Still I Rise

Shortly before Christmas 1999, Tupac Shakur was back in record stores, this time not as a solo artist: Still I Rise is the only official collaborative work with his crew, the Outlawz. The record combines vocal tracks that Tupac recorded at Death Row in 1996 with new verses from the group and freshly crafted beats.

Recordings from the Year of His Death, Completed Without Kadafi

The Outlawz were Tupac's last major group: childhood friends, cousins, and companions whom he gathered around himself in 1995/96 and named after dictators and “enemies of America.” Following Tupac's violent death in September 1996, Yaki Kadafi was also shot and killed two months later. The remaining members carried on and sifted through their shared archive.

For Still I Rise, the producers laid Tupac's vocal tracks from his Death Row months over new verses by the Outlawz. Hussein Fatal was missing from the studio: according to the citations on Wikipedia, he had refused to sign with Death Row and stayed away from the project. The album title references Maya Angelou's poem Still I Rise; the poet had appeared on camera alongside Tupac in the 1993 feature film Poetic Justice.

Familiar Producers and a Sequel to “Keep Ya Head Up”

Behind the boards were mostly producers who had already worked with Tupac during his lifetime. Johnny "J" contributed the title track Still I Rise, Secretz of War, and U Can Be Touched, while QDIII was responsible for Letter to the President and Teardrops and Closed Caskets. Darryl "Big D" Harper delivered As the World Turns, High Speed, and The Good Die Young. Daz Dillinger produced Homeboyz, and Kurupt and E.D.I. Mean created Tattoo Tears together.

The best-known track became Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II), produced by Soulshock & Karlin with vocals from the group H.E.A.T. as a continuation of the 1993 hit. Thematically, the range extends from political protest in Letter to the President and the spiritual Black Jesuz to mourning dead friends in Teardrops and Closed Caskets with Nate Dogg.

No. 6 in the US and Platinum in February 2000

Still I Rise debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to No. 6; in Germany, the album reached No. 24. The single Baby Don't Cry peaked at No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100. On February 2, 2000, the RIAA awarded platinum.

The RIAA database does not record an entry for double platinum, as is often cited. According to Nielsen figures, around 1.7 million copies were sold by 2011.

Mixed Reviews, but a Step into the Spotlight

Music critics reacted reservedly, mostly awarding two and a half to three and a half out of five points. Reviewers singled out individual highlights and Tupac's verses for praise, but faulted qualitative inconsistencies and judged that the Outlawz often seemed pale beside him.

For the crew, the release nevertheless marked a turning point: it introduced the group to an audience beyond Tupac's core fanbase. More about the formation and evolution of the crew can be found on the Outlawz page.