The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory

The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
Studio album by Makaveli (2Pac)
Released	November 5, 1996
Recorded	August 1996 Can-Am Studios (Tarzana, Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Hip hop, West Coast Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap
Length	59:24
Label	Death Row, Interscope
Producer	Simon (exec.), Darryl Harper, Hurt-M-Badd, Makaveli, Reggie Moore, Dametrius Ship, Kevin Lewis* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*
Makaveli (2Pac) chronology
All Eyez on Me (1996) Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
Singles from The 7 Day Theory
"Toss It Up" Released: 1996 "To Live & Die in L.A." Released: 1997 "Hail Mary" Released: 1997

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Entertainment Weekly	(D) link
MVRemixReview	(9/10) [1]
RapReviews	(7.5/10) link
RS Album Guide	link
XXL	[1]

The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory is the fifth and final studio album by Tupac Shakur, under the new stage name Makaveli, finished before his death and his first studio album to be posthumously released.^[2] The album was completely finished in a total of seven days during the month of August 1996.^[3] The lyrics were written and recorded in only three days and mixing took an additional four days. These are among the very last songs he recorded before his fatal shooting on September 7, 1996.

In 2005, MTV.com ranked Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory at #9 on their greatest hip hop album of all time list^[4] and, in 2006, recognized it as a classic.^[5] The emotion and anger showcased on the album has been admired by a large part of the hip-hop community, including other rappers.^[6] Ronald "Riskie" Brent is the creator of the Makaveli Don Killuminati cover painting. ^[7] According to George "Papa G" Pryce, Former Head of Publicity Death Row, claimed "that Makaveli which we did was a sort of tongue and cheek and it was not really to come out and after Tupac was murdered, it did come out. But before that it was going to be a sort of an underground." ^[8] The album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the Billboard 200.^[9] The album generated the second-highest debut-week sales total of any album that year,^[10] selling 664,000 copies on the first week. It's also known as his third biggest selling album with 3,911,787 units moved to date. This album also sold 28 million copies worldwide.^[11][12]

Concept

Though Shakur had been using the name Makaveli as far back as All Eyez On Me, the Makaveli album was conceived as a sort of introduction for Shakur's alternate stage name. Thus, the album’s sleeve contains the text, "Exit 2Pac, Enter Makaveli", referring to the exit of the Shakur of the past and the new person, Makaveli.

The album cover, which features Shakur on the cross in an attempt to convey his crucifixion by the media, obviously intended to imply an artistic resurrection as opposed to a literal one.

On "Bomb First", which serves as the album’s introduction, seven shots are heard on the track. The first six are fired during Shakur’s speech and the seventh as he begins to rap the verse, therefore^{[original research?]} literally marking the end of 2Pac and the start of Makaveli, which happens to be the first word following the shot.

While All Eyez on Me was considered by Shakur "a celebration of life"^{[citation needed]}, Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory is a much darker album he claims^{[citation needed]} of telling how bad the music will get in the future without him. Makaveli's style of rapping is still emotional, but is intensified throughout this album. Some songs on the album contain both subtle and direct insults to Shakur's rivals at the height of the East Coast-West Coast feud. Rappers insulted by Shakur include Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Mobb Deep, De La Soul, Jay-Z & Dr. Dre . Although Shakur insulted rapper Nas on "Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)" and "Against All Odds", rapper Young Noble, who appeared on several songs on The 7 Day Theory, stated in an interview that the Nas song "I Gave You Power" served as a main inspiration for Shakur's "Me and My Girlfriend."^[13] , also rapper Nas was to appear on the "Makaveli: 7 day theory, due to his and Shakur's reconciliation in 1996, sadly Shakur was murdered before any collaboration could occur. Long time friend and producer Shock G recounted:

“

In the studio, we were working. We talked about music, and he was so excited to play you his new shit, I'd try to tell what I liked about All Eyez on Me and he's like, "Yeah, yeah, I did that for Suge. Listen to this..." and he put Makaveli on. There was too much bad shit going on to be hashing that shit. You could see it in his eyes, he didn't want to talk about it no more, and you didn't even wanna bring it up.[14]

”

Recording sessions

Only six months after the release of his successful double-opus, All Eyez on Me, Shakur began work on Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The album was written and recorded at the Can-Am Studios in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California over 3 days in the month of August 1996.^{[citation needed]} During those three days 20 songs were completed, 12 of which made the final product. The album did not feature the star-studded guest list that All Eyez on Me did. Most of the guest verses are supplied by Shakur's group The Outlawz. The only verse that was not from one of the Outlawz was from Bad Azz. Young Noble of the Outlawz recalls:

“

We was supposed to be on that song, but we took too long with our verse. Bad Azz was up in there chilling with us. 'Pac used to like Bad Azz; he had a nice flow. And 'Pac threw Bad Azz up on there and I'm glad he did, 'cause Bad Azz did his thing on that muthafucka. That's one of those classic 'Pac songs, too. "Time goes by puffing on lye got a nigga going crazy..." We had started writing the shit and we was taking long. 'Pac was like, "Who got something? Bad Azz you got something?" and it fit perfect, so it was meant for Bad Azz to be on that song. We had already been on a million 'Pac songs. That was his way of motivating us like, "If y'all ain't ready, then you don't make the song." That's why some songs you might hear one on there or you might hear two or you might hear three. 'Cause when the song got just about done, if niggas ain't have no verse, we were scratching that and going to the next song. 'Pac was surrounded by a lot of controversy, and a lot of people be thinking he that way, but that dude was really all about love, yo. He loved his family, he loved the kids and he loved black people to death. That dude was really all about love. That's why the streets love him. Through all that shit, through all the beefing... when I think about 'Pac I don't think about none of that shit, I think about love. This nigga had so much love in his heart it was ridiculous, and you hear that shit in his music.[15]

”

Production

Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory has also gained praise for its production. Although many of Shakur's usual producers were not involved in the project, the producers still managed to come through for the project. The only producer Shakur had worked with prior to this album was QD3, the son of Quincy Jones and brother of Shakur's girlfriend Kidada Jones. Shakur also co-produces three tracks on the album. The other two producers were Hurt-M-Badd and Darryl “Big D” Harper, E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz recalls:

“

It was crazy at Death Row at the time. You had Snoop, Daz, and all of them on one side of the studio and you had us on the other side. At this point in the game there was a lot of bad tension going on. Niggas wasn't really feeling each other. So it was real cliquish. Like, I'm going to stay with my clique, you stay with your clique. I don't want you fucking with my producers. At the time, we wasn't fucking with [principal All Eyez on Me producer] Johnny "J" no more. We was looking for a whole new sound. At the time Hurt-M-Badd, who was just an up-and-coming producer at Death Row, and Darryl Harper, who was an R&B producer - Suge had him working on all the R&B projects - they had a green room up in Can-Am [Studios] which everybody around Death Row called the "wack room" because they said "Ain't nothing but wack shit come out of there." But we was up in the studio one day and we trying to get music done - ain't none of us producers - we see them two niggas in the "Wack room" and 'Pac like, "Go get them niggas." So niggas go bring them, 'Pac just putting niggas to work like, "I need a beat here, I need y'all to do this, do that." And these are niggas that nobody at Death Row was fucking with. They'll tell you themselves.[16]

”

Track listing

#	Title	Length	Songwriters	Producers	Additional Performers	Samples[17]
1	"Intro/Bomb First (My Second Reply)	4:57	T. Shakur (as Makaveli),Big D, Malcolm Greenidge, Rufus Cooper	Big D, and Makaveli* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	E.D.I. Mean & Young Noble
2	"Hail Mary"	5:09	Makaveli, Fetal Embrace, Yafeu Fula , Marika Kastrouni, Joe Paquette, Tyrone Wrice, R. Cooper	Hurt-M-Badd* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	Kastro, Young Noble & Yaki Kadafi of The Outlawz & Prince Ital Joe	* Contains a sample of "Pocket Full Of Stones" by UGK
3	"Toss It Up"	5:06	Makaveli, Aaron Hall, Danny Boy, Demetrius Meech Shipp, Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, Joel "JoJo" Hailey, R	Demetrius Meech Shipp (Original production by Dr. Dre)	Danny Boy, K-Ci & JoJo, Aaron Hall	Contains a sample of "Grandma's Hands" by Bill Withers Contains a sample of "Blind Man Can See It" by James Brown Contains a sample of "In Doubt" by Peter Gabriel (intro of album version/edited out of single)
4	"To Live & Die in L.A."	4:33	Makaveli, Val Young	QDIII	Val Young	Contains a sample of "Do Me, Baby" by Prince
5	"Blasphemy"	4:38	Makaveli, J. Paquette, T. Wrice	Hurt-M-Badd* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	Prince Ital Joe
6	"Life of an Outlaw"	4:55	Makaveli, Big D, M. Greenidge, Marika Kastrouni, Mutah Beale and R. Cooper	Darryl Big D and Makaveli* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	Young Noble, E.D.I. Mean, Kastro, Napoleon
7	"Just Like Daddy"	5:08	Makaveli, M. Greenidge, T. Wrice, Yafeu Fula, R. Cooper	Hurt-M-Badd	E.D.I. Mean, Yaki Kadafi & Young Noble	Contains a sample Impeach the President By The Honey Drippers
8	"Krazy"	5:15	Makaveli, Jamarr Stamps, D. Harper	Big D* Additional production Lance Pierre, and Kevin Lewis*	Bad Azz
9	"White Man'z World"	5:38	Makaveli, D. Harper	Big D* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	Darryl “Big D” Harper	Contains a sample from writer-director Spike Lee's "Malcom X" and excerpts from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Contains a sample of "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
10	"Me and My Girlfriend"	5:10	Makaveli, D. Harper & T. Wrice	Darryl "Big D" Harper, Hurt-M-Badd and Makaveli* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*
11	"Hold Ya Head"	3:58	Makaveli, T. Wrice	Hurt-M-Badd* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*	Hurt M Badd	Contains a sample of "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" by James Ingram & Patti Austin
12	"Against All Odds"	4:36	Makaveli, T. Wrice	Hurt-M-Badd and Makaveli* Additional production by Tommy "D" Daugherty, Lance Pierre, and Justin Isham*		Contains a sample of "Skin I'm In" by Cameo and Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film "The Godfather"

*Co-producer

Notes

• The July 22nd 1996 version of the tracklist^[18] included the following songs: "Friendz", "Lost Souls", "Niggaz Nature", "Watch Ya Mouth" and "When Thugz Cry". Remixed versions of "Friendz" (renamed "Fuck Friendz"), "When Thugz Cry" and "Niggaz Nature" are found on Until the End of Time and a slightly edited version of "Lost Souls" was released on the soundtrack for 2Pac's last movie performance, Gang Related. "Watch Ya Mouth" is yet to be officially released, but was leaked in 2011 along with another diss track titled NY 87. These tracks were replaced by "Toss It Up" (originally A Jodeci song, with one Pac verse, he later recorded a second for the Makaveli album), "Life As An Outlaw", "Just Like Daddy" (which was recorded for The Outlawz album), "White Man'z World" and "Me & My Girlfriend".

Engineering

• Tommy "D" Daugherty – Chief Engineer/Mixer
• Lance Pierre – Assistant engineer/Engineer/Mixer
• Justin Isham – Digital editing
• Troy Staton - Engineer/Mixer (Toss It Up Only)
• Guy Snider – Engineer/Mixer (Toss It Up Only)
• John Morris – Assistant engineer
• Scott Gutierrez – Assistant engineer
• Mastered by: Eddy Schreyer at Oasis Mastering
• Studios- Can Am Recording, Track Record Inc., Ameraycan Studio, and The Music Grinder

Chart positions

Charts (1996)	Peak positions
Australian Albums Chart [19]	1
Deutsche Alternative Charts [20]	1
Dutch Albums Chart [21]	1
New Zealand Albums Chart [22]	1
Swedish Albums Chart [23]	1
UK Albums Chart [24]	1
US Billboard 200 [25]	1
US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums [25]	1

Preceded by Anthology 3 by The Beatles

Billboard 200 number-one album November 23–30, 1996

Succeeded by Tha Doggfather by Snoop Doggy Dogg

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1996 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1996 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1997 (U.S.)

References

1. ^ XXL (2007). "Retrospective: XXL Albums". XXL Magazine, December 2007 issue. 
2. ^ http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/news/12056616
3. ^ XXL Magazine, October 2003 issue
4. ^ http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2005/greatest_albums_0505/index3.jhtml
5. ^ http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index10.jhtml
6. ^ XXL Magazine, October 2006 issue
7. ^ //www.amoeba.com/blog/2011/09/amoeba-music/airbrush-artists-memorialize-tupac-at-amoeba-hollywood.html
8. ^ //www.youtube.com/watch?v=05imWUtMazM
9. ^ The Don Killuminati chart peaks on Allmusic.
10. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-14/entertainment/ca-64364_1_don-killuminati
11. ^ pulsemusic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=news&action=print&thread=23219
12. ^ www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=69370^{[unreliable source?]}
13. ^ 2Pac."The Making of Makaveli, the 7 Day Theory "The Making of Makaveli, the 7 Day Theory XXL Magazine
14. ^ Tupac: A Thug Life published by Plexus Books, 2005, ISBN 0-85965-375-7' Page 29
15. ^ XXL Magazine, October 2003 issue, Page 118
16. ^ XXL Magazine, October 2003 issue, Page 111
17. ^ Les Samples de Tupac. du-bruit.com. Retrieved on 2010-04-04
18. ^ ImageHost.org. Image available on TupacNation.net. Retrieved on July 25, 2010
19. ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Makaveli&titel=The+Don+Killuminati+-+The+7+Day+Theory&cat=a
20. ^ http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/title/Makaveli/The+Don+Killuminati/longplay
21. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Makaveli&titel=The+Don+Killuminati+-+The+7+Day+Theory&cat=a
22. ^ http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Makaveli&titel=The+Don+Killuminati+-+The+7+Day+Theory&cat=a
23. ^ http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Makaveli&titel=The+Don+Killuminati+-+The+7+Day+Theory&cat=a
24. ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/2pac/
25. ^ ^{a b} http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p50051/charts-awards