Thug Life (group)

This article is about the hip hop group. For other uses, see Thug life.

Thug Life
From left to right: Big Syke, Mopreme, 2Pac, Macadoshis, The Rated R
Background information
Genres	West Coast hip hop gangsta rap G-funk
Years active	1993–1995
Labels	Out da Gutta Interscope Atlantic
Past members	Tupac Shakur (deceased) Big Syke (deceased) Mopreme Shakur Macadoshis The Rated R Big Stretch (deceased)

Thug Life was an American hip hop group that consisted of 2Pac, Big Syke, Mopreme, Macadoshis, and The Rated R. They released one album, 1994's Thug Life, Volume I , before disbanding in 1995. ^[1]

Tupac Shakur, Mopreme Shakur and Big Syke later became members of the Outlawz.

Etymology

According to Tupac Shakur, the name refers to the acronym: "The Hate U Gave Little Infants, Fuck Everybody".§ ^[2] It represents the idea that the racism and marginalization experienced by black youth ends up negatively affecting society. ^[3]

History

Early days: 1993

Thug Life was formed in 1993 by Tupac Shakur, along with Randy Walker a.k.a. Stretch, Princess Mel and Tyruss Himes ^[4]

Tyruss Himes, adopted the name Big Syke when he joined the group. Other members such as, Macadoshis (Diron Rivers) and The Rated R (Walter Burns) were added to the group later, followed by Tupac's stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur who named himself The Wycked. The group eventually signed with Interscope Records and released their only LP titled Thug Life, Volume I.

There was speculation that 2Pac and Thug Life were supposed to sign to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. In 1993, 2Pac and Eazy-E met up and Eazy-E liked the demo tape that 2Pac had brought with him. However, Eazy-E wanted 2Pac to change his group name because Ruthless already had a group with a similar name, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. This never came into fruition because of Eazy-E's passing from AIDS on March 26, 1995.

The group disbanded in 1995.

Randy Walker, also known as Stretch was shot and killed at the age of 27 on November 30, 1995.

Big Syke, adopted the stage name Mussolini in 1995 when he joined Tupac Shakur's new group, the Outlaw Immortalz, later known as the Outlawz.

Big Syke died at his home in Hawthorne, California on December 5, 2016.

Thug Life, Volume I

On September 26, 1994, Thug Life, Volume I was released.

The first single and video was "Pour Out a Little Liquor" (which originally appeared on the Above the Rim soundtrack, released six months earlier), which was a Tupac solo song.

Tupac performed "Out on Bail" at the 1994 Source Awards. ^[5] The album was originally released on Shakur's label Out da Gutta. Tupac's mother's label, Amaru Entertainment, has since gained the rights to the album.

The track "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" appeared on Tupac's 1998 Greatest Hits album.

Thug Life, Volume I had sold 478,419 copies in the United States as of 2011. ^[6]

Members

• Tupac Shakur (d. 1996)
• Big Syke (a.k.a. Little Psycho or Mussolini) (d. 2016)
• Mopreme Shakur (a.k.a. Mocedes, The Wycked, Komani or Mo' Khomani)
• Macadoshis (a.k.a. The Original Mac 10)
• The Rated R (a.k.a. Super Star, Runner)
• Big Stretch (d. 1995)

Discography

Studio albums

• Thug Life, Volume I (1994) #42 Billboard 200; #6 R&B/Hip-Hop

References

1. "Thug Life's Debut & Only Studio Album 'Thug Life: Volume 1' Turns 30 | Album Anniversary". Albumism. September 24, 2024.
2. "Tupac explains thug life". YouTube . 2007-06-11.
3. "Here's How Tupac and THUG LIFE Inspired the Hate U Give". 7 April 2017.
4. Big Syke bio at Allmusic
5. Aqua Blanco, Alvin (9 September 2012). "Busta Rhymes Says Tupac Dissing A Tribe Called Quest Was A Misunderstanding". hiphopwired.com. Hip Hop Wired. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
6. "Tupac Month: 2Pac's Discography - XXL". XXL Mag. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 2021-01-18.