Daily Staff Writer

“R U Still Down? (Remember Me)”

2Pac

It’s an irony of popular music that talented artists like Jim Morrison, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix sell more albums after their deaths than they did while they were alive.

Add Tupac Shakur to that list. Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, well aware of this irony, sued successfully for the rights to the remainder of her son’s catalog of unreleased music, reportedly over 200 songs.

“R U Still Down? (Remember Me)” is the first release from this catalog — a double album of material Shakur recorded before signing with Death Row Records.

The status of “unreleased” is slightly questionable in this case. Songs such as “Nothing But Love” and the first single “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto” have already been B-sides to previous singles.

Both songs are worth including, though, as they feature Shakur at his best. In “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto,” Shakur smartly addresses the hypocrisy of racism AND offers a solution.

“Take the evil out, the people they’ll be acting right/ ‘Cause both black and white are smokin’ crack tonight/ And only time we deal is when we kill each other/It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other,” raps Shakur.

Much of the double album is of this caliber. Only the occasional misstep reminds you of the controversy which swirled around the mixed messages that Shakur offered.

Disc Two’s misogynistic “Fake Ass Bitches” is filled with crude odes to machismo such as “busy now bitch but you can give me the pussy later.” Disc One’s “Thug Style” offers no excitement lyrically or musically and deviates little from the bravado he offered in his Death Row years.

To be sure, not everyone will relate to the morbid fascination of violent songs such as “Open Fire” or “Only Fear of Death,” but these songs also find Shakur questioning his upbringing and asking himself if he was a wild child because he never had a male role model.

Such introspection will surprise the many people who stereotyped Tupac Shakur as a simple “gangsta” rapper.

Like most hip-hop artists, Shakur gives voice to an urban dilemma many of us never see or intentionally try to avoid. His songs may make you nod your head or tap your feet, but they also affect how you think.

Ultimately, this album serves as a reminder to how much we have lost by Tupac’s untimely death.

Hopefully, Afeni Shakur’s claim that this is the first of many albums will hold true so that his legacy and message can live on for future generations.

3 1/2 stars out of five.

— Steve “Flash” Juon

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“Harlem World”

Mase

At the time of Biggie Smalls’ death, many people began to wonder if the empire of Sean “Puffy” Combs would start to crumble like that of the Death Row family. Well, we can all stop wondering.

Mase releases his first solo album behind widely-played and massly-heard appearances on songs with B.I.G. and Puffy, making his voice as recognizable as Benjamin Franklin’s face.

The album opens with an intro featuring the master of the intro himself — Puff Daddy. But no one buys albums to listen to the skits, we buy them for the music, something this album has plenty of.

From the get go, Mase can be found exercising his monotone, undramatic flow over tracks reminiscent of a skating party straight from the ’80s. Songs like “Love U So” feature samples of “Square Biz” by Teena Marie while the album’s intro samples “Joy” by Issac Hayes.

However, even Mase’s unique style can’t save all the songs on the album. One cut in particular, “Cheat On You,” sounds like it was put together in a rush, almost like it was the final song on the album.

Another song, “Niggaz Wanna Act,” also sounds a bit rushed and thrown together. Fortunately, the song is saved by none other than the master of the cameo — Busta Rhymes. If not for Rhymes’ wild style, the song would probably get lost in the shuffle.

What begins as a fine piece of work actually seems to lose a bit of its flava after the jam “What You Want.” You may actually find your thoughts wandering during some of the last four or five songs.

But it turns out to be worth it when you hear “24 Hours to Live” which features The LOX, Black Rob and DMX, who deliver a very powerful chorus on “Take What’s Yours.”

3 1/2 stars out of five.

— Rhaason Mitchell

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“The One and Only”

Plankeye

Although Plankeye has been known to Christian rock as a notoriously heavy metal group, on the band’s new album, “The One and Only,” Plankeye explores new avenues of its music that aren’t so heavy.

The opening song, “Fall Down,” immediately grabs the listener’s attention with a catchy harmonica and electric guitar duet.

Lead vocalist Scott Silletta sings about how he “falls down” when sins are his “heart’s desire.” In this song, as in most of the others, the drums carry the entire song with a driving beat in the background.

Many songs on “The One and Only” are softer than typical Plankeye cuts, but there are a few that can be characterized as heavy metal.

The fourth track, “It’s Been so Very Long,” includes heavy, head-banging music without a hint of softer rock. This song deals with the struggle of making empty promises and then realizing how it hurts other people.

Silletta sings, “I was reminded of the lack of who I am, I swallowed hard.” With this new album, Plankeye has done an admirable job of creating ideas and sounds that are new to the band as well as to their audience.

4 stars out of five

— Ashley Hassebroek

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“American Lesion”

American Lesion

Greg Graffin has proven his punk rock genius on such classic Bad Religion records as “Recipe For Hate,” “Stranger Than Fiction” and “The Grey Race.” On “American Lesion,” the former Ph.D. student in biology at Cornell turned singer/songwriter proves this genius goes far beyond punk rock.

American Lesion is described by Graffin as a ” very personal project” he has been working on for the last 10 years. He says the songs, which were never recorded by Bad Religion, constitute a more emotional side of him that he usually doesn’t exercise with his band.

Graffin could not be more accurate.

“American Lesion” bleeds with emotion, from the painful story of not having time for a loved one in “Predicament” to the harsh description of arrogance in “In The Mirror.”

Graffin’s powerful guitar strumming and passionate singing resembles that of ex-Husker Du/ex-Sugar frontman Bob Mould. The creativity in the song structure and the lyrics resembles Lou Barlow’s work in his side project band Folk Implosion.

“American Lesion” is Graffin’s attempt to share his inner-most feelings with his loyal fans and fortunately for them, he succeeds.

3 stars out of five.

— Corey Moss

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“Last Man Standing”

MC Eiht

Better known to many as a killer in the critically acclaimed movie “Menace II Society,” MC Eiht is actually a veteran of the rap music scene who was formerly the star of the crew Compton’s Most Wanted.

MC Eiht’s last two releases, though, have put his name firmly in the spotlight, with mixed results. “We Come Strapped” was hailed as a gangsta rap classic, yet “Death Threatz” disappointed his loyal fans.

On his third album under his own name, MC Eiht returns to put a new focus on his talents and even spark a little unity between the East and West coasts.

“You’re a customer, heavyweights to big hustlers,” Eiht raps on “Can I Get Mine,” referring to a classic track by seminal New York rap crew EPMD. Such surprising references recur throughout the album.

Although he mostly utilizes the in-house production of 1/2 Oz. and DJ Slip, guest producer DJ Muggs nicely sparks tracks like “The Way We Run It” and “Can I Get Mine” with smoky funk-filled beats.

Music has always been MC Eiht’s strength.

Not known as a lyrical genius, he has relied on a good knack for storytelling and strong beats to set the mood of his songs.

On both marks, Eiht succeeds admirably. Fans of his earlier work will find this a pleasant return to the style that made MC Eiht a hit.

3 stars out of five.

— Steve “Flash” Juon