I was lucky enough to get the privilege to review the Tupac “Live at the House of Blues” Blu-ray.  I use the word lucky as Tupac’s illustrious rap career can be described in one word. Legendary. Everyone pretty much knows the story of Tupac and Biggie’s deaths, but it wasn’t their deaths that glorified them to legendary status within the rap and hip hop community. It was their pure hard spit. The difference to this day between Pac and many other rappers is that Pac spit from the gut. When Tupac spit his lyrics it came from the bottom of his stomach, filled with heat and passion his words were spit with intensity.

When hearing rappers with real swagger spit live you get caught up within the energy. This Blu-ray is indeed just that. The track list is insane and the talent is amazing. Funny enough, this Blu-ray could be deemed the “Snoop Dogg” Blu-ray just as much as it is the Tupac Blu-ray. Snoop probably even has more time on this Blu-ray than Pac but they wrap it up together with the infamous “2 of America’s Most Wanted”

I had the pleasure to meet Mopreme who is Tupac’s brother (and also a rapper) while out at a show once in LA a few years back. We touched on who Pac would be rapping with today if he was still alive, and trust in the fact that Pac was himself with all his music. He rapped with only the people he wanted to rap with, money was always secondary to realness. There was only about 5 people today that he would have rapped with. So what you see with this Blu-ray is true authentic Tupac. Here he is with Death Row 2 months prior to his murder and quite possibly assassination. (Yes, I said it.)

2Pac was outgoing, charismatic and totally out there, this performance is 2pac personified! Throw in the fact that you get performances with Snoop, DPG (Daz & Kurupt) K Ci & Jojo, The Outlawz and even Nate Dogg and you got one one helluva show! This one was a pleasure.

Tracklisting:

Tupac (with The Outlawz)
1. Ambitions Az A Ridah
2. So Many Tears
3. Troublesome
4. Hit ‘Em Up
5. Tatoo Tears
6. All About You
7. Never Call U Bitch Again
8. Freek’n You
9. How Do You Want It ft. K Ci & Jojo

DPG (Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz & Nate Dogg)
10. Murder Was The Case
11. The Shiznit
12. If We All Gonna F**k
13. Next
14. Some Bomb Azz (Pu**y)
15. Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)
16. New York
17. Big Pimpin’
18. Do What I Feel
19. G’z And Hustlas
20. Who Am I (What’s My Name)
21. Me In Your World
22. For My Nig**z and Bitches
23. Doggfather
24. Gin and Juice
25. 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted – Snoop/Pac

Some of the best cut footage of 2pac that you will ever see. However, don’t get all too confused since this Blu-ray has Pac on the front cover; there is PLENTY of great HD footage of Snoop Dogg as well. For a show that is filmed in the dark, I thought it would be much worse. The transfer is actually very surprising as many dark scenes in other Blu-rays seem to be pretty grainy where as this one didn’t seem to suffer nowhere near as much as some other big films. I guess the hip hop Gods were shining down on Pac that night, or us. Thankfully, we have a great HD show from one of the greatest rappers of all time before he was taken way before his time. The video quality is nothing less than what you would expect from a show of this nature and will undoubtedly be a whole lot more than you would expect. Based on the video quality alone I would still recommend this title, so that says a lot.

Blu-ray Screen Shot Gallery:

For someone who used to be in the music industry, I know good audio quality. This Blu-ray brings just that. To hear some of the beloved classic hip hop joints of my time mastered in a DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track is just bliss. Understand though, it’s gritty and grimy, but any Hip-Hop head would expect and want that of this release! That being said, ever since Blu-ray came out I’ve been waiting for a music Blu-ray that was rap/hip-hop that was of an artist that I enjoy! 2pac and Snoop Dogg are two top tier artists and Pac left it all out there on that stage. The track is absolutely, positively without a shadow of a doubt BANGIN’! The bass is incredible, even the menu screen will bang the house down. All vocals seem tightly mixed as good as it can get for a show set. It’s a lot easier to review when there are a lot of negative points but for where the show was located and what it originally was and how it has come across onto Blu-ray disc its totally 5 stars. No hip hop head will have no issues with this, once more, BANGIN!

There really isn’t much in the supplement department. The special features consists of just a few music videos. I touch base on this in the “Bottom Line” section but I will say that for a one night gig at The House of Blues I didn’t expect for there to be much more. Everything going on backstage is pretty much x-rated anyways :p what with all the smoke in the air 😉 Don’t know how well that would’ve transferred over to Blu-ray anyways. Heh. My only complaint then with that in mind is that they could have loaded this thing with videos with at least songs that were performed. Although I’m sure there were other technical reasons that prevented that.

California Love (Remix)

To Live and Die in L.A.

Hit ‘Em Up ft Outlawz

I Ain’t Mad At Cha’

How Do You Want It (Concert Version) ft K Ci & Jojo

The bottom line is that if your a fan of Tupac then it’s an absolute must buy no questions asked. Why? Because it has one bangin’ DTS-HD Master track and a beautiful HD transfer, especially for being in a dark club! The set list speaks for itself as many of the songs are now classics. If your a fan of Snoop which many folks are, (especially Pac fans) then you get a ton of his joints as well. The only thing lacking is special features, but seriously what kind of special features would you expect from just a gig at the House of Blues. This isn’t a concert tour, with that in mind I think just throwing down some music videos can suit just that. All in all any rap fan who wants to know why Pac was so popular or fans who grew up with the late legend should enjoy this one. Pac lays it all out on the line and spits hard on this spectacular Blu-ray release from Eagle Rock. Highly recommended for those interested.

The Blu-ray releases this Tuesday, May 25th 2010 and is currently listed at $16.99 on Amazon right now from the link below. Check it out, it’s well worth it!