The Outlawz have always been caught between a 'Pac and a hard place. From 1999's Still I Rise, featuring a host of posthumous Tupac Shakur tracks alongside the 'Lawz, to 2001's Novakane with its single Tupac appearance, the Outlawz seem at times to be damned if they do seek Makaveli's help and damned if they don't. Panned for either leaning on 'Pac's legacy one too many times or choosing to leave him out on records altogether, the new millennium version of the Outlawz continues to fight to find an identity without their fallen general.
Outlaw 4 Life: 2005 A.P. finds a depleted Outlawz line-up being damned if they don't again following the recent departures of Fatal Hussein and Napolean, with only Noble, Edi, and Kastro returning as the cast of Outlaw lifers. Going against the recent trend of Tupac guest features outside of Outlaw-related projects (i.e. Akon's "Ghetto" or 50 Cent's "Realest Killas"), the trio decides against using 'Pac vocals this time around, unfortunately leaving 2005 A.P. to sound even more like a mere skeleton of the group's former self.
Tracks like "Real Talk," "I Dare U," and "Don't Get It F****d Up" conventionally follow a redundant blueprint of mediocrity with an overdosing injection of street bravado and commonplace swagger. Missing are the in your face, straight out of the 'hood tales from the 'Pac era that oozed ghetto consciousness without crossing into gangsta rap humdrum.
UGK's Bun B assists on "Big Ballin'," a welcomed, albeit unexpected, dive into Southern territory by the 'Lawz with an attractive heavy bassline included; but another crunk-meets-Left Coast attempt, "Let It Burn," fizzles under the awkward Legendary Traxster production and suffocating weed smoke and Hennessey-laced lyrics.
Though the organs of "Ghetto Gospel Pt.2" are not complimented by the crooning of Elton John like on 'Pac's original, the Outlaw protégés bring justice to the sequel, and "Sacred Vows," paying homage to their street upbringing and character-building lives, packs the biggest wallop message-wise. Still, a run-down Outlawz crew leaves Outlaw 4 Life: 2005 A.P. trapped in a familiar setting - leaning up against a hard place without a true leader.
