Music / The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory

Do you wanna ride or die? Na-na-na-na-na-na...

The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (often shortened to just The Don Killuminati or Makaveli) is the fifth studio album by Tupac Shakur, released on November 5, 1996 — just under two months after Shakur's murder, though the album had already been completed months beforehand, so it's not a posthumous album in the strictest sense. It's also the only official release that credited Tupac under his alternate stage name, Makaveli.

The album's title was derived from its recording process: Tupac had wrote, produced, and recorded the album within the first three days of August 1996, with final mixing taking an extra four days; hence the "7 day theory". Unlike All Eyez on Me and his other past projects, none of Tupac's usual collaborators, with the exception of Quincy "QDIII" Jones III, worked on this album. Instead, Shakur worked almost exclusively with Tyrone "Hurt-M-Badd" Wrice, and Darryl "Big D" Harper; with Reggie Moore and Demetrius Shipp Sr. providing additional contributions. Before Don Killuminati, Wrice and Harper were mainly Death Row's main R&B producers, and most of the rappers on the label thought their production was weak. Tupac, who was at Can-Am studios trying to record, saw them there, and practically dragged them into producing his album. 21 songs were recorded for the album during that week, but only 12 made the final cut.

Unlike the bright, groovy G-Funk that made up the majority of All Eyez On Me, The Don Killuminati went into the complete opposite direction, showcasing much darker production and lyricism than any other 2Pac album up to that point; with a heavier focus on death, violence, and even religion. Also notable was the near-complete dearth of features from Death Row artists or other notable rappers. Of all the guests on the album, only Danny Boy and K-Ci & JoJo were the only ones to return from All Eyez On Me. And, of course, Tupac left plenty of room for him to throw barbs at not only The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records, but also Dr. Dre, who had defected from Death Row that same year after growing sick of the label's violent practices, and started his own label, Aftermath. New York emcee Nas was also the recipient of a verbal attack from Shakur on "Bomb First", but he and Tupac had already squashed their beef before the song's release. Tupac had promised Nas he'd remove the insults towards him from the record, but he was murdered before he got the chance.

The reason for the rushed recording was because Tupac was busy working on a film, and also because he was trying to get out of his recording contract as fast as possible. Tupac, per his agreement with Death Row Records, owed the label three albums in exchange for posting his bail from prison. Because the contract didn't account for double albums, Tupac released All Eyez On Me to get out of the contract early, leaving The Don Killuminati as the last project he was legally required to release for Death Row before going off to greener pastures, and had no plans to release it until 1997 as an underground-style release. Suge Knight, however, had other plans; and intended to keep Tupac on Death Row by giving him a CEO position at a planned east coast branch for the label. Regardless, Tupac's murder scuttled all those plans, and Knight moved the album's release date to late 1996.

Upon release, the album was a commercial success, topping the Billboard charts, and eventually getting a 4x Platinum certification from the RIAA. The Don Killuminati made Tupac the first rapper to have two #1 albums in a calendar year; a feat that would be matched by fellow rapper DMX two years later. More than 20 years later, in an eerie coincidence, Demetrius Shipp's son, Demetrius Jr., who bore an uncanny resemblance to the late rapper, would go on to play Tupac himself in the biopic All Eyez on Me.

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Tracklist:

1. "Bomb First (My Second Reply)"
2. "Hail Mary"
3. "Toss It Up"
4. "To Live & Die in L.A."
5. "Blasphemy"
6. "Life of an Outlaw"
7. "Just Like Daddy"
8. "Krazy"
9. "White Man'z World"
10. "Me and My Girlfriend"
11. "Hold Ya Head"
12. "Against All Odds"

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"What do we have here now? Do you wanna trope or die? La-la-la-la-la-la..."

• Anthropomorphic Personification: "Me and My Girlfriend" is about a man and his gun. It's frequently mistaken for a romantic song.
• Blasphemous Boast: In "Hail Mary", Tupac quotes two passages from the Gospel of John to draw a comparison between him and Jesus (Though he seems to have misquoted them). The fittingly titled "Blasphemy" cranks this to 11, where Pac cheekily claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus himself.
• Crucified Hero Shot: A more literal example than most, since the cover art depicts Tupac actually being crucified naked, with the "Parental Advisory" logo covering up his groin.
• Darker and Edgier: And how! even compared to his debut or Me Against the World, The Don Killuminati was darker than anything Tupac had ever recorded in his career, and just downright eerie at times.
• The Diss Track: While disses towards The Notorious B.I.G. and his associates were to be expected, Tupac took it further by either directly or subliminally dissing anyone who was remotely connected to Biggie, or he felt had slighted him, regardless of coast. This list (excluding Biggie and co.) includes:
  • Xzibit
  • De La Soul
  • Nas^note This was due to a misunderstanding, and they squashed their beef; but Tupac died before he could remove the insults.
  • Jay-Z^note Jay recorded a response, but opted not to officially release it out of respect for Tupac's death. Humorously, Nas would use a portion of Tupac's diss years later in his own Jay-Z diss, "Ether".
  • Mobb Deep
  • Teddy Riley and Blackstreet^note Dr. Dre produced the original version of the beat, but gave it to Teddy Riley after he left Death Row, and they worked on it to make Blackstreet's signature hit "No Diggity". Tupac attempted to release a response record ("Toss It Up") using a deliberately similar beat, but was hit with a cease and desist from Riley himself, forcing Tupac to alter the beat.
  • Dr. Dre^note Dre left Death Row due to getting fed up with Suge Knight's violent and draconian rule over the label, and started Aftermath with Jimmy Lovine. This, combined with the "No Diggity" situation, led to Tupac lashing out at him on "Toss It Up".
  • Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant, and Walter "King Tut" Johnson.^note All three men were accused by Tupac of orchestrating his 1994 Quad Studios shooting, along with Puff Daddy.
• Horrorcore: "Hail Mary", a minimalist, yet chilling beat filled with funeral bells and creepy synths, layered with some of the darkest verses Tupac had wrote up to that point. Its music video ups the horrorcore vibes by essentially being a short-form slasher flick.
• I Call It "Vera": "Me And My Girlfriend", which is often misinterpreted as a romanticized outlaw tale ala Bonnie and Clyde. However, the "girlfriend" of the title is really his gun. The misinterpretation has been aided in no small part by Jay-Z's version, which turned it into a duet with Beyoncé.
• Intercourse with You: "Toss It Up", though only in the first verse.
• Location Song: "To Live and Die in LA.", in which Tupac sings the praises of Los Angles, and why it's the perfect place to live and die, from the gangs to the city's various immigrants.
• Special Guest: Besides Pac's crew, Outlawz, The album features guest spots from Aaron Hall, K-Ci & JoJo, Bad Azz, Val Young, Prince Ital Joe, and Danny Boy.

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