However, imagine getting a real music video of his Nas-assisted hit single “Thugz Mansion,” or the follow-up cut “Still Ballin” with Trick Daddy at his peak? There was some solid material on this project, and the only thing missing to make this an even bigger hit was Pac himself.Ģ003: Released his collaboration “The Realist Killaz” with then-new artist 50 Cent In short, we were robbed of a possible award-worthy performance.Ģ002: Released his first solo album of the 2000s decade with Better DayzĢPac’s posthumously-released 2002 double album Better Dayz was a success in real life, selling 366,000 copies in its first week and eventually going triple platinum. They did their best to honor his legacy in the film, particularly with a mural of Pac’s face on Jody’s bedroom wall (seen below), but having the real thing would’ve been epic. It’s common knowledge (or should be!) that 2Pac was originally meant to play the main character “Jody” in the 2001 film Baby Boy, which became a breakout role for Tyrese. Henson in John Singleton’s hood classic Baby Boy
Being that the group’s debut albums Still I Rise (1999) and Ride wit Us or Collide wit Us (2000) were released within a year’s time of each other, we easily could’ve seen Pac being a purveyor of the “two albums in one year” trend (see: DMX in ’98 Nas in ’99) with the rollout of these projects.Ģ001: Starred alongside Snoop Dogg and Taraji P. However, how dope would it have been to see Pac in space!Ģ000: Introduced the Outlawz with back-to-back albums Still I Rise and Ride wit Us or Collide wit UsĮqually as sad of a story as Thug Life - 4 out of 10 of the original members, including Makaveli/2Pac, are deceased - the Outlawz unfortunately never got a proper chance to shine since their official formation happened not too long before Pac was murdered. The role of Mace Windu, a Jedi Master fighting for the good guys, would of course go to Samuel L.
While their actual story reads as one of the most unsung tales in rap history - literally half of the six original members (including Pac) have sadly passed away - we think the crew could’ve came together one more time to repeat the gold-selling success of Thug Life: Volume 1.ġ999: Made his sci-fi film debut as Mace Windu in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceĪ fun fact: 2Pac was originally considered and preparing to read for a major role in the 1999 continuation of the globally-revered Star Wars film series. We all could’ve done without the bars that dragged on the East Coast/West Coast beef, though.ġ998: Reunited the Thug Life crew for Thug Life: Volume 2Īlways one to work well in groups, 2Pac seemed to have some big plans for his rap collective known as Thug Life. However, after the inevitable success of All Eyez On Me, we could definitely see Pac having a change of mind and making a concept album out the whole LP. The Don Killuminati was reportedly never supposed to see the light of day before 2Pac’s death, originally intended to be something of a passion project that circulated underground. A post shared by Tupac Shakur on at 7:43am PDTġ997: Properly introduced us to his alter ego “Makaveli” with The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory