man, this is it. "We sat and we drank and then Daz was just operating on the record, and when 'Pac was in there working, he wasn't with the distractions. It was more or less all, "Let's knock this out, Let's knock this out. Let's knock this out." I mean, he'd get mad at the engineers for moving too slow. That was his thing. He'd be on top of them like that. You know, "Come on, man, what the f##k? This ain't too goddamn hard. All you have to do is press fuckin;' 'record.' Press fuckin' 'record. 'NOW!"
"Tradin' War Stories"
Featuring Outlawz, CPO and Storm
Produced by Mike Morsley and Rick Rock for steady Mobbin' Productions
Rick Rock: I don't know where the f##k I got the sample from. Dionne Warwick or something. When I ended up doing it with 'Pac, I told him it was "It's A Man's World," And it got cleared under that, but I don't know who it was. I know I didn't get it from James Brown. I got it from somewhere else, but it sounds like, "A Man's World." I couldn't remember, 'cause I used to do beats and i didn't keep my samples. I just had all my shit on a disk. And when I came to California from Alabama, I used to carry a bag full of disks.
Napoleon: That song was personal for me. When I was three years old, i witnessed my mother and father get murdered in front of me. I got shot in the foot. So on that song, I kinda touched up on that. I was saying, "Brothers wanna talk about war stories, I seen my first war story at the age of three." 'Pac already knew what happened to my parents, so he was excited that I touched on it. He knew that it was real. When 'Pac came and got me from the hood, he seen that I was going through it at an early age. I think that was one of the reasons he embraced me-not that he felt sorry for me-but 'Pac had a good heart. He saw this brother lost his parents and said, "I feel it's obligatory to help him out."
"Only God Can Judge Me"
Featuring Rappin' 4Tay
Produced by Doug Rasheed for Mad Castle Productionz and Harold Scrap Freddie
Dave Aron: I thought that was pretty introspective. Pretty Straightforward. [Doug Rasheed's] beats weren't that complex. They usually were comprised of a few loops and some percussion and a good solid drumbeat. I recorded Rappin'-Tay's vocals for that. He's a fun guy. He had his little pimp status going on. He really fit the Oakland mold.
"Ratha Be Ya Nigga"
Featuring Richie Rich
Produced by Doug Rasheed for Mad Castle Productionz
Richie Rich: 2pac called me and told me to bring some bay area niggas to put on the album. As many people from the bay. Everybody was in this one big studio. 2pac comes at me like, "I want us to do a song about bitches. When you want to be down for them, but not be there....man you know." He finished his verse in six minutes. He came over to me, and i was still writing. He laid his verse then wrote his second verse. When I spit the verse, he said "That's why i f##k with you. You know exactly what the f##k I'm talking about."
"All Eyez On Me"
Featuring Big Syke
Produced by Johnny J
Johnny J: That was the very first track I laid when we got together at death row. When he just got out of jail, just got released, two days later he's like "J get to the studio, i'm with Death Row now." I assumed it was a joke, somebody perpetrating 2pac. I'm like "Hell no-'Pac is locked up!" He's like "J, i'm out" I walk in, 15 minutes into the session, the first beat i put in the drum machine is "All Eyez On Me" I wasn't going to show him the track, honestly. I was like, "This track? Nah, it's not finished. It's imcomplete." My wife says, "Hey, it's a dope beat!" So I just pop it in, Titles just come right off his fuckin' head.
Big Syke: 'Pac was going on the pac of, "If you don't have no lyrics by the time I finish doing this first verse, your ass ain't on the song." He'd finish it. It was a test anytime he picked up the pen. It was like, "Nigga, on your mark, get set, go. And you better have some cutting shit."
"Run Tha Streetz"
Featuring Michel'le, Mutah and Storm
Produced by Johnny J and 2pac
Dave Aron: That's what was great about working on the album. You got to work with so many people. Who didn't grow up listening to that "No more lies" song? And then you work with Michel'le and you hear the little voice, and it's true. The little voice is little, and then she sings, and it's just so big, and she's such a little girl. And she's so sweet.
"Skandalouz"
Featuring Nate Dogg
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Nate Dogg: That song was done in 10 minutes. The beat was always already made. We don't go in the studio and wait on nobody to make a beat. We'd Never stay in their long enough. [Working with 'Pac was] like working with your little brother. He was a little wild muthafucka, full of life. He got an opportunity and ran with it. 'Cause he didn't want to be on Death Row Records. And I think he had a three or four.....I'm not sure what kind of album deal he had. But he wanted to get off, though. So he pushed out at least two to three songs a day.
"Got My Mind Made Up"
Featuring Dat Nigga Daz, Kurupt, Redman and Method Man
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: The original record was me, Rage, Redman, Method Man and Daz. I told Daz, "Man, this is the one, we need to drop this, we need to put this on Dogg Food." 'Cause we did it when we was making Dogg Food. When 'Pac came home, we put it up for 'Pac, like "You want this record?" 'Pac was like "Hell, yeah, I want that record!" And he dropped his verse where Rage's was, 'cause Rage said she'd put her verse on something else, and that's how that record made it on 'Pac's album. Me, Method Man and Redman and Daz and Rage-that was the original record, and Inspectah Deck was on it at the end. That's him you hear at the end: "Wish....this....bliss...."Thaat's inspectah Deck. I went and picked up Red and Meth and Deck personally and too them to Daz's house. We knocked the record off in about three, four hours. It was a done deal, and then we....we didn't use it, 'cause Daz wasn't feeling like mixing it and doing all that. We end up taking it to 'Pac when 'Pac came 'cause Suge was like, "When it's time to work on a project, everybody needs to give everything to whoever's project it is."
Daz: We did that song at my house. Kurupt had brought Method Man and Redman over to my house. And Inspectah Deck was on the song too. He was at the end-"I.N.S., the rebel...." Just his voice. They had taken his voice. They had taken his verse out and kept the background 'cause it sounded good. It wasn't originally 2pac song. I had transferred it at Dr. Dre's house and had left it out there. [2pac was] flossing like. "I got a beat with Method Man, Redman. Dre made it." That's what Dr. Dre told 2pac. That's how the whole fued started between Dre and 'Pac. 'Cause I happened to be walking by the studio like, "That's my beat. I did that." 2pac [was] like, "that's your stuff?" from that situation, that's when he and Dre started fueding. Dr. Dre was taking credit and wasn't doing nothing, wasn't coming around.
"California Love [RMX]"
Featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman
Produced by Dr. Dre
Tommy D: f##k it, I can say it: Dre really didn't want nothing to do with that record. He didn't like it at all that 2pac came to Death Row, which I thought was kind of interesting, 'cause I remember he said, "That's it, I'm done with Death Row now that 2pac is here." I was like, "What the f##k!?" I mean, if you look at that album, he didn't do shit on "All Eyez On Me" except for "California Love," which basically was, ughhh, that was going to be his single for Aftermath, right? And Suge heard that shit and said, "f##k it," and rushed up to Dre's house and made him put 2pac on there. So basically he lost his first single for Aftermath, and it ended up being the first single for 2pac. Because the original version of that is three verses with dre rapping on it. The only person who's got that original version is DJ Jam, Snoop's DJ. So basically Suge was like, "f##k it, we're putting 2pac on that shit, and this is going to be the single off the record..." that shit was dope. Suge ain't no dummy.
"Life Goes On"
Produced by Johnny J
Johnny J: We had people in sessions you want to call them street guys or hardcore, they were deep into their thing-and they broke down in tears. I can't believe I saw that. [that record] just had so many people emotional
Dru Down: That was more on the serious tip. When they got serious about something, there wasn't too many people up in the studio. When a nigga wanna really be serious, 'Pac just dumped out all the weed on the mixing board-about four ounces of smoke-and was writing. And niggas had to be quiet. It was on the real low, quiet tip. That was a serious time.
"2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
Featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Dave Aron: We were in the studio and 'Pac was there, and Snoop was in there. In walks big Suge, and this was before they did "2 of Amerikaz...." He's so big, and he walks up. Snoop's kinda talll, but he was very skinny. He grabs 'Pac with one arm, and he grabs Snoop with the other and pulls them both together, almost squeezing them into one. He's like, "I think you guys oughta do a song together. I think that'd be great." That was awesome to see how big he was, and he put 'em both together like that. And they ended up doing that song.
Daz: 'Pac was going to court. Snoop was going to court. There was a lot of chemistry between them.
Rick Clifford: 'Pac was very adamant that the album was spontaneous. Everything that you hear, everybody got one take. They couldn't go back and fix anything. 'Pac said that number one, hip-hop is different from R&B. If a guy can't get out and spit eight to 16 bars, he's not ready yet. Then he said he loves the first take because there's a certain feel to it. He said if people go back and try and fix it, they would start thinking about it, they would lose the feel, they would mess it up. So the only one who refused to get out there like that was Snoop. Snoop said he'd come back tomorrow and do it. I think Snoop went home and wrote his stuff, learned his stuff came in and knocked it off, first take. All Snoop said was, "Wait a minute. You ain't going to put me out on one take. I'll come back and do it tomorrow"
"How Do You Want It"
Featuring K-Ci and JoJo
Produced by Johnny J
Dave Aron: Danny Boy was originally on the hook. I already had it mixed. And at the last minute. 'Pac wanted to put K-Ci and JoJo on it. Maybe that was a decision between him and Suge and whatever I don't know.
K-Ci: One night we were sitting in the crib, and Suge Knight gave me a call, 'cause we real good friends with Death Row family and everything. They asked us would we like to do a song with 'Pac, and we were like, "Hell Yeah, why not?" That's our boy. So we got in the studio that same night, actually, that we got the phone call. Man, we were just tripping in the studio, having fun. If y'all read between the lines, y'all know what we was doing up there. [We] had the girlies up in there, doing our thing. The song came out blazing. The funny part was at first, when 'Pac was trying to sing it, trying to teach us how it go. I was like, "I see where you're trying to go, 'Pac, but it's not sounding too good." Anyway, then we heard him doing his rhyme, and we're like, "Man, we got to rip this, because he came strong."
"Ambitionz Az A Ridah"
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: First day he came home, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah"-that was the first record that he did. Suge brought him in. The word went through the office that 'Pac was home. Everybody [who was] at the studio at that time was up there. I came a little bit later, and when i came, Daz already had the beat started. 'Pac wasn't in the studio for any more than 45 minutes before he had his first verse done and laid. that fast. He didn't even wanna chill; all he wanted to do was get on the mic. Whatever day he landed in Los Angeles, two hours after he landed, he had his first verse laid.
Dave Aron: That's the first song I ever did with 2pac. The day he got out of jail, he didn't go to the clubs. He didn't go try to meet women. He went straight to the studio like he was on a mission, and he recorded "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and "I ain't Mad At Cha." 2pac came in, and he was fresh out of jail. I seen them give him his Death Row Medallion that same night. And then he came right in. He was ready to go. He was very hyped, very focused, a lot of energy-mad energy. And you could tell he was really one a mission. He really had a real vision of what was going on, and he wanted to get a lot done in that short amount of time.
Daz: The idea came from the me sampling Pee Wee Herman. So if you listen to Pee Wee Herman [the Champs' "Tequila"], I just put the gangsta twist on it. I gave it to 'Pac. Came back to the studio, and it was done.
"All About U"
Featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg, Fatal and Yaki Kadafi
Produced by Johnny J And 2Pac
Nate Dogg: It was me, him and Snoop, and we was talking about all the girls that we had seen before. The whole thing came from a video shoot. We was at a video shoot, and it was so funny how, if it wasn't Snoop that knew the girl, 2Pac knew her, or i knew her. It's like, "Damn, everywhere we go, we see the same girls." And that's how the song came about. It was the same as it always is: A little liquor, a little weed, we aight. 'Pac was one-taking his verses. He did that a lot. We was having so much fun, the song just came out.
Johnny J: That was one of the most hilarious records i've ever done with 2pac....I used Cameo's old school cut [1986 single, "Candy"]. Nate Dogg, Snoop, everybody sitting around on speakers, doing their thing. Next thing i know [sings]: "Every other city we go. Every other video..." I'm like, "Nate, I know you gotta be fucking playing." They're like, "Nah, man. We're dead serious. That's the hook- we're talking about video hoes"
Dru Down: It was me, 'Pac, Syke, Rage and a couple Outlawz in the studio. We always had bitches in the studio. The only thing crazy was, the Outlawz niggas-Fatal Hussein and Yafeu Fula-was gonna get on the track. It was like an interlude at the end. I did the beginning [uncredited ad-lib-bing]: they was gonna do something at the end. Then them muthafuckas did something where they fucked up. They couldn't get it right. They was too high and too drunk. They was messing up. They was in the microphone booth, and they was fucking up, and 'Pac said, "Y'all gotta get the f##k up out of there. I don't know what the f##k ya'll are doing." They was just playing around. They was taking too long, wasting time. They laughed they ass up in there and all the way out.
"No More Pain"
Produced by DeVante Swing
Dave Aron: I was at the studio at 8 late-10, 11 p.m. At 3 a.m. DeVante showed up by himself. He wanted to lay a few more parts before they mixed it. It was a very sparse track. But the keyboard parts he put in were very eerie and weird sounding. He was very quiet that night. Very focused. It was interesting to watch him work. He finished about five or six in the morning and said, "I want to mix this now." We mixed it that same night. It was a long night.
"I Ain't Mad At Cha"
Featuring Danny Boy
Produced by Dat Nigga Daz
Kurupt: We knew when that was done, it was over. Oh, yeah 'Pac heard the beat and flipped out. And basically he was just like, "Man, this is it. "We sat and we drank and then Daz was just operating on the record, and when 'Pac was in there working, he wasn't with the distractions. It was more or less all, "Let's knock this out, Let's knock this out. Let's knock this out." I mean, he'd get mad at the engineers for moving too slow. That was his thing. He'd be on top of them like that. You know, "Come on, man, what the f##k? This ain't too goddamn hard. All you have to do is press fuckin;' 'record.' Press fuckin' 'record. 'NOW!"
"Tradin' War Stories"
Featuring Outlawz, CPO and Storm
Produced by Mike Morsley and Rick Rock for steady Mobbin' Productions
Rick Rock: I don't know where the f##k I got the sample from. Dionne Warwick or something. When I ended up doing it with 'Pac, I told him it was "It's A Man's World," And it got cleared under that, but I don't know who it was. I know I didn't get it from James Brown. I got it from somewhere else, but it sounds like, "A Man's World." I couldn't remember, 'cause I used to do beats and i didn't keep my samples. I just had all my shit on a disk. And when I came to California from Alabama, I used to carry a bag full of disks.
Napoleon: That song was personal for me. When I was three years old, i witnessed my mother and father get murdered in front of me. I got shot in the foot. So on that song, I kinda touched up on that. I was saying, "Brothers wanna talk about war stories, I seen my first war story at the age of three." 'Pac already knew what happened to my parents, so he was excited that I touched on it. He knew that it was real. When 'Pac came and got me from the hood, he seen that I was going through it at an early age. I think that was one of the reasons he embraced me-not that he felt sorry for me-but 'Pac had a good heart. He saw this brother lost his parents and said, "I feel it's obligatory to help him out."
"Only God Can Judge Me"
Featuring Rappin' 4Tay
Produced by Doug Rasheed for Mad Castle Productionz and Harold Scrap Freddie
Dave Aron: I thought that was pretty introspective. Pretty Straightforward. [Doug Rasheed's] beats weren't that complex. They usually were comprised of a few loops and some percussion and a good solid drumbeat. I recorded Rappin'-Tay's vocals for that. He's a fun guy. He had his little pimp status going on. He really fit the Oakland mold.
"Ratha Be Ya Nigga"
Featuring Richie Rich
Produced by Doug Rasheed for Mad Castle Productionz
Richie Rich: 2pac called me and told me to bring some bay area niggas to put on the album. As many people from the bay. Everybody was in this one big studio. 2pac comes at me like, "I want us to do a song about bitches. When you want to be down for them, but not be there....man you know." He finished his verse in six minutes. He came over to me, and i was still writing. He laid his verse then wrote his second verse. When I spit the verse, he said "That's why i f##k with you. You know exactly what the f##k I'm talking about."
"All Eyez On Me"
Featuring Big Syke
Produced by Johnny J
Johnny J: That was the very first track I laid when we got together at death row. When he just got out of jail, just got released, two days later he's like "J get to the studio, i'm with Death Row now." I assumed it was a joke, somebody perpetrating 2pac. I'm like "Hell no-'Pac is locked up!" He's like "J, i'm out" I walk in, 15 minutes into the session, the first beat i put in the drum machine is "All Eyez On Me" I wasn't going to show him the track, honestly. I was like, "This track? Nah, it's not finished. It's imcomplete." My wife says, "Hey, it's a dope beat!" So I just pop it in, Titles just come right off his fuckin' head.
Big Syke: 'Pac was going on the pac of, "If you don't have no lyrics by the time I finish doing this first verse, your ass ain't on the song." He'd finish it. It was a test anytime he picked up the pen. It was like, "Nigga, on your mark, get set, go. And you better have some cutting shit."
"Run Tha Streetz"
Featuring Michel'le, Mutah and Storm
Produced by Johnny J and 2pac
Dave Aron: That's what was great about working on the album. You got to work with so many people. Who didn't grow up listening to that "No more lies" song? And then you work with Michel'le and you hear the little voice, and it's true. The little voice is little, and then she sings, and it's just so big, and she's such a little girl. And she's so sweet.
The recording sessions that yielded 2pac's last album took place over 7 hennessy soaked days in Aug 1996 While the rapper was concurrently filming two movies (Gridlock'd and Gang Related). Approximately 20 songs were put to tape at Los Angeles Can-Am studios, 11 of which made the finished product. Pac's final work was produced mainly by Tyrone "Hurt em Badd" Wrice and Darryl "Big D" Harper. Two Death Row records producers who failed to draw intrests even in the vacuum left by the departed Dr. Dre and featured guest spots mostly from Pac's childhood friends and family the Outlaws.Released nine months earlier Pac's double album "All eyes on Me" had been certified quintuple platinum, making the controversial star the marquee name at the most successful company in rap music. So with Snoopand the dogg pund in an adjacent studio, Pac closed ranks and rushed his supporting cast of underdogs through a blitzkrieg artistic process creating a dark, insular, paranoid collection of songs he sub titled "The 7 day theory" The urgency of the album is palable. Many listeners have in fact suggested that he was running out of time. Today, Makaveli, remains pac fans favorite memrial to their hero after his passing. 7 years later. XXl magazine spoke to some of the people who were working so closely with pac during his final days. and got a track by track run down on the making of a classic album.
WHITE MAN'Z WORLD
Young Noble That was one of those ones that 'Pac was
just expressing himself on, just being a black man. 'Pac
had love for White folks too. 'Pac had love for people
in general. [ Das ist einfach ein Song, wo Tupac sich
ausdrückt, einfach ein schwarzer Mann zu sein. Pac hatte
auch Liebe für Weiße. Pac hatte Liebe für Menschen
generell.
E.D.I. He's talking to his sister. It's kind of
personal, so I don't want to get into the personal side
of it, but he's talking to his sister and he's talking
to his mother. It's a personal record. I think it's like
an open letter to his mother and his sister. He's like
writing from jail. He's really just apologizing for alot
of shit. At 25, we're all trying to grow up and change
and figure out shit. Alot of people don't remember that
dude was only 25. That's still a kid, really. 25 is a
real young, immature age. But at the same time, he had
the responsiblity of a 40-year-old. He had the
responsibilty of a whole family, a whole label. At that
point in the game, Death Row was on 'Pac's shoulders and
he knew it.
Darryl Harper: 'Pac wrote the hook. I had did a beat; he
liked it. He wrote the melody and everything for the
hook and I sung it. I wasn't really happy with a lot of
the stuff, because he didn't let us do alot of parts
over. On "White Man'z World" I could hear my backgrounds
are kind of off there-like I'm saying something twice or
something. But 'Pac said "That's it. That's it That
song's Finished. Wrap that up send it down there to get
mixed."
ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND
Young Noble: He got that concept from Nas. Remember Nas
did that song about the gun["I Gave You Power" from the
1996 album It Was Written]? 'Pac used to like that song.
When him and Nas Squashed their beef, I was happy. I
grew up on NAS. Around my way, when Nas came out with
"Live At The Barbeque" Shit. I could have been the first
nigga promoting his ass. All the Outlawz were fans of
Nas. 'Pac was too. He used to like Nas. That's all
hip-hop do. You hear a nice idea, and you flip it and
make it better. That was one of those shits. There was a
lot of shit going on, and 'Pac was never a dude to hold
his toungue. He put it out there. He felt like a lot of
mutherfuckas was against him, and that didn't sit well
with him neither. Muthafuckas made it like an East
Coast/West Coast situation, when in reality 'Pac and all
the Outlawz is from the East Coast. That was just one of
those songs where 'Pac was riding on his enemies. 'Pac
had nothing but love from New York. We was in New York
for the MTV Awards two days before he got shot in Vegas.
That's where we seen Nas and they squashed it. That was
one of the happiest time I've seen him. He was happy to
be in New York and feeling the love. We was all in New
York Uptown, it wasn't like we was in the hotel all day
We even walked for some damn blocks. in Manhattan
somewhere. 'Pac said, "f##k it, let's walk." We could
have walked for 30 minutes. People couldn't believe it.
This nigga was giving bums hundreds of dollars and shit
He had me holding a damn little briefcase with all this
money. He was really happy to be back in New York. I
think he wanted to get in touch with everybody out there
- Rappers, and just the streets, period. He was happy
about squashing the beef out there with Nas.
E.D.I.: 'Pac had the idea for the song already. We was
in the studio trying to come up with the right track fo
ti. I rember Hurt M Badd was up there working on the
drums and 'Pac wasn't really feeling what was coming up
on there and then ricky Rouse just came up and said,
"'Pac, I got something. I got a song I wrote." Ricky
Rouse, he a session player. He a cool brother, but he
was always worrying about his publishing. 'Cause he knew
where he was at. He was at Death Row, And you got to be
about your business or you won't get paid. So he's like,
"'Pac, I got some shit for this shit, it's some Spanish
shit. But I got to get my publishing on it. I got to get
my writer's credit on that." 'Pac was like. "Hell
yeah." 'Cause 'Pac was a fair nigga. He gave everyone
their shot, Their credit. He was the only one who gave
Val Credit, Even though half the dime he might have
wrote the hook. Ricky Rouse started playing this guitar
shit. 'Pac went crazy. He was like. "That's it right
there. That's what I'm looking for." Then he started
singing , just came up with the hook. He told us all to
write verses for that, too. All of us wrote verses but
he just shot us down like, 'Nah, that ain't tight
enough." He had ol' gril Queen-she play the part of the
gun in the song-'Pac had her come in once the song was
done. I know her as queen she used to work at Death Row.
She was the receptionist up there. She go by Virginya
Slim now, and she's signed to Deaht Row. She the one
that talking that shit like, "Like what? West side
Nigga. Die Nigga Die!"
Darryl Harper: "Me And My Girlfriend" was Tyrone's [Hurt
M badd's] but I just played on it. Keys. We would work
on eatch other's beats. He would do drums on mine and I
would do something on his. We basically did the whole
album together. The album was finished in three days,
the mixing still had to be done. So the album was done
in a week. As for 'Pac's parts, All of them was done in
three days if I rember correctly. He would have ideas
for it. He would know. He would instantly tell the
Outlawz what they needed to be writing about. And they
had to be on it, because the one that didn't have it, he
wasn't going to be on the song. It was a trip because
'Pac would finish his Vocal and come out [From the vocal
booth] and point at one of them. If he stutterd, he
would point to the next one. He just missed that track.
If they wern't confident right away, he would let them
know they wern't going to be on there.
Lance Pierre: We had an idea to do an intro where the
gun is talking. And we needed a broad. Finally, there
was this one girl-actrully she's on Tha Row Records
right now-Virginya Slim. She put it down with like one
pass, ba-ba-ba!
Hurt M Badd: On "Me And My Girlfriend," he tried to
bluff me, he called me out. After we had done like four
songs, Tupac had called me in my session one day-now
mind you, I work in my own little production room-Tupac
called me in his room one day and he said, 'You know
what? I need a kind of up-tempo beat that don't sound
like anything you ever done before." So my eyebrows
raised and I was like, Whoa! so he said, "And I want you
to stand right here and create it right in my face." Let
me tell you something: Everything surrounding my heart
went to my feet. Sweat just broke out all under my arm.
But I'm also that type of person, I love a challenge
when it comes to something I do, you know what I'm
saying? So Tupac said, "Right now,in my face" So I
stared from scratch. I just told the DJ to sample a kick
and a snap from the keyboard. Everybody was looking at
me like "What?" Looking at me crazy like, He Don't know
what he's Doing." Before you know it. I had the drums
going and I look over at the guy with the bass guitar. I
told him to come in with something, and I gave him a
little rhythem. He came in with it. Before you know
it-Tupac was on the couch-he had this look on his face
like, "I don't believe this guy." by the time we laid
the guitar strings, he was up on the follor like,
"Yeah!" Every time he'd get a track that he liked, he
would listen to it and come up with the hook in his
head. Then he'd turn around to the Outlawz and say,
"Here's the hook, listen to this and came up with "Me
And My Girlfriend."
HOLD YA HEAD
E.D.I.: That shit remind me of some Me Against The World
shit. That's another one of those melodies where I sat
watched this nigga sing to them like "Play this." That
shit just came together. Hurt M Badd did the drums, you
got the piano shit. It's some real shit that 'Pac was
famous for.
Hurt M Badd: 'Pac did the verse and the hook already. He
came in my room and asked me if I knew how to sing. He
said he wanted me to sing on the hook. I said, "I'll be
right in there," When he shut the door, I started
jumping up and down in a room by myself. When I went in
there, I got real nervous. He gave me the notes to sing
and everything. And fortunatly, it turned out cool.
Anytime you had to like rap or sing with him, That's how
he was. But as far as producers, I've seen him get at a
couple of producers. Fortunatly-Thank God Me and him
didn't have to go through that.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
E.D.I.: That just closes the album out. A lot of people
don't know it's a replay of a Cameo song, "The Skin I'm
in." 'Pac probably listend to it on the way to the
studio, came in and played that shit for Hurt M Badd,
like, "I want that bass line right there." Hurt M Badd
played that shit [on the keyboards]. I don't want to
take nothing from none of the producers that record
himself. Almost every note that nigga was humming to
them niggas, every drum kick, every beat, snare,
hi-hat-That nigga was telling niggas what to play.
Hurt M Badd: On that song he was going at Nas and his
other adversaries. He was getting his weapons for war,
his arsenal ready. The day we made that song Tupac said
"I need a war song. I wanna go to war." He gave me an
hour then came back and heard the beat, and he wanted me
to add that cameo song baseline. Once it was in 'Pac
started snapping, "This is it!" He called the Outlawz in
and started reciting the hook: "This be the realist shit
I ever wrote." While 'Pac was doing his vocals he wasn't
just recording his vocals, he was also kicking over the
music stand, hitting the microphone. There was a vibe in
the room. We all knew what was goin on. As ['Pac]
started reciting his lyrics we was just looking at each
other like "Uh-oh, Here we go again."
BLASPHEMY
Young Noble: I rember after he did that song, riding
back to the crib listening to it he even bugged himself
out on that one. He got real deep on there, and he
didn't even know where it came from. It was like he
didn't Really... That dude, he was just a gift from God.
But I remember that shit. He was like, "Damn, you hear
what I'm Talking about?" He surprised himself with that
like. "I don't know where the hell I be coming up with
this shit." It ain't like he sit around all day and
think about it, the shit just be coming out like that.
God put that in certin people, and he was one of them
dudes. God definitely put shit in that man's heart. He
used to always talk about that kind of stuff. He just
knew he felt like he was going to be a big star and just
disappear. And that's exactly how it happend. He made
his mark like crazy. Dude was definitely sent from up
above. I can't explane everything. there's certain shit
I don't know. He used to talk to us about that shit all
the time. Like, we don't want to hear that shit. You
ain't going nowhere. You better not go nowhere. But he
knew it, I guess.
E.D.I.: If you listen to "Blasphemy," There is a girl
saying a prayer at the end of the song. That's Kastro's
sister, Jamala Lasane, who's also 'Pac's Cousin. It was
a little family Thing. She was just up in the studio,
and she was like "I could just say this at the end of
that shit." 'Pac heard what she was saying and was like
"Go Ahead." And she ended up on the album. "Blasphemy"
is deep song featuring Ital Joe. He passed away a few
years ago[In a car accident]. It reminds me of "Hail
Mary." It's one of those Deep, spiritural things. A lot
of Times in pac's music, he was talking to us, 'cause we
was so wild and out of control--just so caught up in the
rap lifestyle. I think a lot of times he wanted to snap
us back to reality. Like, "It's real out here. It's not
all fun and games." He used to say that a lot. So
"Blasphemy" is one of those songs where I feel like he
was talking to us on some personal shit.
LIFE OF AN OUTLAW
Napoleon: My Grandmother died [during] Makaveli, so I
had to leave early. When I came back, 'Pac had many of
the songs done except for "Life Of An Outlaw," The
[only] song that I'm on. It was just me, E.D.I., Kastro,
Noble and 'Pac in the studio. I remember the beat came
on and 'Pac got one of the guys from six feet Deep,
Sizz-Nine to do the hook. He said, "I'm going to do this
song to let people know: Beware that the Outlawz is
coming." It was like an introduction to the outlawz
album we was going to do with 'Pac. 'Pac took it on
another level. In the middle of the song before my verse
started, [He Asked] "Hey Napoleon, would you die for me?
Whould you kill for me?" And then I came in with my
joint to end the song off. So it was deep song for me
also. 'Pac was a one-hitte-quitter. He's a one-take G.
HE could go in hyped up and be into it to the fullest.
HE come out the booth sweating. He probably go in there
with his blunt and his hennessy, do his thing. We all
was in that state of mind. I call it the ignorant state.
Just being drunk and not knowing what's going on. We
didn't miss one day without drinking. We was caught up,
living the life. We always got in the studio and did the
verse. We didn't even know what beat. 'Pac would tell
someone to play a beat. Next thing you know he would be
like, "Alright, we're going to talk about this." And if
you verse ain't done before 'Pac's, you don't get on the
song. That's how 'Pac was. He'd be like, "I already got
one verse done. Y'all don't got no verse, you ain't
getting on the song". We just had to write, man try to
keep up with this dude, He'd put the beat on, we'd be
like, "Damn, let's get a head start." Some of the songs
he would take to the neck, man. "Life Of An Outlaw" he
was going to do one verse. He was like "I've finished
one verse Y'all ain't ready " Then he'd start writing
another verse. And do that verse. He would have kept it
going. He would have took over the song and did it
himself. 'Pac was one of those dudes in the studio where
if you mess up, he get angry. Like, he want you to go in
there and do it, as is. But sometimes, 'Pac will go in
there and not even care if he'd mess up. You know how
he'd be doing a dub, and you hear one of his voices come
on before the other? He'd keep it like that. He'd go in
there, do it and get out. That work we done--it was
professional in 'Pac's way. He'd do his thing and if he
messed up on the dub, he'd keep it. He'd say "We'll fix
it when we mix it"
E.D.I.: 'Pac actully played that melody on that song.
He's not credited for it, but he played it. it's a
little keyboard sound that you hear in the background.
He's playing that. Any session player that was involed
with Makaveli will tell you that. If they don't, they
lying.
Darryl Harper: We started working kind of exclusive.
Like, it was me, 'Pac and Tyrone[Hurt M Badd]. We was
always together when it came to the studio. He would
lock the door and the other people got jealous of it at
Death Row. They got a little bit peeved that he was
spending days in the room with us. Certain people
started claiming it was favortisim going on, 'Pac using
our beats. But the ironic thing was, before 'Pac
actrully gave us a shot, we had been presenting tracks
to everybody on the label. Nobody would take them but
the new people that was just signed to the label, people
that would probably never get an album out. Nobody would
even take beats from us. Matter of fack they used to
call us "Wack Room" until 'Pac started taking our beats.
Then people started complaing to suge that we were only
giving 'Pac beats.
JUST LIKE DADDY
E.D.I.: "Just Like Daddy" is a song that was done for
the Outlawz album. 'Pac was trying to teach us how to do
some shit for the bitches, 'cause all our shit was hard
shit, kill'em up shit, hard times, struggle shit. Why my
life like shit? Type shit. 'Pac was like "That shit is
cool and people going to love y'all for that. But y'all
gotta give 'em something else. You got to get the girls.
Y'all got to do some other shit, some lighter shit, some
shit people can have fun to." So this nigga went up
there, and we start doing "Just Like Daddy." The beat is
the "Impeach The President" drums, Hurt M Badd just had
them shits looping. 'Pac just start singing melodies
like, "Play this melody here, play that right here."
Then Val Young come in. "Val Young, I want you to sing
this shit right here. This is the hook." Then We got
love song and shit. Boom. "Just Like Daddy." for the
honeys.
Lance Pierre: 'Pac always used Val Young because he
liked her voice. It was a little raspy, gospel-souning
voice.
KRAZY
Young Noble: We was supposed to be on that song, but we
took too long with our verse. Bad Azz was up in there
chilling with us. 'Pac used to like Bad Azz; he had a
nice flow. And 'Pac threw Bad Azz up on there and I'm
glad he did, 'cause Bad Azz did his thing on that
muthafucka. That's one of those classic 'Pac songs, too.
"Time goes by puffing on la got a nigga going crazy..."
We had started writing the shit and we was taking long.
'Pac was like, "Who got something? Bad Azz you got
something?" and it fit perfect, so it was ment for Bad
Azz to be on that song. We had already been on a million
'Pac songs. That was his way of motivating us like, "If
y'all ain't ready, then you don't make the song." That's
why some songs you might hear one on there or you might
hear two or you might hear three. 'Cause when the song
got just about done, if niggas ain't have no verse, we
were scratchin that and going to the next song. 'Pac was
surrounded by a lot of controvers, and a lot of people
be thinking he that way. But that dude was really all
about love, yo. He loved his family, he loved the kids
and he loved black people to death. That dude was really
all about love. That's why the streets love him. Through
all that shit, through all the beefing... When I think
about 'Pac I don't Think About none of that shit, I
think about love. This nigga had so much love in his
heart it was ridiculous. and you hear that shit in his
muisc.
E.D.I.: Bad Azz is another cat who was around a lot. He
loved our music so he always came through. 'Pac was a
fan of BA. 'Pac wanted us on that song, but the beat was
so slow. We was used to rapping on the up-tempo shit. We
wasn't really vibing to it. Here comes BA, the hands of
fate just swung that nigga's way. 'Pac was like, "You
got a verse write a verse to that." Bad Azz was like 'I
already got a verse." 'Pac was like, Get in there and
kick that shit."
Darryl Harper: E.D.I. was interested in the beat from
'Krazy," because during that year there were a lot of
planes crashing and churches burning. He wanted to speak
to that situation. E.D.I. thought that the beat that I
had would fit that. So I brought 'Pac in to hear it.
'Pac loved the beat, but he didn't hear it for that. He
put another hook on it. Bad Azz just happend to be
coming by the studio when we were doing it. 'Pac looked
at him ad said "You got 16?" He said, "I have 16." He
got busy.
Lance Pierre: That song wasn't really put together, it
was just a beat. Kevin Lewis, who was actrully the
project coordinator, he's related to [Jazz pianist]
Ramsey Lewis. He was there and we kept saying, "Man,
this is not a song." He said, "But Tupac wants that song
on the record." I said, "Man, I got it mixed, but it's
still not sounding right." He said, "It's just needs
some piano." So he just went in there and he just played
according to the vocals. The Song turned out a lot
better then it originally was.
BOMB FIRST ( MY SECOND REPLY )
Young Noble: They had a little production room up there,
and I was up there writing I had rapped last. I had
kicked a verse for 'Pac. We was up in there freestyling
a little bit. we just went in there and laid the song.
He came up with the first verse. E.D.I. wrote his verse
and it came out pretty tight. I think "Bomb First" was
one of those classic ones.' Pac let loose.[When I said
"King of New York"] I was talking to Biggie. you know
the whole situation that was going on. 'Cause Biggie
really was the king of New York at the time.
E.D.I.: Makaveli is an album that 'Pac basically Did on
his own. I mean production, Lyrics...A lot of people
don't know that 'Pac was a producer "Bomb First" was
actrully a beat he started on. Other people got credit
for it, but 'Pac started that beat. The bass line was
from Naughty By Nature's "Uptown Anthem." That we always
loved. 'Pac was working on the Drums and shit, Then a
Couple of other sessions players came in and we just put
it down and it was like the reply to "Hit'Em Up" it was
after "Hit 'Em Up" came out and everybody had their
little comments on the song and how they felt about it.
'Pac was like, "All Right, I got something else to say
and this one is going to start Makaveli Off. It's a Just
a ride track. It's just niggas riding. Also it
introduced Noble. He was the last official Outlaw. We
was all learning that shit at the same time. So what
'Pac would do, is he would have it i n his head and just
tell people to do it, like "I want the drums to go like
this, I want the bass line to go like that." But also
what's crazy is, he had just bought a new house and he
had a grand piano up in there and a nigga used to just
f##k with Melodies on the Piano all the time. One of
those melodies is actrully the melody for "Bomb First".
He just came up with it himself. He'd Rember the shit
and just go to the studio, play that melody and have
somebody loop it, and then just tell niggas to add drums
here, add bass here, add guitar here, add that there, he
ain't really know how to program drums and shit like
that, but he know how to program people, Pac was good
at that he could get the beat out of people.
Darryl Harper: I presented a beat to 'Pac and he liked
it, but he wanted the bass line changed. He wanted the
bass line similar to the one someone had did on the
Movie Juice[Naughty By Nature's "Uptown Anthem"]. I
didn't know what it was like, so I had to get it and
find out what it was like. So I changed the bass line
and it went like that.
Lance Pierre: Tupac actrully did that bass line. He
actrully sat up on the Moog and punched out each button
on that. but Darryl did the beat. 'Pac did that song; a
lot of people don't know that it seemed like 'Pac was
getting off into production. That was one of the Songs
that Tupac actrully had a lot to do with as far as the
production of it.
HAIL MARY
Young Noble: When we first did that song, it was cool.
but I didn't like that song like That. When it hits the
street, you kind of hear it through different ears.
Hearing it after it came out, it was like, Damn, that
was an incredible song. I was just blessed to be a part
of that. The Studio had two big rooms and a little
production room. Snoop and the Pound used to be in the
back studio a lot. We'd go in there and we would just
work. It would be a box of liqour every day--Cristal,
Alize, we was drinking that back then as young niggas.
Drinking the Thug Passion, girls every where, weed smoke
everywhere. We'd just be makeing music. Three, Four,
Five Songs a day, Just banging shit out. Altogether,
"Hail Mary" took maybe 30 minutes. it probably took
about 15 minuets to write it and about five minutes to
lay it. We laid the shit, my verse was already written.
I had it in my book I wrote the last little hook part,
"Outlawz on a paper chase..." That was going to be the
hook at first. I had that hook already and I was like
"yeah Pac I got a little hook." He was like "Nah, we
going to put that at the end." And then he came up with
the "Hail Mary" shit. 'Pac he wrote from the heart, so
it wasn't even like writing it was like talking.
E.D.I.: I give Hurt M Badd credit for "Hail Mary" 'Pac
told him, "I need some slow, Thuggish shit." Hurt M Badd
Made "Hail Mary" and when we heard it, 'Pac went crazy
We just did the song in an hour and a half. It wasn't my
favorite record on Makaveli. It reminded me of some
down-South record. I didn't know it was going to be as
big a record as it is today. 'Pac loved Kastro and
Noble's part. How they Changed the whole Vibe of the
song up on some outlawz shit. but really, I think he
just loved what he was saying in it. It's some real cold
shit he's saying: "Seein' niggas comin' for me/To my
diamonds, when they glistenin'/Now pay attention, rest
in peace, Father." because he knew niggas was coming for
him. At the end of "Hail Mary, I just remember 'Pac
shouting out "Snoop." That's another thing that sticks
in my mind. 'Cause at the time, even with the tension,
he still made it a point to shout-out Snoop on Makaveli.
You got [Outlaw] Kastro in the Background going
'Makaveli the Don, Don don" at the end of the song when
'Pac is talking about his conglomerates, you hear kastro
in the background going, "Makaveli the don.
Lance Pierre: That was the best song on the record. It
also was the strangest song. What I mean by that is the
way it came out at the end as far as the "Makaveli The
Don," and all that. Tupac used to do a lot of that
ad-lib. Just talking toward the end of the song. I was
mixing it, and none of that shit was supposed to come
out like that. But it came out and it sounds good. I'm
talking about the outro, where you hear K in the
backgroun: "Makaveli The Don". That was some extra
stuff. That was a total fluke. The Song was suposed to
stop there. But it sounded good. So we just kept it and
turnd it into an interlued with the whole monk thing
going on. That one turned out more than how we really
expected it to turn out.
Hurt M Badd: "Hail Mary" actrully only took me 15, 20
minutes to create the whole beat. I just came to work
one day, I was feeling good. I was sitting behind the
boards. I just touched a few sounds man, and it was like
done. And so an enginner came into the room where I
worked, and he heard the track--I told him to put the
headphones on. He looked at me like "Damn, Hurt! This
sounds like a hip-hop funeral, man" When I do stuff, I
don't be feeling it like everybody else, I guess 'cause
it's me. He said, "Why don't you let Tupac hear this?'
When Tupac heard it, he really didn't say nothing but
"Gimme that." I left the studio and when I came back the
next day, everybody from the security guard to the phone
lady to the engineer--Everybody ran up to me like, "Wait
'till you hear what this nigga done laid down over your
trak." When I heard it, I didn't think it was a hit. I
was like "Why is Tupac laying this stuff down over my
track?" We all had a listening party for the album, and
'Pac was loving every song but when they played that
song, he just went though a thing. He Threw his hand up
in the air with his Hennessy bottle. He threw his hand
up in the air like he ruled a nation.
TOSS IT UP
E.D.I.: That's a song that was already done Suge had it
done with Danny Boy and Jodeci on it. Thats my least
favorite song on Makaveli, 'Pac just got on the track
and did his thing. That was some shit him and Sughe had
already worked out. And the crazy part that alot of
people don't know is that the song was originaly to
[Blackstreet's]"No Diggity" Beat 'cause Dre had did that
"No Diggity" beat while he was still at death Row. And
Suge had it. But then Dre Sold the shit to Teddy Riley.
The Beginning fo those songs where almost exactly alike.
I don't know who bit off of who. I ain't here to start
no shit, but in the beginning, "No Diggity" and "Toss it
up" were aknist exactly alike. Yeah you would have to be
there to know that.
TO LIVE & DIE IN L.A.
Young Noble: That was like a different "California
Love." 'Pac used to love LA. Everywhere we went out in
LA, it was nothing but love. When we'd go to the malls,
the whole damn mall would be following us. It was like
they really loved that dude out there. Even to this day.
We'd be in the streets, the esse's they love us to
death...Making it, we were drunk as hell with a whole
bunch of girls in the studio. We were getting head in
the bathroom, all types of shit. It was never like we
got to buckle down and work, 'cause even if we smokeing
and high the whole time we was workin. Every 'Pac song
you hear, that's how we did it; basically smoking,
drinking, having fun. I don't think niggas did one that
took over an hour to make. 'Pac was working on Gang
Related at the time, and what's the other one? with the
white dude when they were dope fiends Gridlock'd. So
we'd get up and go to the set at like six, seven in the
morning, and then go to the damn studio after that. We'd
get to the studio at five or six, and not leave that
bitch 'till three, four in the morning. We'd be leaving
with four, five, six songs a day so if you doing six
songs a day, in three days that's 18 songs.
E.D.I.: That's QD3. He was the only outside producer on
that album, besides the dude who did "Toss It Up." QD3
was one of 'Pac's favorite producers. He loved fucking
with Q. That's a Sample [Ed. Note: It's actrully a
Reinterpatation] of "Do Me Baby" by Prince. A lot of
people don't know that 'Pac was a big Prince fan. He
fucked with Prince. if you listened to alot of 'Pac's
Shit, he sampled Prince in different ways. That was
probably 'Pac's favorite song on Makaeli, besides
"Against All Odds." He loved the whole groove--"To Live
and Die In LA," a reall LA song. Drop tops, 80 degrees
down sunset, it just gave him the feeling of being in
LA. And he loved the city.
QD3: I was in the studio with 'Pac, I had some records
with me, and there was this old song that I played for
him to see if he liked the vibe. He felt it and told me
to go home and hook up a beat like that. I went home and
hooked it up as fast as I could, and I think I came back
the same night and he listend to the track three times,
and in like 15 minutes he was already done with his
lyrics. He went in the booth without telling anyone what
the track was about he just laid it in one take--over
about three tracks. Then he told Val Young what the
concept was, and she went in and laid her chorus vocal
in one take, too. After the vocals were done, 'Pac had
Ricky Rouse [Makaveli musician] replace my keyboard bass
and guitar parts with live bass and guitar parts, and
the song was done--less then two hours total. This song
just flowed out of everyone that was a part of it. No
one thought twice no one doubted anything. It was full
speed ahead untill it was done--as if it was guided or
ment to be. Ever since recording like that, without
thinking twice like that, I have changed the way I look
at making music.
WHITE MAN'Z WORLD
Young Noble That was one of those ones that 'Pac was
just expressing himself on, just being a black man. 'Pac
had love for White folks too. 'Pac had love for people
in general. [ Das ist einfach ein Song, wo Tupac sich
ausdrückt, einfach ein schwarzer Mann zu sein. Pac hatte
auch Liebe für Weiße. Pac hatte Liebe für Menschen
generell.
E.D.I. He's talking to his sister. It's kind of
personal, so I don't want to get into the personal side
of it, but he's talking to his sister and he's talking
to his mother. It's a personal record. I think it's like
an open letter to his mother and his sister. He's like
writing from jail. He's really just apologizing for alot
of shit. At 25, we're all trying to grow up and change
and figure out shit. Alot of people don't remember that
dude was only 25. That's still a kid, really. 25 is a
real young, immature age. But at the same time, he had
the responsiblity of a 40-year-old. He had the
responsibilty of a whole family, a whole label. At that
point in the game, Death Row was on 'Pac's shoulders and
he knew it.
Darryl Harper: 'Pac wrote the hook. I had did a beat; he
liked it. He wrote the melody and everything for the
hook and I sung it. I wasn't really happy with a lot of
the stuff, because he didn't let us do alot of parts
over. On "White Man'z World" I could hear my backgrounds
are kind of off there-like I'm saying something twice or
something. But 'Pac said "That's it. That's it That
song's Finished. Wrap that up send it down there to get
mixed."
ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND
Young Noble: He got that concept from Nas. Remember Nas
did that song about the gun["I Gave You Power" from the
1996 album It Was Written]? 'Pac used to like that song.
When him and Nas Squashed their beef, I was happy. I
grew up on NAS. Around my way, when Nas came out with
"Live At The Barbeque" Shit. I could have been the first
nigga promoting his ass. All the Outlawz were fans of
Nas. 'Pac was too. He used to like Nas. That's all
hip-hop do. You hear a nice idea, and you flip it and
make it better. That was one of those shits. There was a
lot of shit going on, and 'Pac was never a dude to hold
his toungue. He put it out there. He felt like a lot of
mutherfuckas was against him, and that didn't sit well
with him neither. Muthafuckas made it like an East
Coast/West Coast situation, when in reality 'Pac and all
the Outlawz is from the East Coast. That was just one of
those songs where 'Pac was riding on his enemies. 'Pac
had nothing but love from New York. We was in New York
for the MTV Awards two days before he got shot in Vegas.
That's where we seen Nas and they squashed it. That was
one of the happiest time I've seen him. He was happy to
be in New York and feeling the love. We was all in New
York Uptown, it wasn't like we was in the hotel all day
We even walked for some damn blocks. in Manhattan
somewhere. 'Pac said, "f##k it, let's walk." We could
have walked for 30 minutes. People couldn't believe it.
This nigga was giving bums hundreds of dollars and shit
He had me holding a damn little briefcase with all this
money. He was really happy to be back in New York. I
think he wanted to get in touch with everybody out there
- Rappers, and just the streets, period. He was happy
about squashing the beef out there with Nas.
E.D.I.: 'Pac had the idea for the song already. We was
in the studio trying to come up with the right track fo
ti. I rember Hurt M Badd was up there working on the
drums and 'Pac wasn't really feeling what was coming up
on there and then ricky Rouse just came up and said,
"'Pac, I got something. I got a song I wrote." Ricky
Rouse, he a session player. He a cool brother, but he
was always worrying about his publishing. 'Cause he knew
where he was at. He was at Death Row, And you got to be
about your business or you won't get paid. So he's like,
"'Pac, I got some shit for this shit, it's some Spanish
shit. But I got to get my publishing on it. I got to get
my writer's credit on that." 'Pac was like. "Hell
yeah." 'Cause 'Pac was a fair nigga. He gave everyone
their shot, Their credit. He was the only one who gave
Val Credit, Even though half the dime he might have
wrote the hook. Ricky Rouse started playing this guitar
shit. 'Pac went crazy. He was like. "That's it right
there. That's what I'm looking for." Then he started
singing , just came up with the hook. He told us all to
write verses for that, too. All of us wrote verses but
he just shot us down like, 'Nah, that ain't tight
enough." He had ol' gril Queen-she play the part of the
gun in the song-'Pac had her come in once the song was
done. I know her as queen she used to work at Death Row.
She was the receptionist up there. She go by Virginya
Slim now, and she's signed to Deaht Row. She the one
that talking that shit like, "Like what? West side
Nigga. Die Nigga Die!"
Darryl Harper: "Me And My Girlfriend" was Tyrone's [Hurt
M badd's] but I just played on it. Keys. We would work
on eatch other's beats. He would do drums on mine and I
would do something on his. We basically did the whole
album together. The album was finished in three days,
the mixing still had to be done. So the album was done
in a week. As for 'Pac's parts, All of them was done in
three days if I rember correctly. He would have ideas
for it. He would know. He would instantly tell the
Outlawz what they needed to be writing about. And they
had to be on it, because the one that didn't have it, he
wasn't going to be on the song. It was a trip because
'Pac would finish his Vocal and come out [From the vocal
booth] and point at one of them. If he stutterd, he
would point to the next one. He just missed that track.
If they wern't confident right away, he would let them
know they wern't going to be on there.
Lance Pierre: We had an idea to do an intro where the
gun is talking. And we needed a broad. Finally, there
was this one girl-actrully she's on Tha Row Records
right now-Virginya Slim. She put it down with like one
pass, ba-ba-ba!
Hurt M Badd: On "Me And My Girlfriend," he tried to
bluff me, he called me out. After we had done like four
songs, Tupac had called me in my session one day-now
mind you, I work in my own little production room-Tupac
called me in his room one day and he said, 'You know
what? I need a kind of up-tempo beat that don't sound
like anything you ever done before." So my eyebrows
raised and I was like, Whoa! so he said, "And I want you
to stand right here and create it right in my face." Let
me tell you something: Everything surrounding my heart
went to my feet. Sweat just broke out all under my arm.
But I'm also that type of person, I love a challenge
when it comes to something I do, you know what I'm
saying? So Tupac said, "Right now,in my face" So I
stared from scratch. I just told the DJ to sample a kick
and a snap from the keyboard. Everybody was looking at
me like "What?" Looking at me crazy like, He Don't know
what he's Doing." Before you know it. I had the drums
going and I look over at the guy with the bass guitar. I
told him to come in with something, and I gave him a
little rhythem. He came in with it. Before you know
it-Tupac was on the couch-he had this look on his face
like, "I don't believe this guy." by the time we laid
the guitar strings, he was up on the follor like,
"Yeah!" Every time he'd get a track that he liked, he
would listen to it and come up with the hook in his
head. Then he'd turn around to the Outlawz and say,
"Here's the hook, listen to this and came up with "Me
And My Girlfriend."
HOLD YA HEAD
E.D.I.: That shit remind me of some Me Against The World
shit. That's another one of those melodies where I sat
watched this nigga sing to them like "Play this." That
shit just came together. Hurt M Badd did the drums, you
got the piano shit. It's some real shit that 'Pac was
famous for.
Hurt M Badd: 'Pac did the verse and the hook already. He
came in my room and asked me if I knew how to sing. He
said he wanted me to sing on the hook. I said, "I'll be
right in there," When he shut the door, I started
jumping up and down in a room by myself. When I went in
there, I got real nervous. He gave me the notes to sing
and everything. And fortunatly, it turned out cool.
Anytime you had to like rap or sing with him, That's how
he was. But as far as producers, I've seen him get at a
couple of producers. Fortunatly-Thank God Me and him
didn't have to go through that.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
E.D.I.: That just closes the album out. A lot of people
don't know it's a replay of a Cameo song, "The Skin I'm
in." 'Pac probably listend to it on the way to the
studio, came in and played that shit for Hurt M Badd,
like, "I want that bass line right there." Hurt M Badd
played that shit [on the keyboards]. I don't want to
take nothing from none of the producers that record
himself. Almost every note that nigga was humming to
them niggas, every drum kick, every beat, snare,
hi-hat-That nigga was telling niggas what to play.
Hurt M Badd: On that song he was going at Nas and his
other adversaries. He was getting his weapons for war,
his arsenal ready. The day we made that song Tupac said
"I need a war song. I wanna go to war." He gave me an
hour then came back and heard the beat, and he wanted me
to add that cameo song baseline. Once it was in 'Pac
started snapping, "This is it!" He called the Outlawz in
and started reciting the hook: "This be the realist shit
I ever wrote." While 'Pac was doing his vocals he wasn't
just recording his vocals, he was also kicking over the
music stand, hitting the microphone. There was a vibe in
the room. We all knew what was goin on. As ['Pac]
started reciting his lyrics we was just looking at each
other like "Uh-oh, Here we go again."
BLASPHEMY
Young Noble: I rember after he did that song, riding
back to the crib listening to it he even bugged himself
out on that one. He got real deep on there, and he
didn't even know where it came from. It was like he
didn't Really... That dude, he was just a gift from God.
But I remember that shit. He was like, "Damn, you hear
what I'm Talking about?" He surprised himself with that
like. "I don't know where the hell I be coming up with
this shit." It ain't like he sit around all day and
think about it, the shit just be coming out like that.
God put that in certin people, and he was one of them
dudes. God definitely put shit in that man's heart. He
used to always talk about that kind of stuff. He just
knew he felt like he was going to be a big star and just
disappear. And that's exactly how it happend. He made
his mark like crazy. Dude was definitely sent from up
above. I can't explane everything. there's certain shit
I don't know. He used to talk to us about that shit all
the time. Like, we don't want to hear that shit. You
ain't going nowhere. You better not go nowhere. But he
knew it, I guess.
E.D.I.: If you listen to "Blasphemy," There is a girl
saying a prayer at the end of the song. That's Kastro's
sister, Jamala Lasane, who's also 'Pac's Cousin. It was
a little family Thing. She was just up in the studio,
and she was like "I could just say this at the end of
that shit." 'Pac heard what she was saying and was like
"Go Ahead." And she ended up on the album. "Blasphemy"
is deep song featuring Ital Joe. He passed away a few
years ago[In a car accident]. It reminds me of "Hail
Mary." It's one of those Deep, spiritural things. A lot
of Times in pac's music, he was talking to us, 'cause we
was so wild and out of control--just so caught up in the
rap lifestyle. I think a lot of times he wanted to snap
us back to reality. Like, "It's real out here. It's not
all fun and games." He used to say that a lot. So
"Blasphemy" is one of those songs where I feel like he
was talking to us on some personal shit.
LIFE OF AN OUTLAW
Napoleon: My Grandmother died [during] Makaveli, so I
had to leave early. When I came back, 'Pac had many of
the songs done except for "Life Of An Outlaw," The
[only] song that I'm on. It was just me, E.D.I., Kastro,
Noble and 'Pac in the studio. I remember the beat came
on and 'Pac got one of the guys from six feet Deep,
Sizz-Nine to do the hook. He said, "I'm going to do this
song to let people know: Beware that the Outlawz is
coming." It was like an introduction to the outlawz
album we was going to do with 'Pac. 'Pac took it on
another level. In the middle of the song before my verse
started, [He Asked] "Hey Napoleon, would you die for me?
Whould you kill for me?" And then I came in with my
joint to end the song off. So it was deep song for me
also. 'Pac was a one-hitte-quitter. He's a one-take G.
HE could go in hyped up and be into it to the fullest.
HE come out the booth sweating. He probably go in there
with his blunt and his hennessy, do his thing. We all
was in that state of mind. I call it the ignorant state.
Just being drunk and not knowing what's going on. We
didn't miss one day without drinking. We was caught up,
living the life. We always got in the studio and did the
verse. We didn't even know what beat. 'Pac would tell
someone to play a beat. Next thing you know he would be
like, "Alright, we're going to talk about this." And if
you verse ain't done before 'Pac's, you don't get on the
song. That's how 'Pac was. He'd be like, "I already got
one verse done. Y'all don't got no verse, you ain't
getting on the song". We just had to write, man try to
keep up with this dude, He'd put the beat on, we'd be
like, "Damn, let's get a head start." Some of the songs
he would take to the neck, man. "Life Of An Outlaw" he
was going to do one verse. He was like "I've finished
one verse Y'all ain't ready " Then he'd start writing
another verse. And do that verse. He would have kept it
going. He would have took over the song and did it
himself. 'Pac was one of those dudes in the studio where
if you mess up, he get angry. Like, he want you to go in
there and do it, as is. But sometimes, 'Pac will go in
there and not even care if he'd mess up. You know how
he'd be doing a dub, and you hear one of his voices come
on before the other? He'd keep it like that. He'd go in
there, do it and get out. That work we done--it was
professional in 'Pac's way. He'd do his thing and if he
messed up on the dub, he'd keep it. He'd say "We'll fix
it when we mix it"
E.D.I.: 'Pac actully played that melody on that song.
He's not credited for it, but he played it. it's a
little keyboard sound that you hear in the background.
He's playing that. Any session player that was involed
with Makaveli will tell you that. If they don't, they
lying.
Darryl Harper: We started working kind of exclusive.
Like, it was me, 'Pac and Tyrone[Hurt M Badd]. We was
always together when it came to the studio. He would
lock the door and the other people got jealous of it at
Death Row. They got a little bit peeved that he was
spending days in the room with us. Certain people
started claiming it was favortisim going on, 'Pac using
our beats. But the ironic thing was, before 'Pac
actrully gave us a shot, we had been presenting tracks
to everybody on the label. Nobody would take them but
the new people that was just signed to the label, people
that would probably never get an album out. Nobody would
even take beats from us. Matter of fack they used to
call us "Wack Room" until 'Pac started taking our beats.
Then people started complaing to suge that we were only
giving 'Pac beats.
JUST LIKE DADDY
E.D.I.: "Just Like Daddy" is a song that was done for
the Outlawz album. 'Pac was trying to teach us how to do
some shit for the bitches, 'cause all our shit was hard
shit, kill'em up shit, hard times, struggle shit. Why my
life like shit? Type shit. 'Pac was like "That shit is
cool and people going to love y'all for that. But y'all
gotta give 'em something else. You got to get the girls.
Y'all got to do some other shit, some lighter shit, some
shit people can have fun to." So this nigga went up
there, and we start doing "Just Like Daddy." The beat is
the "Impeach The President" drums, Hurt M Badd just had
them shits looping. 'Pac just start singing melodies
like, "Play this melody here, play that right here."
Then Val Young come in. "Val Young, I want you to sing
this shit right here. This is the hook." Then We got
love song and shit. Boom. "Just Like Daddy." for the
honeys.
Lance Pierre: 'Pac always used Val Young because he
liked her voice. It was a little raspy, gospel-souning
voice.
KRAZY
Young Noble: We was supposed to be on that song, but we
took too long with our verse. Bad Azz was up in there
chilling with us. 'Pac used to like Bad Azz; he had a
nice flow. And 'Pac threw Bad Azz up on there and I'm
glad he did, 'cause Bad Azz did his thing on that
muthafucka. That's one of those classic 'Pac songs, too.
"Time goes by puffing on la got a nigga going crazy..."
We had started writing the shit and we was taking long.
'Pac was like, "Who got something? Bad Azz you got
something?" and it fit perfect, so it was ment for Bad
Azz to be on that song. We had already been on a million
'Pac songs. That was his way of motivating us like, "If
y'all ain't ready, then you don't make the song." That's
why some songs you might hear one on there or you might
hear two or you might hear three. 'Cause when the song
got just about done, if niggas ain't have no verse, we
were scratchin that and going to the next song. 'Pac was
surrounded by a lot of controvers, and a lot of people
be thinking he that way. But that dude was really all
about love, yo. He loved his family, he loved the kids
and he loved black people to death. That dude was really
all about love. That's why the streets love him. Through
all that shit, through all the beefing... When I think
about 'Pac I don't Think About none of that shit, I
think about love. This nigga had so much love in his
heart it was ridiculous. and you hear that shit in his
muisc.
E.D.I.: Bad Azz is another cat who was around a lot. He
loved our music so he always came through. 'Pac was a
fan of BA. 'Pac wanted us on that song, but the beat was
so slow. We was used to rapping on the up-tempo shit. We
wasn't really vibing to it. Here comes BA, the hands of
fate just swung that nigga's way. 'Pac was like, "You
got a verse write a verse to that." Bad Azz was like 'I
already got a verse." 'Pac was like, Get in there and
kick that shit."
Darryl Harper: E.D.I. was interested in the beat from
'Krazy," because during that year there were a lot of
planes crashing and churches burning. He wanted to speak
to that situation. E.D.I. thought that the beat that I
had would fit that. So I brought 'Pac in to hear it.
'Pac loved the beat, but he didn't hear it for that. He
put another hook on it. Bad Azz just happend to be
coming by the studio when we were doing it. 'Pac looked
at him ad said "You got 16?" He said, "I have 16." He
got busy.
Lance Pierre: That song wasn't really put together, it
was just a beat. Kevin Lewis, who was actrully the
project coordinator, he's related to [Jazz pianist]
Ramsey Lewis. He was there and we kept saying, "Man,
this is not a song." He said, "But Tupac wants that song
on the record." I said, "Man, I got it mixed, but it's
still not sounding right." He said, "It's just needs
some piano." So he just went in there and he just played
according to the vocals. The Song turned out a lot
better then it originally was.
BOMB FIRST ( MY SECOND REPLY )
Young Noble: They had a little production room up there,
and I was up there writing I had rapped last. I had
kicked a verse for 'Pac. We was up in there freestyling
a little bit. we just went in there and laid the song.
He came up with the first verse. E.D.I. wrote his verse
and it came out pretty tight. I think "Bomb First" was
one of those classic ones.' Pac let loose.[When I said
"King of New York"] I was talking to Biggie. you know
the whole situation that was going on. 'Cause Biggie
really was the king of New York at the time.
E.D.I.: Makaveli is an album that 'Pac basically Did on
his own. I mean production, Lyrics...A lot of people
don't know that 'Pac was a producer "Bomb First" was
actrully a beat he started on. Other people got credit
for it, but 'Pac started that beat. The bass line was
from Naughty By Nature's "Uptown Anthem." That we always
loved. 'Pac was working on the Drums and shit, Then a
Couple of other sessions players came in and we just put
it down and it was like the reply to "Hit'Em Up" it was
after "Hit 'Em Up" came out and everybody had their
little comments on the song and how they felt about it.
'Pac was like, "All Right, I got something else to say
and this one is going to start Makaveli Off. It's a Just
a ride track. It's just niggas riding. Also it
introduced Noble. He was the last official Outlaw. We
was all learning that shit at the same time. So what
'Pac would do, is he would have it i n his head and just
tell people to do it, like "I want the drums to go like
this, I want the bass line to go like that." But also
what's crazy is, he had just bought a new house and he
had a grand piano up in there and a nigga used to just
f##k with Melodies on the Piano all the time. One of
those melodies is actrully the melody for "Bomb First".
He just came up with it himself. He'd Rember the shit
and just go to the studio, play that melody and have
somebody loop it, and then just tell niggas to add drums
here, add bass here, add guitar here, add that there, he
ain't really know how to program drums and shit like
that, but he know how to program people, Pac was good
at that he could get the beat out of people.
Darryl Harper: I presented a beat to 'Pac and he liked
it, but he wanted the bass line changed. He wanted the
bass line similar to the one someone had did on the
Movie Juice[Naughty By Nature's "Uptown Anthem"]. I
didn't know what it was like, so I had to get it and
find out what it was like. So I changed the bass line
and it went like that.
Lance Pierre: Tupac actrully did that bass line. He
actrully sat up on the Moog and punched out each button
on that. but Darryl did the beat. 'Pac did that song; a
lot of people don't know that it seemed like 'Pac was
getting off into production. That was one of the Songs
that Tupac actrully had a lot to do with as far as the
production of it.
HAIL MARY
Young Noble: When we first did that song, it was cool.
but I didn't like that song like That. When it hits the
street, you kind of hear it through different ears.
Hearing it after it came out, it was like, Damn, that
was an incredible song. I was just blessed to be a part
of that. The Studio had two big rooms and a little
production room. Snoop and the Pound used to be in the
back studio a lot. We'd go in there and we would just
work. It would be a box of liqour every day--Cristal,
Alize, we was drinking that back then as young niggas.
Drinking the Thug Passion, girls every where, weed smoke
everywhere. We'd just be makeing music. Three, Four,
Five Songs a day, Just banging shit out. Altogether,
"Hail Mary" took maybe 30 minutes. it probably took
about 15 minuets to write it and about five minutes to
lay it. We laid the shit, my verse was already written.
I had it in my book I wrote the last little hook part,
"Outlawz on a paper chase..." That was going to be the
hook at first. I had that hook already and I was like
"yeah Pac I got a little hook." He was like "Nah, we
going to put that at the end." And then he came up with
the "Hail Mary" shit. 'Pac he wrote from the heart, so
it wasn't even like writing it was like talking.
E.D.I.: I give Hurt M Badd credit for "Hail Mary" 'Pac
told him, "I need some slow, Thuggish shit." Hurt M Badd
Made "Hail Mary" and when we heard it, 'Pac went crazy
We just did the song in an hour and a half. It wasn't my
favorite record on Makaveli. It reminded me of some
down-South record. I didn't know it was going to be as
big a record as it is today. 'Pac loved Kastro and
Noble's part. How they Changed the whole Vibe of the
song up on some outlawz shit. but really, I think he
just loved what he was saying in it. It's some real cold
shit he's saying: "Seein' niggas comin' for me/To my
diamonds, when they glistenin'/Now pay attention, rest
in peace, Father." because he knew niggas was coming for
him. At the end of "Hail Mary, I just remember 'Pac
shouting out "Snoop." That's another thing that sticks
in my mind. 'Cause at the time, even with the tension,
he still made it a point to shout-out Snoop on Makaveli.
You got [Outlaw] Kastro in the Background going
'Makaveli the Don, Don don" at the end of the song when
'Pac is talking about his conglomerates, you hear kastro
in the background going, "Makaveli the don.
Lance Pierre: That was the best song on the record. It
also was the strangest song. What I mean by that is the
way it came out at the end as far as the "Makaveli The
Don," and all that. Tupac used to do a lot of that
ad-lib. Just talking toward the end of the song. I was
mixing it, and none of that shit was supposed to come
out like that. But it came out and it sounds good. I'm
talking about the outro, where you hear K in the
backgroun: "Makaveli The Don". That was some extra
stuff. That was a total fluke. The Song was suposed to
stop there. But it sounded good. So we just kept it and
turnd it into an interlued with the whole monk thing
going on. That one turned out more than how we really
expected it to turn out.
Hurt M Badd: "Hail Mary" actrully only took me 15, 20
minutes to create the whole beat. I just came to work
one day, I was feeling good. I was sitting behind the
boards. I just touched a few sounds man, and it was like
done. And so an enginner came into the room where I
worked, and he heard the track--I told him to put the
headphones on. He looked at me like "Damn, Hurt! This
sounds like a hip-hop funeral, man" When I do stuff, I
don't be feeling it like everybody else, I guess 'cause
it's me. He said, "Why don't you let Tupac hear this?'
When Tupac heard it, he really didn't say nothing but
"Gimme that." I left the studio and when I came back the
next day, everybody from the security guard to the phone
lady to the engineer--Everybody ran up to me like, "Wait
'till you hear what this nigga done laid down over your
trak." When I heard it, I didn't think it was a hit. I
was like "Why is Tupac laying this stuff down over my
track?" We all had a listening party for the album, and
'Pac was loving every song but when they played that
song, he just went though a thing. He Threw his hand up
in the air with his Hennessy bottle. He threw his hand
up in the air like he ruled a nation.
TOSS IT UP
E.D.I.: That's a song that was already done Suge had it
done with Danny Boy and Jodeci on it. Thats my least
favorite song on Makaveli, 'Pac just got on the track
and did his thing. That was some shit him and Sughe had
already worked out. And the crazy part that alot of
people don't know is that the song was originaly to
[Blackstreet's]"No Diggity" Beat 'cause Dre had did that
"No Diggity" beat while he was still at death Row. And
Suge had it. But then Dre Sold the shit to Teddy Riley.
The Beginning fo those songs where almost exactly alike.
I don't know who bit off of who. I ain't here to start
no shit, but in the beginning, "No Diggity" and "Toss it
up" were aknist exactly alike. Yeah you would have to be
there to know that.
TO LIVE & DIE IN L.A.
Young Noble: That was like a different "California
Love." 'Pac used to love LA. Everywhere we went out in
LA, it was nothing but love. When we'd go to the malls,
the whole damn mall would be following us. It was like
they really loved that dude out there. Even to this day.
We'd be in the streets, the esse's they love us to
death...Making it, we were drunk as hell with a whole
bunch of girls in the studio. We were getting head in
the bathroom, all types of shit. It was never like we
got to buckle down and work, 'cause even if we smokeing
and high the whole time we was workin. Every 'Pac song
you hear, that's how we did it; basically smoking,
drinking, having fun. I don't think niggas did one that
took over an hour to make. 'Pac was working on Gang
Related at the time, and what's the other one? with the
white dude when they were dope fiends Gridlock'd. So
we'd get up and go to the set at like six, seven in the
morning, and then go to the damn studio after that. We'd
get to the studio at five or six, and not leave that
bitch 'till three, four in the morning. We'd be leaving
with four, five, six songs a day so if you doing six
songs a day, in three days that's 18 songs.
E.D.I.: That's QD3. He was the only outside producer on
that album, besides the dude who did "Toss It Up." QD3
was one of 'Pac's favorite producers. He loved fucking
with Q. That's a Sample [Ed. Note: It's actrully a
Reinterpatation] of "Do Me Baby" by Prince. A lot of
people don't know that 'Pac was a big Prince fan. He
fucked with Prince. if you listened to alot of 'Pac's
Shit, he sampled Prince in different ways. That was
probably 'Pac's favorite song on Makaeli, besides
"Against All Odds." He loved the whole groove--"To Live
and Die In LA," a reall LA song. Drop tops, 80 degrees
down sunset, it just gave him the feeling of being in
LA. And he loved the city.
QD3: I was in the studio with 'Pac, I had some records
with me, and there was this old song that I played for
him to see if he liked the vibe. He felt it and told me
to go home and hook up a beat like that. I went home and
hooked it up as fast as I could, and I think I came back
the same night and he listend to the track three times,
and in like 15 minutes he was already done with his
lyrics. He went in the booth without telling anyone what
the track was about he just laid it in one take--over
about three tracks. Then he told Val Young what the
concept was, and she went in and laid her chorus vocal
in one take, too. After the vocals were done, 'Pac had
Ricky Rouse [Makaveli musician] replace my keyboard bass
and guitar parts with live bass and guitar parts, and
the song was done--less then two hours total. This song
just flowed out of everyone that was a part of it. No
one thought twice no one doubted anything. It was full
speed ahead untill it was done--as if it was guided or
ment to be. Ever since recording like that, without
thinking twice like that, I have changed the way I look
at making music.
check out
http://wcn.altervista.org/outlawz/specialexxl.htm, the site owner is somewhere on this board too, dunno what's his nick here otherwise i would give him some props
all the scans are on there
http://wcn.altervista.org/outlawz/specialexxl.htm, the site owner is somewhere on this board too, dunno what's his nick here otherwise i would give him some props
all the scans are on there
here ya go, all the scans in a rar file 
:
http://rapidshare.de/files/5230603/Makeing_of_All_Eyez_On_Me__Scans_.rar.html
: http://rapidshare.de/files/5230603/Makeing_of_All_Eyez_On_Me__Scans_.rar.html
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