Thug Life was an American hip hop group that consisted of

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 ...

Big Syke Tyruss Gerald Himes (November 22, 1968 – December 5, 2016), better known by his stage names Big Syke and Mussolini, was an American rapper best known for his work with the American hip-hop groups Thug Life and Outlawz. His stage name "Big Syk ...

Mopreme Maurice Harding (born August 16, 1967), better known by his stage name Mopreme Shakur, originally known as Wycked, is an American rapper. He was a member of the hip-hop group Thug Life and is the stepbrother of Tupac Shakur. He was also a member o ...

, Macadoshis, and The Rated R. They released one album, 1994's '' Thug Life: Volume 1'', before disbanding in 1995.

Etymology

According to Tupac, the name originally started as an acronym: "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody". It represented the idea that the racism and marginalization experienced by black youth ends up negatively affecting society.

History

Big Syke was a Crips gang member and Macadoshis was a drug dealer during the 1990s. Tupac, Randy "Stretch" Walker and Princess Mel formed Thug Life in 1992 with Tyruss "Little Psycho" Himes.

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Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

They recorded a song also titled "Thug Life". Soon Little Psycho joined the group, under the name Syke. Later Macadoshis and The Rated R joined the group. They signed with Interscope Records and recorded an LP titled ''Thug Life Volume 1''. Tupac's stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, later joined the group.

''Thug Life: Volume 1''

On September 26, 1994, '' Thug Life: Volume 1'' was released. The first single and video was "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (which originally appeared on the ''

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'' soundtrack, released six months earlier), which was a Tupac solo song. Tupac performed "Out on Bail" at the 1994 Source Awards. The album was originally released on Shakur's label Out Da Gutta. Tupac's mother's label,

Amaru Entertainment Amaru Entertainment (formerly Amaru Records) is a record label founded in 1997 by Afeni Shakur after the death of her son Tupac Shakur, Tupac Amaru Shakur. The label was created to handle the release of Tupac's previously unreleased material, an ...

, has since gained the rights to the album. The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared on Tupac's 1998 ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album. ''Thug Life: Volume 1'' had sold 478,419 copies in the United States as of 2011.

Stretch's death

On November 30, 1995, Stretch died after being shot four times in the back by three men who pulled up alongside his minivan in Queens Village. He was killed exactly one year after 2Pac's 1994 Quad Studio shooting.

Original members

( 1996) * Stretch (a.k.a. Big Stretch) (d. 1995) *

(a.k.a. Little Psycho or Mussolini) (d. 2016) *

(a.k.a. Mocedes, The Wycked, Komani or Mo' Khomani) * Macadoshis (a.k.a. The Original Mac 10) * The Rated R (a.k.a. Super Star)

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Thug Life: Volume 1'' (1994) #42 Billboard 200; #6 R&B/ Hip-Hop

References

{{Authority control African-American musical groups Hip hop groups from California Gangsta rap groups G-funk groups Hip hop collectives Interscope Records artists Jive Records artists