The legendary beat 2Pac battled to get: “Slow, thuggish shit”
2Pac rapped in various styles, and it is fair to say that he was a versatile artist. From hardcore, aggressive gangsta rap beats and G-funk to slow, mellow backing tracks, the All Eyez On Me creator could bring soul and aggression to a song. That said, there was one simple yet legendary beat he wanted to use that caused a rupture between him and his crew, The Outlawz.
For his Makaveli album, the emcee wanted something a bit slower but still sinister. He tasked producer Hurt-M-Badd with producing it, and in less than an hour, he came up with what is now a classic— ‘Hail Mary’.
During an interview, Outlawz member E.D.I recalled Shakur asking Hurt-M-Badd for a beat, remembering, “Pac told him, ‘I need some slow, thuggish shit.'” Still, the result was polarising. During a discussion with XXL, the beatmaker detailed how much the late legend loved the instrumental, recalling, “When I heard it, I didn’t think it was a hit. I was like, ‘Why is Tupac laying this stuff down over my track?'”
But 2Pac was a visionary. During a listening party, when everybody doubted the track and its entire vibe, the lyricist apparently “threw his hand up in the air with his Hennessy bottle [and] threw his hand up in the air like he ruled a nation.”
Despite 2Pac’s love for the “slow” and “thuggish” instrumental that Hurt-M-Badd, his entourage of MCs (The Outlawz) had a deep hate for the song and initially didn’t even want to rap on it.
While speaking to DJ Vlad, EDI explained, “I didn’t like the beat because it was more of a church beat, and, being from New York, we were used to that boom-bap head-knocking beat.” However, he admitted that once the audio engineer added some magic, it came to life, and confessed, “That changed when I heard the mix, though.”
EDI vividly detailed the recording process of ‘Hail Mary’ and told DJ Vlad, “We just did the song in an hour and a half. It wasn’t my favourite record on Makaveli. It reminded me of some down-South record. I didn’t know it was going to be as big a record as it is today.”
The track has become a fan favourite, and although it wasn’t hugely popular when it was first released, it has become legendary over the years. Its introspective, spiritual nature saw a different side to 2Pac, who was known for his passionate, aggressive delivery.
‘Hail Mary’ was slower than a regular 2Pac beat and more gospel-inspired than anything he had previously released. Its understated bass, soft electric piano, and simple drum loop made it seem rather unremarkable. The song didn’t make waves commercially until it was re-released in 1998 as part of the legendary posthumous Greatest Hits album as it captured the emotional nature of the late emcee and reflected the broader sentiment surrounding his death, which was one of sadness yet full of hope.
The lyrics and, more specifically, the chorus of ‘Hail Mary’ have gone on to take a line of their own, with the singing melody of 2Pac on the track being instantly recognisable to any fan of hip-hop.