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Outlawz, also known as Outlaw Immortalz, is an American hip hop group from Montclair, New Jersey, founded by Tupac Shakur and Yaki Kadafi in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Collectively, they are probably best known for appearing in the video for, and rapping on "Hit 'Em Up".

[edit] History

Outlaw is a backronym for Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriorz. In the earlier years of the Outlawz they were known as Dramacydal. Dramacydal first appeared on Tupac Shakur's 1995 album Me Against the World, they were on the title track "Me Against the World" and "Outlaw". Dramacydal was composed of K-Dog who later became Kastro, Young Hollywood who later became Yaki Kadafi, Mu who later became Napoleon, and Big Malcolm who later became E.D.I. Mean.

[edit] Outlawz

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When 2Pac signed to Death Row upon his release from prison, he recruited his step brother Mopreme Shakur and Big Syke. Hussein Fatal and Napoleon were also added, and together they formed the original lineup,it debuted on 2Pac's multi-platinum smash All Eyez on Me, on the song When We Ride. Other times members of the Outlawz appear on the record, they are still credited as Dramacydal. The idea behind the group was for each member to have a rap name coinciding with the names of various tyrants or enemies of America, past and present. Kastro, E.D.I. Mean, and Young Noble are the original Outlawz still rapping

• Tupac Shakur was the leader of the group, and gave himself the title of Makaveli after Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli; his was the only pseudonym which wasn't taken from a dictator, although Machiavelli's writings often promoted dictatorship.

• Yaki Kadafi, also known as Young Hollywood, was given the name Yaki Kadafi after Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. He was also Shakur's God Brother.

• Kastro, also known as K-Dog, was given the alias Kastro after leader of Cuba Fidel Castro. He is also blood cousins of Shakur.

• E.D.I. Mean, also known as Big Malcolm, was given the alias E.D.I. Mean after Ugandan president Idi Amin.

• Hussein Fatal, introduced to 2Pac by childhood friend Yaki Kadafi. Given alias after former leader of Iraq Sadaam Hussein. Hussein Left the group after the tragic killings of 2Pac and yak. He felt that the remaining group members were going against 2 Pac's wishes by signing contracts with Death Row. He recently returned on an outlawz mixtape.

• Napoleon, childhood friend of Kadafi, was given the name Napoleon after French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Left the group to be a Muslim Motivational Speaker.

• Big Syke, who was in 2Pac's first group Thug Life, joined the Outlawz under the alias Mussolini after Italian leader of the Fascist Party Benito Mussolini.

• Mopreme Shakur, 2Pac's stepbrother, who was in 2Pac's first group Thug Life, joined the Outlawz under the alias Komani after the Iranian political figure Ruhollah Khomeini.

• Young Noble, the final member of the group to be signed as the last official Outlaw member. He was introduced to Tupac, by Kadafi and Hussein Fatal in L.A., a few months before his fatal death. He appeared in many of 2Pac's last recordings, and featured heavily on 2Pac's last album and the now legendary The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. He was always known as Young Noble and was never given an alias from Tupac.

• Storm, the only female member of the group, 2pac. Her real name is Donna "Storm" Hunter, she met Tupac during the shooting of a film. After he found out how well she could rap, he asked her to join his group, which later became known as the Outlawz. On February 13, 1996, Tupac's double LP, All Eyez On Me, was released. Spasti Storm guest appeared on three songs, "Tradin' War Stories", "Thug Passion", and "Run Tha Streetz". Storm also guest appeared on "Hard Labor" on C-Bo's LP, Till My Casket Drops, "MFC Lawz" on Heltah Skeltah's LP, Magnum Force, and "Ain't Died in Vain" on Rondo's LP, Success Before Death. In an unreleased version of Hit 'Em Up (Hit 'Em Up Part 2), she also raps a verse in the end of the song. She made a guest appearance on one song on the Outlawz's debut LP, Still I Rise.

[edit] Later years

Soon after joining the group, Mopreme and Big Syke severed all ties with Death Row and left the Outlawz for financial reasons. Two months after the death of Shakur, Kadafi was killed in a housing project in New Jersey; after two years, Napoleon convinced his cousin to turn himself in for shooting Kadafi.

Though Tupac had told them specifically to never sign to Death Row Records, the leftover members of the Outlawz decided to do just that; as a result, Fatal left the group, claiming they weren't being loyal to 2Pac, so did Napoleon due to his conversion to Islam.

The Outlawz are also known for their longtime relationship with Brooklyn's Boot Camp Clik, a relationship that begun as a result of 2Pac's friendship with Boot Camp's Smif n Wessun and Buckshot, while working on the yet unreleased "One Nation" album. Despite stylistic differences and divergent fanbases, the two crews maintained connections on the basis of personal relationships. Members of the Outlawz were featured on Boot Camp releases like Heltah Skeltah's "Magnum Force" and Rock's "Veterans' Day."

In 1999, an album of unreleased songs with 2Pac, entitled Still I Rise was released. Fatal did not appear on any of the tracks on this album because no one contacted him to do so.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 2000: Ride wit Us or Collide wit Us
• 2001: Novakane
• 2002: Neva Surrenda
• 2005: Outlaw 4 Life: 2005 A.P.
• 2008: We Want In
• 2010: Outkasted Outlawz

[edit] Collaboration albums

• 1999: Still I Rise (With Tupac Shakur)
• 2006: Can't Sell Dope Forever (With dead prez)

[edit] DVDs

• 2002: Outlawz: Worldwide

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Outlawz at MySpace
• Outlawz at Discogs
• OutlawzMedia.net
• [1] The official blog of 2Pac and Outlawz.