Maps of Music

R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)

Where the lyrics of R U Still Down? (Remember Me) take you, and where it was really made.

Interscope first planned an album under this name for December 1995, but it was shelved. The version that came out in 1997 was built from the same unreleased material, two years after 2Pac's death.

Key places

Soundcastle, recording site (1997)

Recording site Soundcastle — MusicBrainz lists Soundcastle as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Encore Recording Studios, recording site (1997)

Recording site Encore Recording Studios — MusicBrainz lists Encore Recording Studios as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Echo Sound, recording site (1997)

Recording site Echo Sound Studio — MusicBrainz lists Echo Sound as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Track Record Studios, recording site (1997)

Recording site Track Record Studios — MusicBrainz lists Track Record Studios as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Paramount Recording Studios, recording site (1997)

Recording site Paramount (Hollywood) — MusicBrainz lists Paramount Recording Studios as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Westlake Recording Studios, recording site (1997)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — MusicBrainz lists Westlake Recording Studios as a place where material for this album was recorded. The songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• R U Still Down? (Remember Me): sixth studio album and second double album by 2Pac
• Released 25 November 1997 by Amaru Entertainment, Interscope Records and Jive Records
• Second posthumous release and his first album issued without his creative input
• Contains previously unreleased material from the period of Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., Thug Life: Volume 1 and Me Against the World
• Airs his views on life from before he became involved in the East Coast–West Coast rivalry
• Lyrics foreshadow his death in songs such as "Open Fire", "Thug Style" and "Only Fear of Death"
• Two hits: "Do for Love" and "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto"

Background

• First release from his mother's imprint, Amaru Entertainment
• Almost all material recorded between 1992 and 1994
• "Definition of a Thug Nigga" was previously released on the 1993 soundtrack Poetic Justice
• Two retitled remixes of "I Wonder If Heaven's Got a Ghetto", first issued as a B-side of the 1993 single "Keep Ya Head Up"
• "I'm Getting Money" is unreleased but shares its lyrics with the 1994 song "Str8 Ballin'", with the phrase changed
• "Nothin' But Love" first appeared on the "I Get Around" single, here in a different and shorter mix
• The title comes from several handwritten track lists 2Pac wrote in 1993 and 1994
• Interscope planned an album under this name for December 1995, during his imprisonment, but it was never released after he signed to Death Row Records and got out early

Recording

• Production overseen by We Got Kidz Productions, which also served as executive producer alongside Afeni Shakur and Lisa Smith-Putnam
• Other producers: QDIII, Soulshock & Karlin, Mike Mosley, and Ricky Rouse (with We Got Kidz Productions)
• Some older tracks received new production and some songs got entirely new instrumentals

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born June 16, 1971 in East Harlem, New York City, to Black Panther Party members Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland.
• Raised by his mother; moved to Baltimore in 1984 and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts.
• Moved to Marin City, California in 1988.

Career

• Debuted as 2Pac on Digital Underground's 1991 single "Same Song" under Interscope Records.
• Debut album 2Pacalypse Now (1991) established him as a central figure in West Coast hip-hop.
• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995) brought critical and commercial success.
• All Eyez on Me (1996), the first hip-hop double album, produced two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "California Love" and "How Do U Want It".
• Also acted in films including Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).
• Died September 13, 1996, after a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada; the 2026 trial convicted Duane Davis of orchestrating the murder.

Legacy

• Record sales exceed 75 million worldwide.
• Inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame (2002) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2017).
• Awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Spin noted that, as always, there was ample self-destructive material, but that the album as a whole was eerie and undeniable
• Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly gave a mixed review, calling many of the 26 tracks barely demo-worthy gangsta rap
• The same review praised 2Pac's raw talent, especially when his voice went hoarse with rage

Records

• Sold 549,000 copies in its first week
• Topped the R&B charts in the United States for three weeks
• "Do for Love" was certified Gold by the RIAA
• "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" was the second hit from the album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Nas sampled "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" on his 2008 album Untitled, in the song "Black President"
• On his verse of Tyler, The Creator's song "Smuckers", Kanye West refers back to 2Pac
• The next posthumous release, Greatest Hits, included "Changes" and "God Bless the Dead" from the same period
• The name came from handwritten track lists 2Pac made in 1993 and 1994
• The 1995 version was never released after his early release from prison following the Death Row signing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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