Loyal to the Game

Loyal to the Game is the ninth studio album and fifth posthumous studio album by Tupac Shakur. It contains remixes of previously unreleased music recorded by Shakur before his death in 1996. Released in the United States on December 14, 2004 (December 12 in the United Kingdom), The album was mainly produced by Eminem. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.[2] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[3]

Loyal to the Game
Studio album by
2Pac
ReleasedDecember 12, 2004 (2004-12-12)
Recorded1991–1994
(2Pac's vocals)
2003–2004
(Production, guest vocals, and mixing)
Genre
Length64:56
Label
Producer
2Pac chronology
2Pac Live
(2004)		 Loyal to the Game
(2004)		 The Rose, Vol. 2
(2005)
Singles from Loyal to the Game
  1. "Thugs Get Lonely Too"
    Released: September 23, 2004
  2. "Ghetto Gospel"
    Released: April 25, 2005[1]

Background

According to an interview with MTV, Eminem was so moved by Tupac's life and work that he wrote a letter to Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, asking her to consider letting him produce the album. Shakur agreed, giving Eminem the go ahead.[4] The album featured two singles: "Thugs Get Lonely Too" featuring Nate Dogg and "Ghetto Gospel", which contained a sample of Indian Sunset by Elton John.[5]

Production

Eminem used various unusual production techniques during the creation of this album, namely modifying the pace and pitch of Tupac's voice to better suit the beats produced.[6] There were also various uses of the cutting and pasting of vocals to produce new words synonymous with rap culture at the time, such as saying "G-Unit", "Obie Trice" and "Em" instead of "LG", the original producer of "Out On Bail".[6]

Originally recorded with Thug Life member Big Syke, this track was remixed with a new beat and verses from Treach (Naughty By Nature) and Riddler for the Above the Rim soundtrack. Producer Reginald Heard lifted 'Say You Love' from DJ Rogers to create a slow tempo, synth powered beat. While the track did not make the final soundtrack, it was included on the cassette edition. It is from this song that Eminem based his Tupac Loyal To The Game album. The remix project contained two remixes of this song, but did not include this original soundtrack version. DJ Quik made a remix, the tempo of which is the same as the original, that was added as a bonus track; DJ Quik also suggested to Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, that the title track be known as "Loyal to the Game".

The original versions of the songs were originally recorded for 2Pac's debut album 2Pacalypse Now (1991), for his second album 'Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (1993), for Thug Life: Volume 1 (1994, with his group Thug Life) and for Me Against The World (1995), but were cut. In 1993 2Pac recorded a track named "Po Nigga Blues"" with a rapper named The Governor. Later 2Pac's producer Shock-G produced a remix of the song, which is still unreleased. However Scott Storch made a remix of the song, which was added as a bonus track.

The original "Ghetto Gospel" features two unreleased 2Pac verses that were not issued on the album. This is due to 2Pac recording the song twice for the 1992 MTV Christmas album. The latter recording only had the first two verses by 2Pac and verse 3 and 4 by a rap group called "The Kidz". Due to the master reel being recorded over, Eminem was only able to use the latter recording that only had the two verses. [7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
RapReviews8/10[9]
Los Angeles Times[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Vibe[12]

Commercial performance

Loyal to the Game debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week-sales of over 330,000 copies in its first week.[2] On February 15, 2005, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the US.[3] As of September 2011, the album has sold 1,204,124 copies in the United States.[13]

Track listing
No.TitleProducerLength
1."Soldier Like Me" (featuring Eminem)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible & Randy "Stretch" Walker)3:50
2."The Uppercut" (featuring E.D.I. Mean & Young Noble)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by 2Pac)3:50
3."Out on Bail" (featuring AB)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by LG)3:54
4."Ghetto Gospel" (featuring Elton John)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)3:58
5."Black Cotton" (featuring Eminem, Kastro & Young Noble)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)5:03
6."Loyal to the Game" (featuring G-Unit)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Reginald Heard)3:23
7."Thugs Get Lonely Too" (featuring Nate Dogg)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Randy "Stretch" Walker)4:48
8."N.I.G.G.A. (Never Ignorant About Getting Goals Accomplished)" (featuring Jadakiss)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)3:02
9."Who Do You Love?"Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by 2Pac & Randy "Stretch" Walker)3:28
10."Crooked Nigga Too"Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)2:55
11."Don't You Trust Me?" (featuring Dido)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)4:55
12."Hennessey" (featuring Obie Trice)Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Thug Music)3:27
13."Thug 4 Life"Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Johnny "J")2:54
Bonus track
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
14."Po Nigga Blues (Scott Storch Remix)" (featuring Ron Isley)Scott Storch (Originally Produced by Daryl L. Anderson (DJ Daryl)3:38
15."Hennessey (Red Spyda Remix)" (featuring E.D.I. Mean & Sleepy Brown)Red Spyda3:18
16."Crooked Nigga Too (Raphael Saadiq Remix)" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)Raphael Saadiq (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)4:02
17."Loyal to the Game (DJ Quik Remix)" (featuring Big Syke & DJ Quik)DJ Quik4:20
Sample credits

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Date
United Kingdom December 12, 2004
United States December 14, 2004

References
  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/ghetto-gospel-mr0002242793
  2. "Tupac's 'Game' Haunts Album Chart At No. 1". December 22, 2004. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  3. "RIAA Certifications - 2Pac". Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  4. village voice > nyclife > The Essay: The End of Eminem by Jon Caramanica
  5. Amazon.com: Loyal to the Game: 2Pac: Music
  6. 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) Loyal to the Game Lyrics Sounds and More
  7. Evans, Deon. "Deon Evans Interview Part 1: About How He Met 2Pac, Dope Fiends Diner & Breaking Down Ghetto Gospel". 2PacForumChannel. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  8. Birchmeier, Jason. "Loyal to the Game - 2Pac". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. Juon, Steve. "2Pac: Loyal to the Game". RapReviews. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. Dreisinger, Baz. "Something gets lost in Em's mix". LaTimes.com. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  11. Sheffield, Rob. "Tupac Shakur Loyal To The Game". RollingStone.com. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  12. "Tupac - Loyal to the Game". Cd Universe. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  13. "Tupac Month: 2Pac's Discography". Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  14. "Australiancharts.com – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  15. "Ultratop.be – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  16. "2Pac Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  18. "Lescharts.com – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  20. "Irish-charts.com – Discography 2Pac". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  21. http://www.fimi.it/ricerca#/type:artists/show:charts/keyword:Tupac/page:0
  22. "Charts.nz – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  23. http://swisscharts.com/album/2Pac/Loyal-To-The-Game-5305
  24. "2Pac | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  25. "2Pac Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  26. "2Pac Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  27. "2Pac Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  28. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  29. "YEAR-END CHARTS RAP ALBUMS 2005". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  30. "British album certifications – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 8, 2011. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Loyal to the Game in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  31. "American album certifications – 2 Pac – Loyal to the Game". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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