It was September 1996. I was a freshman in high school. Bill Clinton was the president, again. Michael Jordan was playing basketball and there was no facebook, or even myspace. My friends and I were outside. I can't remember if it had rained all day or the drops began in the evening but by the time Niesha walked up the block on that night, Friday the 13th, rain was definitely falling. It should've added drama to the news she and her wet eyes delivered to us. 2Pac died. But it didn't.
We were jerks, not the guys you come to with news of celebrity death. We laughed at her. She cursed us out for saying he got what he deserved for dissing the East Coast. I didn't know that come December I would be purchasing Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory on cassette tape from The Wiz; I didn't know that by the next summer I'd be listening to nothing but Pac and West Coast "gangsta rap". Neither could I imagine being enthralled online, reading conspiracy theories about 2Pac's supposed faked death. I had no idea, that I would eventually become curious enough to start writing my own rhymes while listening to Made Niggaz and Death Around the Corner. On that September evening, I was just confused as to why Niesha cared so much. I wasn't a fan of Pac's while he was alive but that's only because I barely listened to music back then, high school was the catalyst for my need to listen to lyrics and beats--hip-hop was the style of expression that reached me the fastest, 2Pac was the first who was most loudest and most clear.
I chose to remix these 2 songs because I knew I could do something new to them. But whatever I created for both Hellrazor and Only Fear of Death has been pulled through the well of inspiration that has long since been influenced by the original artist. Mr. Shakur in part, created these remixes himself. My interpretations are a peephole through which you can understand how I perceive 2Pac's music. Much of the reason I chose 2 songs that were released posthumously was because all his living material is as it should be, its definitive material--And I could only perceive them as they are. I don't want to hear or create remixes for Hit 'em Up, Dear Mama, or Ambitionz Az a Ridah. And even though R U Still Down? (in my opinion) was the only organic posthumous album, it still houses material 2Pac, for one reason or another, decided wasn't ready to surface. This uncertainty almost invites experimentation.
Still, these two songs exhibit with great strengths two major facets of 2Pac's style, Passion and Contemplation. I couldn't help but rap along while remixing these songs -- the electricity of HLLRZR is an energy that seems so real and honest that one wonders what the sessions for this recording were like. Its as if each lyric is in the middle of kinesis, exploding into the microphone, not seeming to come from a human being who is stationed and limited in a booth but angrily running and storming through thought after thought, fighting with every breath. NLY FR F DTH, on the other hand, is dark and introverted, very comfortable but eerie. Its almost like listening to thoughts not meant to be shared. I held on to these prime impressions as I remixed each song. I hope the result is something refreshing yet natural to the essence of Pac. May you rest in peace and shine on, crazy diamond. I dedicate these songs to September 13, 1996 and my homegirl Niesha.
-Azrael Encarnacion
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