Makaveli - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
It always sort of bugged me that this was released as a Makaveli album instead of 2Pac album. But whatever. Logistics. Seeing as how it was released so shortly after 2Pac's death, and all the references to resurrection, it's easy to see how The 7 Day Theory could be seen as exploitative at the time. But this really was a 2Pac album that he wrote and laid out before his death. Rumors via members of the Outlawz suggest that it was intended to be a more underground release, which makes the brown paper bag artwork make sense in a sort of 'official bootleg' kind of way. This record was a rush job (seriously, 7 days) but an intentional rush job. As such, there's definitely an urgency to the material. Opener "Bomb First (My Second Reply)" for instance has a beat that at first feels like it has an unfinished demo quality to it. Repeated listenings reveal it to have a more first-take-best-take quality, not unlike punk's warts-and-all aesthetics. Though plenty of the material is well thought out and well produced. "Hail Mary" is a classic for sure, as is "Toss It Up." And "Me And My Girlfriend" would eventually serve as the blueprint for Jay-Z and Beyonce's massively popular "03 Bonnie & Clyde." In hindsight I think that it's easier to praise All Eyez On Me as it was a more expensive record that netted many career-highlight singles and was a sort of defining record in mainstream gangsta rap that seemed to work in a party atmosphere. On the contrary, The 7 Day Theory is far darker, moodier and condensed into a svelte piece of slightly paranoid perfection.