"Pac's Life" Debuts at No. 9 on the Billboard 200

On November 21, 2006, Pac’s Life was released by Amaru and Interscope, during a week full of major releases ahead of the Christmas shopping season. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 159,000 copies were sold in the first week, which was enough for No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Billboard counted the album as Tupac’s 14th entry on this list since his death in 1996. At the top was Jay-Z with Kingdom Come and 680,000 copies, while Snoop Dogg’s Tha Blue Carpet Treatment came in at No. 5.

Many Guests, Almost Exclusively New Material

Billboard had already reported the guest list in October: T.I. on the title track, for which a video had been shot, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on “Untouchable” in the version by Swizz Beatz, plus Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, Ashanti, Young Buck, Lil Scrappy, Carl Thomas, Papoose, and Big Syke. Except for one verse, everything was reportedly unreleased until then. Afeni Shakur said Tupac had left behind the blueprints, but without those involved she could not have managed the task.

Mixed Verdict

Rolling Stone found some verses unfinished, merely looped and padded with verses from younger rappers like Chamillionaire and T.I. Even so, producers like Swizz Beatz and Sha Money XL were said to have found real treasures. On “Dumpin’”, Papoose and Hussein Fatal demonstrated how great Tupac’s influence was ten years later. What circulated about the album prior to its release: Pac’s Life: Rumors and Reality.