'Loyal To The Game' Review:
By: 2pacWorld.co.uk

Loyal to the Game, the ninth 2Pac album released by his enterprising mother-turned-executive producer, Afeni Shakur, is one of the more unique entries in Tupac's extensive catalog. Produced entirely by Eminem, it carries on with the approach Eminem took with his production contributions to the earlier 'Tupac: Resurrection'. Eminem had produced a few songs on that soundtrack, most notably the landmark 2Pac & Biggie duet "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," and his work here on Loyal to the Game isn't too much of a departure from the style of that song. In the wake of the song's popularity, Afeni gave Eminem some old tapes, and he went to work, stripping them of their productions, giving them his own trademark backing, incorporating some guest raps for secondary verses, and polishing them off with various sorts of hooks.

In our view Eminem's efforts here work, yet aren't ideal for a full Tupac album, the odd song could have been tolerated or even a classic. His beats hit hard and are well crafted, most similar to his more hardcore self-productions like "Mosh" or "Lose Yourself." His hooks are also well crafted: he takes the hook himself on "Soldier Like Me"; brings in 50 Cent and Nate Dogg for "Loyal to the Game" and "Thugs Get Lonely Too," respectively; samples Elton John ("Indian Sunset"), Curtis Mayfield ("If There's a Hell Below"), and Dido ("Do You Have a Little Time") for other songs; and lets 2Pac handle his own hooks elsewhere. On the other, more cynical hand that 2pacWorld.co.uk stand to represent, Eminem simply isn't a good fit, and the four bonus tracks here testify to what could have been. Produced by Scott Storch, Red Spyda, Raphael Saadiq, and DJ Quik, these bonus track "remixes" are clearly the highlights of the album, and show what could, and in most of Tupac's long term fans views, should have been. These guys produce beats much more fitting to 2Pac's rhyme style. Sure, Eminem is a great artist and producer, but he produces these 2Pac tracks as if he were producing for himself, and 2Pac is a much different breed of rapper than Slim Shady, especially in terms of the style of poetry used, the meaning of the poetry, and the delivery. This is all the more evident because the source tapes of these tracks date back to the early '90s, when 2Pac was at his funkiest and least hardcore. (While the dates aren't provided in the credits, the original producers are credited: Randy "Stretch" Walker, DJ Daryl, Live Squad, and Deon Evans, all of whom worked with Pac during his early years, namely the early '90s, just as he was leaving Digital Underground and getting his career off the ground.)

2pacWorld.co.uk were in disbelieve when we found that Eminem used his position to edit/change Tupacs lyrics to give 'shout outs' to artists on Eminems record label, such as G-Unit, and Obie Trice, which in my view was a blatant disrespect of Tupac and what he stood for. The album is littered with performances of artists that Tupac had never been affiliated with, or even met during his short life, and the original artists who recorded the tracks with Tupac, have seen themselves edited out to make way for Eminems own artists.

How much Loyal to the Game ultimately appeals to you will likely depend on how much you like Eminem. After all, this is as much his album as it is 2Pac's. If you're fond of his lock-step beatmaking and big hooks, you'll find much to like here, and Pac's rhymes are always fascinating in any context, even at this early stage of his career. But if you're not down with Marshall Mathers, you'll probably want to pass this one by, though the four bonus tracks alone might make this a worthwhile venture regardless.

Overall Rating:
Prediction: With Eminem and Tupac fans buying the album, its bound, once again, to be a massively successful posthumus release from Tupac Shakur.

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