His debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, was released to almost immediate acclaim in 1991. 

 Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. picks up where 2pacalypse left off. In search of his own voice, he continues to impersonate Cube when not biting Pete Rock. 

 By the time 1995's Me Against the World came out, Pac had spent the previous year caught up in a world of trouble. 

 During the 10 months or so Pac spent in California's Clinton Correctional Facility, he came fully under the sway of the estimable Suge Knight, the gang-affiliated label owner of his label. 

 Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory came from a marathon production period held just weeks before his death. Right down to its bloody-Jesus cover art, this ranks as Pac's creepiest–and in places most violent–album. 

 By the time Mama Shakur got around to approving the release of R U Still Down? (Remember Me) , she was already on shaky ground. The two-disc album was full of more songs about thugs, blunts, bitches, and gats. 

 Greatest Hits is a fizzy delight–and a good place for the uninitiated to start.  

 Tupac and some young friends try their hand at gangsta rap. "Letter to the President" is a song Dead Prez would've been proud to cut, but otherwise, this one is a long yawn. 

 The Rose That Grew From Concrete is a spoken-word tribute album featuring readings of Pac's poetry by Mos Def, Q-Tip, Dead Prez, Outlaws, Russell Simmons, Danny Glover, the late Babatunde Olatunji, and black poet/goddess Sonia Sanchez. 

 As for Until the End of Time, a double album composed mainly of filler, well, there's a reason they're called outtakes, Ma. Tupac will surely be with us as long as there are cash registers and bar-code scanners. 

 All you can say about Better Dayz is wow, there's not a speckle of irony in sight. Its saving grace: the acoustic-guitar-bedded duet with Nas on "Thugz Mansion."  

 Tupac: Resurrection is the soundtrack to a not-bad documentary from 2003. Eminem, 50 Cent, and Notorious B.I.G. completists will be interested for the rigged, Natalie ColeÐesque cameos. 

 Loyal to the Game is a decent remix album curated by Tupac scholar Eminem, who set old ÔPac verses and a couple new ones from Em's buddies to dark, punchy beats. 

 The similarly constructed Pac's Life features production from the likes of Swizz Beatz and Sha Money XL and some very strong Tupac verses, but not exactly revelatory.