Background · Poetic Justice (Music from the Motion Picture)
When Poetic Justice hit theaters in July 1993, two worlds collided. Director John Singleton wove a love story together with poetry by Maya Angelou-and cast Tupac as the mail carrier Lucky opposite Janet Jackson. The film's soundtrack was released a few weeks earlier and captured that mood. Tupac himself is featured with a song that landed on one of his albums four years later.
Between "Strictly" and "Thug Life"
Definition of a Thug Nigga is a dark track about loyalty and life on the streets. Tupac produced it together with Warren G during the period between Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and Thug Life. In 1997, the song appeared again on the posthumous album R U Still Down? (Remember Me) and in 2007 on Best of 2Pac, Part 2: Life. More on the role and the filming can be found on the Poetic Justice page.
From Usher's Debut to Stevie Wonder
The soundtrack blends hip-hop and R&B. Following the opener Get It Up by TLC come Indo Smoke by Mista Grimm featuring Warren G and Nate Dogg, and Call Me a Mack—the first officially released song by the then fourteen-year-old Usher.
The album brings together other major names: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Naughty by Nature, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Babyface, and an early track by Tha Dogg Pound. A 1971 song by Stevie Wonder and an instrumental by Stanley Clarke, who also composed the film score, close the record.
Three songs charted: Indo Smoke, Get It Up, and Call Me a Mack. The album reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in August 1993.
Release Date and Label
January 28, 1997, is occasionally given as the release date and "Sony" as the label. Both were obviously taken from the Gridlock'd soundtrack. The correct release is June 29, 1993, on Epic Soundtrax, a Sony Music label. That makes the album an authentic document of the year 1993-and of Tupac's dual career.