''Loyal to the Game'' is the ninth studio album and fifth

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ...

studio album by American rapper

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

. The album was produced by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

and consists of remixes of previously unreleased music recorded by Tupac before his death in 1996. Released in the United States on December 14, 2004, ''Loyal to the Game'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. It was later certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background

During an interview with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

stated he was so moved by Tupac's life and work that he wrote a letter to Tupac's mother,

Afeni Shakur Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams; January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party. Shakur was the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur and the executor of his estate. She founded t ...

, asking her to consider letting him produce his next album. Shakur agreed, allowing Eminem to produce three new songs for the 2003 soundtrack album, '' Tupac: Resurrection'', and the entirety of ''Loyal to the Game'', bar bonus content. All songs on the album were recorded prior to Tupac's involvement in the controversial

East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, serving as the second posthumous album released consisting of material from this time period, the first being 1997's ''

R U Still Down? (Remember Me) ''R U Still Down? (Remember Me)'' is the sixth studio album and second double album by American rapper, 2Pac, released on November 25, 1997. It is his second posthumous release and the first to be released without his creative input and contains p ...

''. Although the songs are mostly unreleased, the title track, "Loyal to the Game", was previously released on the

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

edition of the 1994 soundtrack album ''

Above the Rim ''Above the Rim'' is a 1994 American sports drama film co-written and directed by Jeff Pollack in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Barry Michael Cooper, adapted from a story by Benny Medina. The film stars Duane Martin, Tupac ...

'', and subsequently as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the album's lead single, "

Regulate Regulate may refer to: * Regulation * '' Regulate...G Funk Era'', an album from rapper Warren G ** Regulate (song), title song from the album See also * * * Regulator (disambiguation) Regulator may refer to: Technology * Regulator (automati ...

". The album featured two singles: "

Thugs Get Lonely Too "Thugs Get Lonely Too" is a song by rapper Tupac Shakur. The song was released as a 12" promo single for his 2004 posthumous album ''Loyal to the Game''. The song was also used as the b-side to the album's lead single "Ghetto Gospel". The song fe ...

", which served as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

for the album, and "

Ghetto Gospel "Ghetto Gospel" is a song by American rapper Tupac Shakur, which was released as the lead single from his 2004 posthumous album ''Loyal to the Game''. The song was produced by American rapper Eminem and features a sample of Elton John's 1971 son ...

", which served as the lead single. Originally, "Ghetto Gospel" was recorded for inclusion on the 1992 Christmas compilation '' A Very Special Christmas 2'', but due to Tupac's legal troubles, the song was dropped from the album. This original version has a much faster tempo and features a third and fourth verse which didn't feature in Eminem's remix.

Production

''Loyal to the Game'' marks the only posthumous Tupac album not to feature any original production. When remixing these songs, Eminem used various unusual production techniques, namely, modifying the pace and pitch of Tupac's voice to better suit the instrumentals he produced. The style of the production on the album fitted more to the form of a Shady/

Aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an Americ ...

release, of which Eminem partly created, than it did to any original or previous posthumous Tupac release.2Pac (Tupac Shakur) Loyal to the Game Lyrics Sounds and More
/ref> There were also various uses of cutting and pasting vocals to produce new words synonymous with rap culture at that time, such as making it sound as though Tupac is saying, "2005", "

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

", "

Obie Trice Obie Trice III (born November 14, 1977) is an American rapper. He was signed to fellow Detroit rapper Eminem's Shady Records in 2002, where he released the albums ''Cheers'' (2003) and ''Second Round's on Me'' (2006). Trice formed his own record ...

" and " Em". Although ''Loyal to the Game'' was produced by Eminem, the album does feature four bonus remixes, with production coming from

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Phila ...

Red Spyda Andy "Red Spyda" Thelusma is an American hip hop producer who has worked on many songs for artists including 50 Cent, D-Block, Mobb Deep, Amerie, D12, and G-Unit. Other notable works by Red Spyda have included his contributions to the in-game ...

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

, and

DJ Quik David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and producer, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, ...

, though, the bonus track produced by Scott Storch, "Po Nigga Blues", does not feature in Eminem form on the main album. It is unknown if Eminem did or did not produce a version of that song.

Critical reception and commercial performance

''Loyal to the Game'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week-sales of over 330,000 copies in its first week. On February 15, 2005, the album was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

(RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the US. As of September 2011, the album has sold 1,204,124 copies in the United States.

Track listing

;Sample credits *"

" contains a sample of "

Indian Sunset "Indian Sunset" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was released on John's 1971 album ''Madman Across the Water''. Background The song chronicles the story of an unnamed ...

" performed by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. *"Don't You Trust Me?" contains a sample of "Do You Have a Little Time" performed by

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

. *"N.I.G.G.A." contains a sample of "

(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" is a funk/Soul music, soul song originally recorded by Curtis Mayfield for his album ''Curtis (Curtis Mayfield album), Curtis'' (1970). The song was meant to serve as a warning regar ...

" performed by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. ;Notes *Originally, "Out on Bail" was intended for an unreleased version of '' Thug Life: Volume 1'' but due to controversial reasons, the original version did not make the final cut and was remixed after Eminem went on board. The original version can be found on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums published posthumously Tupac Shakur albums Albums produced by DJ Quik Amaru Entertainment albums