Released only eight weeks after
Tupac Shakur
died from gunshot wounds,
Death Row
released this posthumous album,
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
, under the name of
Makaveli
, a pseudonym derived from the Italian politician
Niccolo Machiavelli
, who faked his own death and reappeared seven days later to take revenge on his enemies. Naturally, the appearance of
Don Killuminati
so shortly after
Tupac
's death led many conspiracy theorists to surmise the rapper was still alive, but it was all part of a calculated marketing strategy by
.
All Eyez on Me
proved that
was continuing to grow as a musician and a human being, but
doesn't improve upon that image; instead it concentrates on
G-funk
beats and East Coast/West Coast rivalries. If
had survived to complete
, it is likely that the record would have been even better. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine