Recorded in 3 days, ‘The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory’ under Tupac’s new alias Makaveli, shook the hip hop industry forever. Even those who were dissed by Tupac on the album can’t deny the impact nor the influence it had over them.
Outlawz were heavily featured on the album. As stated by BET, ‘Pac decided to create a project that would serve as a true debut for the group while adding new mythology about himself, which was inspired by an Italian Renaissance figure he learned about while incarcerated in New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility. (View: Niccolò Machiavelli Books Was Sent To Tupac In Prison By Wendy Day)
But, as told by Young Noble exclusively to BET, the instant classic was almost a free mixtape. “I remember him wanting it to be a mixtape,” explained Young Noble, who said that ‘Pac originally wanted to press up the CDs himself to be given out for free. “He just wanted to drop something to set the streets on fire and push the Outlawz before he got into whatever the next solo project was going to be for him. He was like ‘Yo, we going to do a mixtape real quick. This sh*t going to be crazy, [only] a couple of songs and just set the whole f*****g streets on fire, give this s**t away for free.’”
Kicking off the album was ‘Bomb First,’ Tupac’s introduction to his new alias Makaveli. But, one thing remain the same, Tupac was not holding back and continued his lyrical assault on various rappers. Jay-Z, Mobb Deep and Chino XL were all on the hit list. Joining Tupac on ‘Bomb First’ were Outlawz members E.D.I. Mean and Young Noble.
“I just remember when ‘Pac went and laid his verse and I was like ‘Holy s**t,’ Young Noble told BET. “There wasn’t no holding him back. He was speaking exactly what was on his mind and his heart. He was in mash mode, man. That’s the best way to describe it, man. But I remember when he laid his s**t out, he trying to corner the market, man. He [was] trying to shut down the competition for real.”
The song was produced in one day by Tupac himself and Darryl Harper, who would go on to sample the James Brown “More Peas” bassline from Naughty By Nature’s “Uptown Anthem.”
“If you listen to ‘Bomb First,’ it’s out of key and we didn’t care,” added E.D.I. Mean. “We was like this s**t dope and ‘Pac like it, so I liked it. We were like f**k it. The way you hear it today is the way we did it that night. Nobody came in and added anything to it.”
Read the full article here courtesy of BET: The Oral History of 2Pac’s ‘Makaveli’ Album
