The fact the record still makes room for music for the clubs ( Toss It Up) is testament to Shakur’s infinite range. These mostly morbid songs are summarised perfectly by the record’s sinister artwork, which depicts the crucifixion of Shakur.
The rapper has mournful eyes and blood trickling down his naked body, the names of American cities pinned to his cross. In 2019, this image feels prescient, Shakur’s corpse the byproduct of an unequal American society that continues to tear down young black men, almost at a whim. The fact this artwork was recently referenced so obviously by West Coast upstart 03 Greedo, for his brilliant God Level album, serves as proof of The 7 Day Theory’s continued cultural relevance.Ĭompton native Ronald “Riskie” Brent was just 24 when he created this haunting image. He was plucked from relative obscurity by Death Row CEO Suge Knight, who recruited Brent as one of the label’s in-house artists. #The don killuminati meaning crack#Ĭrack Magazine caught up with Brent to find out how this haunting artwork came together. You went from doing graffiti and making t-shirts for your friends to working with Tupac Shakur at the height of his career. She drew stuff when she would babysit me and I would copy her drawings. When I was in high school, I did graffiti and started airbrushing t-shirts at the Compton Swat Meet and people would pay me well to do their clothes.
I developed a buzz around the city and it must have got Suge Knight’s attention. We already picked Pac's 100 Best Songs, now click through while we break both albums down point by point.I give Suge all the credit as he literally plucked me out of the streets and gave me a position at the biggest hip-hop label in the country. But there are some undeniable facts to help in our quest to settle the matter once and for all. The one you prefer says as much about the you as it does about the artist or his work. For the past 15 years the debate has raged on: which of these two is Pac’s greatest album?Ĭhoosing between these two masterpieces is like a rap Rohrschach test. None of the innumerable posthumous 2Pac releases has come close to the impact of AEOM or TDK. The second 2Pac album to top the Billboard chart, All Eyez On Me ratcheted the East/West tensions within hip-hop to the breaking point.
With A-list producers and a galaxy of guest stars, the 27-track double album was over-the-top in every way.įresh from the drama of his time in prison, Pac enacted a Hennessy-fueled fantasy of sex, murder, and thug passion-and his fans loved it. TDK followed close behind Pac’s Death Row debut, All Eyez On Me, released exactly seven months before his death. But during one of his last interviews, Pac explained that The 7 Day Theory referred to how long it took to record the album-he laid down his vocals in just three days, and the mixing took another four days. Many speculated that the 7 days in the album title stood for the time between his September 7 shooting and his subsequent death in a Vegas hospital.
The sleeve copy contained the words “Exit 2Pac, Enter Makaveli,” prompting theories that Pac might have faked his own death. Overwhelmed by grief and denial, fans scrutinized the album for hidden messages. In those strange and confusing days after 2Pac’s death, rumors spread like a virus. But as popular as Shakur’s fifth studio album may be, it remains one of the most enigmatic and misunderstood records in the history of hip-hop. Released just two months after Tupac Shakur’s murder, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory sold over 600,000 copies in its first week, knocking The Beatles out of the No. Fifteen years ago yesterday, Makaveli’s debut album hit stores.