News of May 9, 2007
Tupac's Earliest Recordings to Be Released as "The Early Years"
Ten songs from his time with Digital Underground: In May 2007, Koch Records announced a collection of Tupac's first known recordings.
Before Tupac became known with 2Pacalypse Now, he was in the studio with Digital Underground. Ten songs originate from this exact period, which Koch Records announced in May 2007 under the title The Early Years. According to rap.de, the collection was scheduled to be released on June 12.
Recordings from 1989
The songs were created around 1989, when Tupac was still part of the circle around Shock G and his alter ego Humpty Hump. rap.de described them as his first known recordings. They were produced by Chopmaster J, also a member of Digital Underground. The tracklist included “Let The Knowledge Drop”, “Never Be Beat”, “The Case of The Misplaced Mic” and a version of “Minnie The Moocher”.
Chopmaster J explained the release by stating that Tupac’s fans wanted to hear how his first recordings sounded: turntables, drum machines, and even back then, lyrics with a social message.
A Second Attempt
The project was not entirely new. According to rap.de, the same material was already briefly available in stores in April 2000 and was pulled from the shelves at the time due to legal difficulties. The report did not specify what those difficulties were.