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Initially, I was turned off by the Makaveli Presents..." part of the title and thought, "oh no, another rapper trying to make a buck off Tupac Shakur's name. But after hearing Reparation Is Due from Muszamil, it was clear the youngest protégé of the late Shakur is truly dedicated to keeping the flame of his mentor alive.

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And while this may garner signatures for his petition to place Pac's name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, unfortunately the flamekeeping doesn't translate into a strong album. Sure there are plenty of lyrics regarding the thug life Pac espoused over a decade ago, but it sounds sort of old now. Equally played is the depiction of Tupac as a angel-corpse on the cover complete with the illusion of a halo surrounding Muszamil who stands defiant in the glowing light. 

The CD lists guests such as Stevie Wonder and Teddy Pendergrass, but alas this too is an illusion since the artists themselves don't appear, just samples of their work.

What is authentic is the guy's passionate, broken heart, truly holding on to what seems to be the only person who inspired him in his life. After all, homie saw both his parents get murdered, so it's admirable when, in the moving "Seike" featuring speech excerpts from the late Malcolm X, he talks about the reality of street life. No glamorization here, just sad, real stories that make you shake your head and say "damn." And while "No Reason" draws a sample from a Stevie Wonder classic while throwing a shoutout to the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina, one wonders about Muszamil's lacking rap skills on "Let It Go" which sees him talk about the many deaths in his family, but run out of steam on the chorus, virtually giving it over to a Teddy Pendergrass sample while muttering words about shedding tears. The eleventh track, "Make A Change," finally provides the one-two punch the album sorely lacks while Pac, long gone and non-consenting to the use of his material ("Still Busting" and "Political Soldiers"), still manages to outshine the living.

Download:  "Make A Change"

  To purchase CDs, click on the cover art or title link. To legally download, click on the iTunes logo. If you do not have iTunes, you can download it here by clicking the "download iTunes" logo above.