Loyal to the Game

Loyal to the Game
Studio album by 2Pac
Released	December 12, 2004 (see release history)
Recorded	1991–1994 (2Pac's vocals) 2003–2004 (Production, guest vocals, and mixing)
Genre	West coast hip hop, gangsta rap
Length	64:56
Label	Amaru Entertainment Interscope Records
Producer	Afeni Shakur (exec.), Eminem (also exec.) Scott Storch, Red Spyda, Raphael Saadiq, DJ Quik, Luis Resto
2Pac chronology
2Pac Live (2004) Loyal to the Game (2004) Pac's Life (2006)
Singles from Loyal to the Game
"Thugs Get Lonely Too" Released: September 23, 2004 "Ghetto Gospel" Released: January 21, 2005

Loyal to the Game is the ninth studio album and fifth posthumous studio album by Tupac Shakur. It contains remixes of previously unreleased music recorded by Shakur before his death in 1996. Released in the United States on December 14, 2004 (December 12 in the United Kingdom), Loyal to the Game was produced by Eminem.

Background

According to an interview with MTV, Eminem was so moved by Tupac's life and work that he wrote a letter to Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, asking her to consider letting him produce the album. Shakur agreed, giving Eminem the go ahead.^[1] The album featured two singles- "Thugs Get Lonely Too" featuring Nate Dogg and "Ghetto Gospel" featuring Elton John.^[2]

Production

Eminem used various unusual production techniques during the creation of this album, namely modifying the pace and pitch of Tupac's voice to better suit the beats produced.^[3] There were also various uses of the cutting and pasting of vocals to produce new words synonymous with current rap culture, such as saying "G-Unit", "Obie Trice" and "Em" instead of "LG", the original producer of "Out On Bail".^[3]

The original title track was recorded in 1993 by 2Pac, Treach and Riddler for the film Above The Rim (1994) and was produced by Reginald Heard. DJ Quik made a remix, the tempo of which is the same as the original, that was added as a bonus track; DJ Quik also suggested to Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, that the title track be known as "Loyal to the Game".

The original versions of the songs were originally recorded for 2Pac's debut album 2Pacalypse Now (1991), for his second album 'Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z (1993), for Thug Life: Volume 1 (1994, with his group Thug Life) and for Me Against The World (1995), but were cut. In 1993 2Pac recorded a track named "Po Nigga Blues"" with a rapper named The Govenor. Later 2Pac's producer Shock-G produced a remix of the song, which is still unreleased. However Scott Storch made a remix of the song, which was added as a bonus track.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
PopMatters	[6]
RapReviews	(8/10) [7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Vibe	[9]
MusicBox
Xtam4 RTC

Loyal to the Game debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number one with sales of over 330,000 copies in its first week. It was later certified platinum in the US.^[10]

It has sold 1,204,124 copies in the United States of America as of 2011.^[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer	Length
1.	"Soldier Like Me" (featuring Eminem)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible / Stretch From the Live Squad)	3:50
2.	"The Uppercut" (featuring E.D.I. Mean & Young Noble)	Eminem, Luis Resto	3:50
3.	"Out On Bail"	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by LG)	3:54
4.	"Ghetto Gospel" (featuring Elton John)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	3:58
5.	"Black Cotton" (featuring Eminem, Kastro & Young Noble)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	5:03
6.	"Loyal to the Game" (featuring G-Unit)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Reginald Heard)	3:23
7.	"Thugs Get Lonely Too" (featuring Nate Dogg)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Stretch from the Live Squad)	4:48
8.	"N.I.G.G.A." (featuring Jadakiss)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	3:02
9.	"Who Do You Love?"	Eminem, Luis Resto	3:28
10.	"Crooked Nigga Too"	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	2:55
11.	"Don't You Trust Me?" (featuring Dido)	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	4:55
12.	"Hennessey" (featuring Obie Trice)	Eminem, Luis Resto	3:27
13.	"Thug 4 Life"	Eminem, Luis Resto (Originally produced by Johnny "J")	2:54
14.	"Po Nigga Blues (Scott Storch Remix) (Bonus Track)" (featuring Ron Isley)	Scott Storch (Originally Produced by Daryl L. Anderson (DJ Daryl)	3:38
15.	"Hennessey (Red Spyda Remix) (Bonus Track)" (featuring E.D.I. Mean & Sleepy Brown)	Red Spyda	3:18
16.	"Crooked Nigga Too (Raphael Saadiq Remix) (Bonus Track)" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)	Raphael Saadiq (Originally produced by Big D The Impossible)	4:02
17.	"Loyal to the Game (DJ Quik Remix) (Bonus Track)" (featuring Big Syke & DJ Quik)	DJ Quik	4:20

Sample credits

• "Ghetto Gospel" contains a sample of "Indian Sunset" performed by Elton John
• "Don't You Trust Me?" contains a sample of "Do You Have a Little Time" performed by Dido
• "N.I.G.G.A." contains a sample of "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" performed by Curtis Mayfield

Unused Tracks

• "Don't You Trust Me (Stereo-Types Remix)" Feat. Keyshia Cole
• "Thug 4 Life (Jelly Roll Remix)" Feat. Jelly Roll
• "Thug 4 Life (Johnny J Remix)"
• "Deadly Combination (Ron G Remix)" Feat. Big L, The Notorious B.I.G. & Stretch
• "Tears Of Clown (Mike Mosley Remix)"

Release history

Region	Date
United Kingdom	December 12, 2004
United States	December 14, 2004

Album chart positions

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[12]	Platinum	1,204,124[11]
United Kingdom (BPI)[13]	Silver	60,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14]	21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15]	100
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[16]	7
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	50
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[18]	44
French Albums (SNEP)[19]	55
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20]	20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21]	31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	21
UK Albums (OCC)[22]	20
US Billboard 200[23]	1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[24]	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25]	1

References

1. village voice > nyclife > The Essay: The End of Eminem by Jon Caramanica
2. Amazon.com: Loyal to the Game: 2Pac: Music
3. 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) Loyal to the Game Lyrics Sounds and More
4. Birchmeier, Jason. "Loyal to the Game - 2Pac". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
5. Dreisinger, Baz. "Something gets lost in Em's mix". LaTimes.com. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
6. Hamilton, Pierre. "2Pac: Loyal to the Game". PopMatters. PopMatters. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
7. Juon, Steve. "2Pac: Loyal to the Game". RapReviews. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
8. Sheffield, Rob. "Tupac Shakur Loyal To The Game". RollingStone.com. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
9. "Tupac - Loyal to the Game". Cd Universe. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
10. Tupac's 'Game' Haunts Album Chart At No. 1
11. "Tupac Month: 2Pac’s Discography". Retrieved May 27, 2013.
12. "American certifications – 2 Pac – Loyal to the Game". Recording Industry Association of America. June 23, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
13. "British album certifications – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". British Phonographic Industry. 2004. Retrieved December 8, 2011. Enter Loyal to the Game in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
14. "Australiancharts.com – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
15. "Ultratop.be – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
16. "2Pac – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for 2Pac. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
17. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
19. "Lescharts.com – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
20. "Irishcharts.com – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
21. "Charts.org.nz – 2Pac – Loyal to the Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
22. "2Pac | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 11 December 2015.
23. "2Pac – Chart history" Billboard 200 for 2Pac. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
24. "2Pac – Chart history" Billboard Top Rap Albums for 2Pac. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
25. "2Pac – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for 2Pac. Retrieved 11 December 2015.