Earlier this week, another posthumous Tupac release hit stores called Evolution: Duets & Remixes via Koch Records. SOHH caught up with production duo Street Radio, who worked on 8 cuts for the project, to get the inside scoop on putting the new album together.
"My man Bob Perry at Koch knows I'm a big fan of Pac and put me on as a production coordinator for the album," J. Math of Street Radio told SOHH. "I wanted to keep it as real to Pac as I could. Bob pulled in Styles P for "Pain," which came out hot. Pac was spitting from the point of view of his character in Above The Rim and Styles picked it up with the same vibe. I had to get Buckshot and Smif N' Wesson on "Initiated" to bring back the One Nation feel, the project they were working on with Pac right before he was killed."
Evolution: Duets & Remixes also features guest appearances from the Outlawz, Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, R&B singer Dwele and M1 of dead prez. Additional production was provided by Sha Money XL, Jake One, D. Prosper and Black Jeruz.
"We handled half the album while Sha Money's team handled the other half," Street Radio's Jimi Kendrix explained. "It kept the project tight."
"They had some acapellas they gave to us and to Sha's team," Math added. "It was cool cause we approached the tracks completely differently, and Pac's estate liked both versions to a lot of the tracks."
While Evolution revisits familiar Pac hits like "Picture Me Rollin,'" "Hail Mary," "How Do You Want It" and "Gangsta Party," some songs have entirely new production while others feature the original beats with added touches.
"We had some tracks where we were playing music on top of the original beats," Jimi Kendrix told SOHH. "So we got a chance to be in that zone and at the same time, do our own thing, an '07 feel, and it worked."
While Street Radio lamented the fact that Tupac wasn't alive to be a part of the project, the duo reported that Shakur's family was happy with the end result and they were most pleased to have been a part of something that stayed true to Pac.
"I know people hate on remix projects all day, but I got to say this is a different type of project," Math said. "A Pac fan can appreciate the music on this album."
2Pac's Evolution: Duets & Remixes is in stores now. Street Radio are currently working with Ghostface, Clipse, AZ, Big Noyd and Ice Cube, as well as working on Jimi's solo project. The duo are also scoring Rick Ross' film M.I.Yayo.
Source: SOHH.com
"My man Bob Perry at Koch knows I'm a big fan of Pac and put me on as a production coordinator for the album," J. Math of Street Radio told SOHH. "I wanted to keep it as real to Pac as I could. Bob pulled in Styles P for "Pain," which came out hot. Pac was spitting from the point of view of his character in Above The Rim and Styles picked it up with the same vibe. I had to get Buckshot and Smif N' Wesson on "Initiated" to bring back the One Nation feel, the project they were working on with Pac right before he was killed."
Evolution: Duets & Remixes also features guest appearances from the Outlawz, Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, R&B singer Dwele and M1 of dead prez. Additional production was provided by Sha Money XL, Jake One, D. Prosper and Black Jeruz.
"We handled half the album while Sha Money's team handled the other half," Street Radio's Jimi Kendrix explained. "It kept the project tight."
"They had some acapellas they gave to us and to Sha's team," Math added. "It was cool cause we approached the tracks completely differently, and Pac's estate liked both versions to a lot of the tracks."
While Evolution revisits familiar Pac hits like "Picture Me Rollin,'" "Hail Mary," "How Do You Want It" and "Gangsta Party," some songs have entirely new production while others feature the original beats with added touches.
"We had some tracks where we were playing music on top of the original beats," Jimi Kendrix told SOHH. "So we got a chance to be in that zone and at the same time, do our own thing, an '07 feel, and it worked."
While Street Radio lamented the fact that Tupac wasn't alive to be a part of the project, the duo reported that Shakur's family was happy with the end result and they were most pleased to have been a part of something that stayed true to Pac.
"I know people hate on remix projects all day, but I got to say this is a different type of project," Math said. "A Pac fan can appreciate the music on this album."
2Pac's Evolution: Duets & Remixes is in stores now. Street Radio are currently working with Ghostface, Clipse, AZ, Big Noyd and Ice Cube, as well as working on Jimi's solo project. The duo are also scoring Rick Ross' film M.I.Yayo.
Source: SOHH.com
