To Live & Die in L.A.

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"To Live & Die in L.A."
Single by Makaveli featuring Val Young
from the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
Released	November 5, 1996
Format	12-inch single
Recorded	August 1996
Genre	West Coast hip hop
Label	Makaveli/Death Row
Writer(s)	Makaveli
Producer	QD3
Makaveli featuring Val Young singles chronology
Toss It Up 1996 To Live & Die in LA (1996) Hail Mary (1996)

"To Live & Die in L.A." is a single by rapper 2Pac (who at the time went by the name Makaveli) from his album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. The song interpolates Meli'sa Morgan's cover version of "Do Me, Baby", a song by Prince from the early '80s. It starts with an interview originally performed on KKBT's Street Science program; The host asks a man what he thinks of 2Pac's new album and he responds by saying he loves it. He then expresses that his music heightens the East/West Coast Feud, most likely referring to 2Pac's personal attack song toward The Notorious B.I.G., "Hit 'Em Up". The song then starts as Makaveli reflects on his life, with Val Young singing the chorus. The song peaked at #10 on the UK Singles chart. It is unknown, however, if the song did peak at #10 on the U.S. Rap chart. It was later included on 2Pac's Greatest Hits album in 1998.

[edit] Music video

The video was filmed a month before Tupac's death and is one of the last videos the rapper filmed. The video for this song features Makaveli at various locales around the Los Angeles area, mostly in South Central. Most notable is the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza which was used as a major film location. Makaveli can be seen rolling up to the mall in his Jaguar convertible, and walking inside. He is also seen singing with a group of teenagers dancing around him.

[edit] Track listing

CD single

1. To Live & Die in L.A. (Radio Edit)
2. To Live & Die in L.A. (Album Version)
3. Just Like Daddy

[edit] Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009)

• In the outro, Makaveli refers to the song as "LA, California Love part mother fuckin' 2, without gay-ass Dre" (who at the time worked with several of 2Pac's rivals, including Nas and The Firm.) This is often edited out of the music video as well as radio play.^[1]
• The song was produced by QD3 (Quincy Jones III) who was a good friend to Pac. QD3 Entertainment later made a documentary called Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw about the rappers life.
• "To Live & Die in L.A.X." is a variation of the song used as a motto for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling stable The Latin American Xchange.
• The song's hook was sampled by The Game in the song "Red Magic", an unreleased track from his third album LAX.

[edit] References