R U Still Down? (Remember Me)

Lore & Background

The album was the first to be released from 2Pac's mother's imprint, Amaru Entertainment and features almost all previously unreleased material, all of which was recorded between 1992 and 1994. Of the material previously released is "Definition of a Thug Nigga"; previously released on the 1993 soundtrack Poetic Justice (soundtrack). Two retitled remixes of "I Wonder If Heaven's Got a Ghetto"; first released as a B-side of the 1993 single "Keep Ya Head Up".

"I'm Getting Money"; although technically unreleased, features the same lyrics as the 1994 song "Str8 Ballin', only with the words, "Straight ballin, being replaced with the words, "I'm Gettin' Money." "Nothin' But Love" was originally released on the "I Get Around" single, but the version here is a different mix (and shorter). The album's production was overseen by the mysterious producer(s), We Got Kidz Productions; producing entirely new instrumentals for numerous songs, adding new production to various original instrumentals and serving as the album's executive producer, alongside Afeni Shakur and Lisa Smith-Putnam.

Other producers hired to create new music for the album were QDIII, Soulshock & Karlin, Mike Mosley, and Ricky Rouse (in partnership with We Got Kidz Productions). R U Still Down? was the name of several handwritten track lists 2Pac had written in 1993 and 1994 that featured both unreleased songs and songs that would later be issued on Me Against The World and Thug Life: Volume 1. Interscope Records originally planned to release an album under the same name in December 1995, during 2Pac's imprisonment.

With no new material being able to be recorded, like R U Still Down? (Remember Me), the album was to feature unused songs from his previous three albums, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., Thug Life: Volume 1 and Me Against the World. However, this version was never released due to 2Pac's early release from prison, by virtue of signing to Death Row Records. Two more unreleased songs from this period of 2Pac's career, "Changes" and "God Bless the Dead", were released the following year on the next posthumous release, Greatest Hits.

This period of 2Pac's career would then go unexplored until the release of the 2003 song "Runnin' (Dying to Live)", which was followed by the 2004 album Loyal to the Game, all of which was recorded during this same period.

Reader's Guide

The album includes samples from various artists, such as "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch, "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers, "Wind Parade" by Donald Byrd, "Nuthin but a G' Thang (freestyle Remix) by Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre", "Jingle Bells" by James Pierpont, "1980" by Gil Scott-Heron, "He's a Fly Guy" by Curtis Mayfield, "Free 'Em All" by J-Flexx, "What You Won't Do for Love" by Bobby Caldwell, "Street Life" by Geto Boys, "Two of Us" by Cameo, "Flash Light" by Parliament, "Something About That Woman" by Lakeside, "The Grand Finale" by The D.O.C., "Us" by Ice Cube, "I Wanna Hold On to You" by Mica Paris, "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss, "Concerto for Jazz/Rock Orchestra, Part I" by Stanley Clarke, "May the Force Be With You" by Bootsy's Rubber Band, "Do It Roger" by Roger, "Funky President" by James Brown, "Haboglabotribin by Bernard Wright, and "Hihache" by Lafayette Afro Rock Band.