I know P doesn't like his worked being used by rappers and rightfully so. I'm still trying to figure out how Pac and company ended getting the "OK" from him to use this one.

I used to bump it a lot in college back in the day mostly to hear Prince's awesome bass playing on this song.

Is there a story behind Pac getting or not getting the approval to use it. lol

https://www.youtube.com/w...WYRFSPbKVs

[Edited 5/13/16 13:57pm]

I don't know about that, but Morris Day actually sings the hook on K-Dee's 1994 song Gigalos Get Lonely Too, similar to Daryl Hall doing the same on Ghetto Smile by B-Legit

There's no story involving Prince, but I have a story. In 2006 I made a documentary for BBC Radio 1xtra about Tupac. He's one of my favorite artists and so we went out to LA for the 10th anniversary of his passing to make it. I ended up becoming very good friends with Johnny J (who has now also passed away) - Johnny had produced the bulk of "All Eyez On Me" including "Whatz Ya Phone #". Of course, when he found out I was a funk fan his face it up and we talked about how he flipped 777, how he flipped "Candy" by Cameo for Pac's "All About U" and others. He talked about how he and Pac would drive around LA bumping Prince songs ALL the time.

What you've gotta remember is that prior to Prince becoming a JW, and especially in the mid 90's when Prince was making a lot of hip-hop himself, he really didn't have any problem with people sampling him especially when the tracks were selling lots of records like Tupac was. It was only later on when Prince didn't want rappers sampling him because he'd become more religious and wasn't cussing anymore, etc, etc.

There's lots of Tupac songs that sample or interpolate Prince.

You've got:

2 Live & Die in LA : based on Meli'sa Morgan's cover of "Do Me Baby"

Is It Cool 2 Fuck : samples "Get It Up" by The Time

Heartz Of Men : samples the backwards voices from "Darling Nikki"

Wussup With The Luv (Pac & Digital Underground) : samples "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"

Pac's Life : samples "Pop Life"

When Thugs Cry : no sample but obviously the title is a play on "When Doves Cry"
Thugz Get Lonely Too (original) : samples the live version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend" from SOTT movie.
I Get Around : Prince has a writers credit because Pac used the line "Everybody's looking for the ladder"
The Good Die Young : no credit but synth top line sounds EXACTLY like "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife".

"Ghetto Gospel" and I think "Teardrops & Closed Caskets" too.

Way2Fonky said:

purplewisdom said:

Way2Fonky said:

"Ghetto Gospel" and I think "Teardrops & Closed Caskets" too.

Tear drops samples LTD's love ballad. Ghetto gospel orginal samples tracy chapman's crossroads. [Edited 5/15/16 15:55pm] [Edited 5/15/16 15:57pm]

"Ghetto Gospel" samples Dearly beloved from "Let's Go Crazy"; https://youtu.be/w7OQgDrh-R0?t=48s

"Teardrops & Closed Caskets" maybe samples "If I Was Your Girlfriend", too.

[Edited 5/15/16 18:11pm]

[Edited 5/15/16 18:16pm]

Militant said:

2 Live & Die in LA : based on Meli'sa Morgan's cover of "Do Me Baby"

Militant, I am asking because I respect your relationship with the producer. I always thought it was based on either Prince's "Do Me Baby" or a replay of a similar sounding song (There's a George Duke song with the same chord progression). I don't hear a mechanical use of Meli'sa Morgan's master. Why do you say it's based on "Do Me Baby", let alone her cover?

Militant said:

Thugz Get Lonely Too (original) : samples the live version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend" from SOTT movie.

It is the only version of the song I really know because I didn't buy the official CD. Darned if I haven't heard this in YEARS though.

Militant said:

Is It Cool 2 Fuck : samples "Get It Up" by The Time

This is not ringing a bell but that is a very Pac-esque title

Cinny said:

Militant said:

Is It Cool 2 Fuck : samples "Get It Up" by The Time

This is not ringing a bell but that is a very Pac-esque title

Leftover from Thug Life. Still unreleased.

Way2Fonky said:

Cinny said:

This is not ringing a bell but that is a very Pac-esque title

Leftover from Thug Life. Still unreleased.

Oooooh. I liked that album! Streaming "Is It Cool 2 Fuck" now.

Cinny said:

Militant said:

2 Live & Die in LA : based on Meli'sa Morgan's cover of "Do Me Baby"

Militant, I am asking because I respect your relationship with the producer. I always thought it was based on either Prince's "Do Me Baby" or a replay of a similar sounding song (There's a George Duke song with the same chord progression). I don't hear a mechanical use of Meli'sa Morgan's master. Why do you say it's based on "Do Me Baby", let alone her cover?

Really, you don't hear it? It's as clear as day to me.

There's no direct sample. QD3 re-played it, as he usually did around that time - another example of a similar production would be his track "Thicker Than Water" by MC Eiht & Val Young which was a re-played interpolation of "If You Play Your Cards Right" by Alicia Meyers.

I had a conversation with QD3 about "2 Live & Die In LA" which I remember very clearly because it's my all time favorite Tupac song. So we discussed the use of "Do, Me Baby" and how he felt the more synthesized, Quiet Storm-esque instrumentation used on the Meli'sa Morgan cover was a better basis for the track compared to the more organic piano of Prince's original.

Militant said:

There's no story involving Prince, but I have a story. In 2006 I made a documentary for BBC Radio 1xtra about Tupac. He's one of my favorite artists and so we went out to LA for the 10th anniversary of his passing to make it. I ended up becoming very good friends with Johnny J (who has now also passed away) - Johnny had produced the bulk of "All Eyez On Me" including "Whatz Ya Phone #". Of course, when he found out I was a funk fan his face it up and we talked about how he flipped 777, how he flipped "Candy" by Cameo for Pac's "All About U" and others. He talked about how he and Pac would drive around LA bumping Prince songs ALL the time.

What you've gotta remember is that prior to Prince becoming a JW, and especially in the mid 90's when Prince was making a lot of hip-hop himself, he really didn't have any problem with people sampling him especially when the tracks were selling lots of records like Tupac was. It was only later on when Prince didn't want rappers sampling him because he'd become more religious and wasn't cussing anymore, etc, etc.

There's lots of Tupac songs that sample or interpolate Prince.

You've got:

2 Live & Die in LA : based on Meli'sa Morgan's cover of "Do Me Baby"

Is It Cool 2 Fuck : samples "Get It Up" by The Time

Heartz Of Men : samples the backwards voices from "Darling Nikki"

Wussup With The Luv (Pac & Digital Underground) : samples "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"

Pac's Life : samples "Pop Life"

When Thugs Cry : no sample but obviously the title is a play on "When Doves Cry"
Thugz Get Lonely Too (original) : samples the live version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend" from SOTT movie.
I Get Around : Prince has a writers credit because Pac used the line "Everybody's looking for the ladder"
The Good Die Young : no credit but synth top line sounds EXACTLY like "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife".

Awesome information. Thanks Mil!

Militant said:

The Good Die Young : no credit but synth top line sounds EXACTLY like "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife".

The officially released version of "The Good Die Young" in 1999 is pretty much the same as the original version (except for a few vocals and different verses) which was most likely recorded in 1996 before Pac's death in September, and "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife" was released on Emancipation just two months later. Strange coincidence.

Prospect said:

Militant said:

The Good Die Young : no credit but synth top line sounds EXACTLY like "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife".

The officially released version of "The Good Die Young" in 1999 is pretty much the same as the original version (except for a few vocals and different verses) which was most likely recorded in 1996 before Pac's death in September, and "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife" was released on Emancipation just two months later. Strange coincidence.

Was it ever confirmed to be the original instrumental? The leaked version was still made in 1997.

Listen to 2Pac's 2 Live and Die in LA, then listen to Prince's Do Me Baby.

[Edited 5/18/16 6:10am]

Militant said:

Way2Fonky said:

Prospect said:

The officially released version of "The Good Die Young" in 1999 is pretty much the same as the original version (except for a few vocals and different verses) which was most likely recorded in 1996 before Pac's death in September, and "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife" was released on Emancipation just two months later. Strange coincidence.

Was it ever confirmed to be the original instrumental? The leaked version was still made in 1997.

You're right. What I thought was the original version was actually the demo version of the retail released. The original has never been leaked.