Static

After Tupac's death, it did not take long for early recordings to surface on small labels. The single Static was released in Australia in 1997 on AIM Records, along with the CD 1 in 21. It has nothing to do with the albums Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur released on Amaru from 1997 onward.

A 1992 Session and Uncleared Rights

According to the liner notes of 1 in 21, Static was created in 1992 during a collaboration between Tupac and the group Force One Network. Producer Chopmaster J came from the circle around Digital Underground, where Tupac had begun his career. The CD also contains recordings from his time with Strictly Dope around 1990.

According to the liner notes, the title 1 in 21 refers to the statistic that one in 21 Black men in the US dies from violence. The same text, however, gives an incorrect date for the shooting of Tupac: September 5 instead of September 7, 1996. An indication of how carefully such releases were put together. Whether and in what form the rights to the recordings had been cleared could not be verified.

Three Versions on the Cover, Four on the CD

Shown here is the CD single with three versions. The Discogs edition additionally contains a fourth track that is not mentioned on the cover. Discogs lists it simply as "Static" (4:20).

The frequently cited date of June 16, 1998 could not be confirmed. Discogs dates both the single and the album to 1997.