Customer Reviews

R U Still Down? (Remember Me)

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

These are 26 cut recordings from Tupac's earlier days taken from the years of 91' through to 94'. A long listen, but at the end you end up realising what a great loss of talent the world of hip hop suffered when the thug rapper was tragically gunned down back in 1996.

Although these are songs that didn't make it to his earlier albums, this did not doubt my opinions of their quality - it was good material, although not consistent enough. This is more of a black and white album with no shades of gray, the good songs are great, the bad songs are terrible. 'R U Still Down?' does have its hot spots with tracks such as the unforgettable 'Do For Love', the religious 'I Wonder If Heaven Gotta Ghetto' and the haunting and very mysterious 'Only Fear Of Death'. Lyrically, at this stage of his life especially, Tupac's views are more political and intellectual for the majority of the album since he had not quite reached his Death Row days just yet.

The two disc set, in a way, tells a story of a man who was on the verge of something here, yet never got the time to fulfil it as you can tell some verses are incomplete and hesitant. Do not think this lessens the albums quality, as about 80% of it is worth while. Although one of my favourite Tupac albums, 'R U Still Down?' in short is a sad and depressing story of a man who knew his end was to come far too soon.

I am a diehard Tupac fan, and I love anything he does, but this album is my second favorite of his behind Me Agaisnt the World. It's got a lot of different Pac on here, different moods, some early stuff from him and new stuff. But I'mma keep it real, if you don't like Pac then you probly won't like this, but if you don't like Pac then shouldn't even be reading this. But if you liked All Eyez On Me, you gon like this album 10 times better. Peace

First off, I want to know why ...so many rap fans hated this album. I've had this CD for ages and I enjoy it heaps (but it did take me a long time!)

To be honest, I haven't been a 2pac fan since his younger days but I quickly grew into his music when 'Me Against the World' was released. Many people are familiar with 2pac when he was with Deathrow but this is some old stuff created back even before '2pacalypse Now' was released.

Both CDs are generally good, though I like CD2 a bit better. Some great songs on this CD are: Nothing to Lose, I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto, R U Still Down, Hellrazor, Lie to Kick It, When I Get Free, Hold On Be Strong, ..., Do for Love, Nothin But Love, When I Get Free II and Only Fear of Death.

2pac released 2 songs from this CD (I think), I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto and Do for Love. Great tracks to listen to but could have been worked on some more. Some tracks I reckon he should have released are Only Fear of Death and Nothing to Lose.

You won't find 2pac's thug style on here but you will find some pretty heavy, old stuff on here. Generally, I would recommend this CD to true 2pac fans. It's a great album but would take a long time to like.

I like this album. The songs are awsome and the lyrics are kickin'. My favorite song is "Do For Love." Any of you who don't have this album have to get it.

This album is one made up of tracks that have already been cut, assembled by his mother. Some are fairly new, some are fairly old. But all of them are classic Tupac. 'Hellraizor' and 'Fuck all ya'll' just to name a few, will have you missin Tupac as soon as you start listening to it. Alot of the tracks are from awhile back and you will love to hear him fresh and new but, never boring or too old. I love it and amoung all my 2Pac cds I play this one the most. You have GOT to listen to 'Hellraizor' (DISC 1 track 4) as SOON as you get it. You will be blown away I promise. We miss you Pac. R.I.P.

I'm surprised how this album has been accepted. Lets not get carried away with "his legacy" and his tragic death and all the controversy surrounding 2Pac. Everybody already knows about all that.

R U Still Down is my favorite album by 2Pac. Makaveli and All Eyez are both 5 stars to me, but R U Still Down is more raw. Especially as far as the production is concerned. A lot of people are apparently disappointed by the production on this album. I find it to have a sense of being more genuine, and more fitting than the other posthumous releases. This is probably since Pac actually had some input on creating these tracks. Overall, the sound of the album (and individual tracks) is more whole. Listening to R U Still Down helps to show how much of a project Makaveli and All Eyez On Me were. Those two albums were obviously much more orchestrated and calculated, and designed to provoke in every way. They were much more surgical and precise.

R U Still Down, however, is just straight hip-hop. There's scratching on here! There's no name dropping, or disses aimed at specific people. Just general expression of different emotions. Instead of a song about Tipper Gore or Bad Boy (for example) specificly, you get the more general (and undated) song about the struggles in general with government oppression or social commentary or anger or whatever. This is technically easier for a listener to relate to, since hardly any of us actually know Tipper Gore or Puffy, etc.....but somehow the audience doesn't want that. wtf?

"Thug Style" is probably the single song by Pac to most adhere to the street chronicling and nostalgic waxing scenarios in hip-hop. And at the same time, he's replying directly to everybody giving this album bad reviews: 'you don't know my style.'
Just because All Eyez sounded one way, or Makaveli sounded one way, or Strictly 4 My sounded one way....don't get it twisted. Its art. You gotta be open. Don't expect artists to be how you want them to be. You cannot expect anything from art, all that does is turn it into a product instead of art.

The lyrics on this album are of things more accesible to the common listener. The production is reminiscent of earlier 2Pac and more of a east-coast style of the early 90's (pre-Death Row). There's more lyrical acrobatics than usual (Let Them Thangs Go), and more of the same techincal (Lie to Kick It) and simple formats (F*** All Y'All) we're used to from 2Pac.

If you ignore all the hype and controversy surrounding the artist, and drop your expectations of him...just listen to the music on R U Still Down for the music, then maybe you can re-discover the best MC with this album.

While this is not nearly as good as "All Eyez on Me", it is still very good. Disc 1 is kind of disappointing with the only good songs "Open Fire" and the title track. Disc 2 starts with the excellent "Ready 4 Whatever" and has several other good songs such as "Nothing But Love", "16 on Death Row", "I Wonder...", "When I get Free II", and "Only Fear of Death." 2pac forever! Puffy , go to hell!

"R U Still Down? (Remember Me)", a double album 26 tracks deep, is far from impressive. The previously unreleased tracks, recorded between the years '91-'94, represent Pac at his lowest state lyrically. To be honest, the lyrical performance is weak. The beats are nothing more than average and the production left plenty of room for improvement. After several recordings with Death Row, this album leaves much to be desired. Gone is the fury, the agression, the hatred, the overall emotion that he so vividly displayed in his more recent recordings. "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto", the albums first single, originally recorded in '93, is far from single worthy. "Do For Love", the albums second single, is better than the first, but still (despite a decent lyrical performance) is not of single status either. This is not to say that the entire album was a flop though. 2Pac raps with fury and rage on "Hellraizer", displaying his burning passion and emotion listeners were once fond of. "Thug Style" has a more modern sound than the majority of the album, the beat is above average, the lyrics are strong, and the track is rather satisfying. On the whole, the album becomes more enjoyable the more you listen to it. Don't expect to be impressed the first time around, it takes a while to adapt yourself to a younger Pac, different than that of his character at the time of his passing.

Tupac Shakur's "R U Still Down? (Remember Me)" came out in 1997, one year after his passing. Production could of been better on this album, but lyrics and 26 tracks definetly make it an album for the collection if your a pac fan. Nice tracks on disc one include the title track "R U still Down?", "Hellrazor" a powerfull track with sick beats as an angry Pac lays down memorable lyrics. "I wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto" is an upbeat track where Pac talks about growing up, making money, and thug life. "Nothing to Lose" is another ill track, Pac verses "Walk a mile in my shoes and you would be crazy too". "Im getting money", [and other songs] close off disc one well. Disc 2 comes next, third track "Hold on Be Strong", is an upbeat track sort of like "Keep Ya Head Up". "Do for Love" feat. Eric Williams (of blackstreet) is a deep and memorable track about love. "16 on Death Row" is a powerfull harcore track. "When I get free II" and "Only fear of Death" are both nice tracks and close off the album well. "R U still Down" is really an album dedicated to thug life, and Pac comes across powerfully, hes less poetic and less philosophical on this album then previous and later releases, this album is gangster rap at its best. What makes some of the later post-death albums (Untill the end of Time, Better Dayz) better in my opinion is they cover the time period (1994-1996) right before his death, while this album covers music from 1991-1994 period, when he was still progressing as an artist. "R U still Down" may not be for everyone, but if you love Pac like I do, you will appreciate this album.

my songs are:

Do For Love 5/5: Talks of a Relationship. (Also A Bobby Caldwell Remake,a very strong remake of all)
R U Still Down 5/5: Are You Still Down With Love
I Wonder Heaven Got A Ghetto (Hip-Hop Version) 5/5:this is my fav. song of all,this explain of his life. Interesting

Fake Ass Bitches 5/5: A Powerful song to the fake media,corrupted police & so called friends who wanted to take ya out.

When I Get Free 2 5/5: explain if a person if person is trapped & needs to be freed.

HellRazor 5/5: this is the darker,deeper & unleashed side of him showin that how hard is it to live through whores,corruption media,worthless president,mistreated the poor & so much