From my understanding, Makaveli was originally meant to be more of an underground album without an official commercial release. The type of shit you'd find at swap meets and mom-and-pop stores. But I doubt that Suge would've allowed it though, as everything Pac put out at the time was hot.

It has some of my fave Pac tracks (Hold Ya Head, Krazy, Blasphemy...) and the whole mythology around it kinda elevates it, but at times it does feel like a stepdown from AEOM and isn't as consistent.

The production feels lackluster in places (Life of an Outlaw, Bomb First...) and I really can't stand The Outlawz. Those dudes were fucking awful with their sloppy ass or rushed flows and sometimes their subject matter doesn't even match with Pac's.