Maps of Music

Better Dayz (2002)

Where the lyrics of Better Dayz take you, and where it was really made.

The album's only pre-Death Row era track was recorded in 1994–1995 for another label and first appeared on a 1995 soundtrack.

Key places

Recording studio, Tarzana (2002)

Recording site Can-Am Studios — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for the album. The source text dates the unreleased recordings to the 1994–1996 period. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording studio, Burbank (2002)

Recording site The Enterprise Studios — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for the album. The source text dates the unreleased recordings to the 1994–1996 period. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording and mixing studio, Atlanta (2002)

Recording site Stankonia (Atlanta) — MusicBrainz lists this studio for both recording and mixing of the album. The source text dates the unreleased recordings to the 1994–1996 period. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording studio, New York (2002)

Recording site MSR Studios — MusicBrainz lists this studio as a recording location for the album. The source text dates the unreleased recordings to the 1994–1996 period. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Better Dayz: eighth studio album and fourth posthumous album by 2Pac
• His last double album
• Released November 26, 2002
• Debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200
• Second of two albums of previously unreleased material, following Until the End of Time
• Mostly remixed songs from the Makaveli period, recorded while signed to Death Row Records
• Produced by Johnny "J", Jazze Pha, Frank Nitty, and E.D.I. Mean of Outlawz

Background

• Includes Military Minds with Boot Camp Clik members Buckshot and Smif-n-Wessun (credited as Cocoa Brovaz)
• Military Minds was meant for the planned collaborative album One Nation, which was never officially released after Shakur's death
• No censored references to Death Row Records, unlike the previous album
• The only pre-Death Row era track is My Block (Remix), recorded in 1994–1995 during Shakur's time with Interscope Records
• The original My Block was released earlier on the 1995 soundtrack album The Show
• Late Night and Who Do You Believe In were previously released on Death Row's 1999 compilation Chronic 2000
• Features appearances by Outlawz, Ron Isley, Nas, Mýa, Jazze Pha and Tyrese, among others
• Hit single Thugz Mansion has an acoustic version with Nas and J. Phoenix, which the music video is based on, and a hip hop version with Anthony Hamilton

Recording

• Most tracks are remixes from Thug Life Volume 1, All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
• Unreleased recordings date from the 1994–1996 period
• Other tracks keep their original form or are complete finished mixes, such as Fuck 'Em All, Late Night, Ghetto Star, Better Dayz, Who Do U Believe In? and They Don't Give a Fuck About Us

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born June 16, 1971 in East Harlem, New York City, to Black Panther Party members Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland.
• Raised by his mother; moved to Baltimore in 1984 and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts.
• Moved to Marin City, California in 1988.

Career

• Debuted as 2Pac on Digital Underground's 1991 single "Same Song" under Interscope Records.
• Debut album 2Pacalypse Now (1991) established him as a central figure in West Coast hip-hop.
• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) and Me Against the World (1995) brought critical and commercial success.
• All Eyez on Me (1996), the first hip-hop double album, produced two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "California Love" and "How Do U Want It".
• Also acted in films including Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).
• Died September 13, 1996, after a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada; the 2026 trial convicted Duane Davis of orchestrating the murder.

Legacy

• Record sales exceed 75 million worldwide.
• Inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame (2002) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2017).
• Awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• John Bush of AllMusic wrote that Better Dayz shouldn't be overlooked and called it 2Pac's best album since his death
• Kludge magazine included it on its list of best albums of 2002
• Debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, selling 366,000 copies in its first week

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's review praised the R&B disc, which has strong tracks including a remix of My Block and material such as Never Call U Bitch Again, Better Dayz, Fame and This Life I Lead

Records

• Debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, selling 366,000 copies in its first week
• Became 2Pac's eighth US top-ten album
• Dropped to number eight in its second week, selling 163,000 more copies
• 1,765,597 copies sold in the United States as of September 2011
• Certified triple platinum by the RIAA on July 23, 2014, for sales of over three million copies
• Certified triple platinum in Canada in May 2003, for sales of over 300,000 copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ghetto Star has appeared on the soundtrack of the video game 25 to Life
• Late Night is missing from all digital and streaming releases, as well as newer CD releases
• Better Dayz has no censored references to Death Row Records, unlike Until the End of Time
• Samples include Run-DMC's Peter Piper, The Isley Brothers' Let's Fall in Love, and Jamiroquai's Manifest Destiny
• Executive producers Suge Knight and Afeni Shakur, 2Pac's mother, compiled the set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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