Two Best-of Albums Instead of a Double CD: Thug and Life

Two separate CDs instead of a cheaper double album: on December 3, 2007, the site reported that two Tupac best-of albums were in stores at once. Best of 2Pac Part 1: Thug and Best of 2Pac Part 2: Life each contained eleven tracks, including one previously unreleased song apiece.

€18.99 per CD: Anger Over Amaru Records

Thug mostly gathered well-known tracks from Tupac’s catalog, such as “So Many Tears,” “Trapped,” “California Love,” “Hail Mary,” and “Changes.” New was “Resist the Temptation” featuring Amel Larrieux, along with the “Dear Mama” remix featuring Anthony Hamilton, which had first appeared on Pac’s Life in 2006. Life leaned more heavily on posthumous releases such as “Until the End of Time,” “Ghetto Gospel,” and an acoustic version of “Thugz Mansion.” The new track was called “Dopefiend’s Diner.”

The post voiced annoyance at the price: each CD cost €18.99, whereas a double album would have been cheaper. The intention of Amaru Records, it argued, was obvious. That criticism reflected the author’s opinion at the time, but many fans saw the split primarily as a way to distribute two new songs across two separate retail products.

No. 65 and 77: Far Behind Earlier Successes

Both albums were released in the US on December 4, 2007, and a day earlier in the UK. They had already surfaced online on November 30. Commercially, they fell far short of earlier Tupac releases: Thug reached No. 65 on the Billboard 200, Life No. 77. By September 2011, Thug had sold a good 212,000 copies in the US, and Life a good 135,000. In the UK, both received a silver certification.

For comparison: Tupac’s 1998 Greatest Hits was certified diamond in the US. The 2007 best-of albums did not come close to that success-for collectors, they remained interesting primarily because of their two new songs.