Still I Rise

HE HAS died. He is risen. He has come again.

Tupac Amaru Shakur was the disposable hero of hip-hoprisy, a so-so enunciator who lacked either the dementoid speedfreakery of a Busta or ODB, the alto authority of a Chuck D or the slomo supremacy of a Snoop, but somehow still had enough swagger and charisma to carry his act. The man was also a walking contradiction, a wanna-be thug who couldn't help but pepper his records with soft-headed shouts out to the ladies. Tupac's last great moment proved his best: 'California Love' was a righteous throb, but after Dre, the beats lacked that peculiar contrast of baked lethargy and dramatic tension which distinguishes West Coast classics.

So, is this posthumous collection (the sixth in four years, counting soundtracks and compilations) - pieced together by his crew Outlawz - a realisation of unfinished symphonies or a rip off, a Cry Of Love or a Crash Landing? Well, inevitably, it's a lot of both. Recorded between Shakur's release from prison on sexual assault charges and his death in September 1996, Still I Rise has its moments, but generally favours Beverly Hills 90210 over hardcore LA noir.

However, although many of these tracks are definitely overcooked ('As The World Turns' comes close to Coolio composing elevator music), undermined by beats more flat than phat, there are interesting fluctuations. Tupac was best at playing the punk rather than the preacher, and 'Secretz Of War' ("You either ride wid' us/Or collide wid' us/It's as simple as that for me and my niggaz"), 'Hell 4 A Hustler' and the brilliantly titled 'Killuminati' are worth any hip-hop connoisseur's quarter. Elsewhere however, 'The Good Die Young' and 'Teardrops And Closed Caskets' (dedicated by Outlawz to the victims of the Columbine shootings), while well-intentioned, sound for all the world like lost New Power Generation outtakes.

In the end (after the end?), Still I Rise is a slack piece of product which will undoubtedly consolidate Tupac's status as an icon, but not an original. For the converted only.