Outlawz

This article is about the American rap group. For the southern rock band, see Outlaws (band).

Outlawz
Also known as	Outlaw Immortalz, Tha Outlawz, Dramacydal
Origin	Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1995–Present
Labels	Amaru, Death Row, Cashville Records, Real Talk, Koch Records, Rap-a-Lot Records, Outlaw Recordz
Associated acts	2Pac, Lowkey, Smif N' Wessun, Bun B, Young Buck, Bone Brothers, Yukmouth, Dead Prez, Tech N9ne, Scarface, Tha Dogg Pound
Website	outlawzmedia.net
Members
E.D.I. Mean Hussein Fatal Young Noble
Past members
Yaki Kadafi Napoleon Storm Mussolini Komani Kastro Stormey Coleman

Outlawz, formally known as Outlaw Immortalz, is an American hip hop group founded by Tupac Shakur in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Collectively, they are probably best known for appearing in the video "Hit 'Em Up", in a diss track aimed at Biggie Smalls and other New York rappers.

History

In the earlier years of the Outlawz they were known as Dramacydal. Dramacydal first appeared on Tupac Shakur's 1993 single Holler If Ya Hear Me, they were on the track "Flex". Dramacydal was composed of K-Dog who later became Kastro, Young Hollywood who later became Yaki Kadafi, Mutah or Mu who later became Napoleon, and Big Malki who later became E.D.I. Mean. They also appeared on 2Pac's Me Against The World and All Eyez on Me albums. They were also known as "Thoro Headz" and "Young Thugz".

Outlawz

When 2Pac signed to Death Row upon his release from prison, he recruited his step brother Mopreme Shakur and Big Syke from Thug Life. Hussein Fatal, Napoleon, E.D.I. Mean, Kastro, Yaki Kadafi, and Storm (the only female Outlaw) were also added, and together they formed the original lineup of the Outlaw Immortalz that debuted on 2Pac's multi-platinum smash All Eyez on Me. They later dropped the immortal after the untimely deaths of 2Pac and Yaki Kadafi and moved on as Outlawz without the members of Thug Life. Young Noble was later added and appeared on 2Pac's second Death Row release The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. It was on 2Pac's Makaveli album that Outlawz first came to the greater rap community's notice, appearing on a few songs.

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. Outlawz chose in later years to make a backronym out of the letters of their group name Operating Under Thug Laws As Warriorz although it does not stand for the groups name and is used infrequently.

All together, there were 10 Original Members of the Outlawz, including Tupac:

• Yaki Kadafi, also known as Young Hollywood, was given the name Yaki Kadafi after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was also Shakur's godbrother and an original member of Dramacydal.

• Kastro, also known as K-Dog, was given the alias Kastro after Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He is also blood cousin of Shakur and an original member of Dramacydal.

• E.D.I. Mean, also known as Big Malcolm, was given the alias E.D.I. Mean after Ugandan president Idi Amin and was also an original member of Dramacydal.

• Hussein Fatal, introduced to 2Pac by childhood friend Yaki Kadafi. Given alias after former leader of Iraq Saddam Hussein. Hussein left the group after the tragic killings of Pac and Yak. He felt that the remaining group members were going against Tupac'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 and was also an original member of Dramacydal. 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 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.

• Storm, The only female member of the group, she met Tupac during the shooting of a film. After he found out how well she could rap, he immediately signed her on the spot and added her to the group, which later became known as The Outlaw Immortalz. Storm was to be Tupac's solo artist. She was introduced on the multiplatinum selling album All Eyez on Me.

• Young Noble, the final member of the group to be signed as the last official Outlaw member by Tupac himself. He was introduced to Tupac by Kadafi and Hussein Fatal in Los Angeles, a few months before his 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.

Later years

Shortly after joining the group, Mopreme and Big Syke severed all ties with Death Row and left the Outlawz for financial and personal 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, after his death, 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. Napoleon left the group due to his conversion to Islam and is now traveling all around the globe to spread the teachings of Islam. While managing and working on her solo project, Tupac signed Storm to Death Row Records. She left the group shortly after the tragic death of Tupac. In 2009, Kastro had confirmed he had left the Outlawz to pursue a solo career. He reunited with the group on Outlaw Culture Radio in October 2010. Currently there are 5 active Outlaw members.

New Child and Muszamil were never official members but have worked closely with the Outlawz and remain good friends.

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 Boot Camp Clik, 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, the Outlawz released their first album as a group with original unreleased recordings of 2Pac, entitled Still I Rise, granting them even more recognition and furthering their short-lived affiliation. The album was released on Death Row Records. Member Hussein Fatal did not appear on any of the album as he was edited out of the original recordings due to issues with the record labels. Storm was also edited out of some of the original recordings for unknown reasons. Original member Big Syke also appeared on the album. It wasn't until late 2000, though, that they finally got the go-ahead to release their debut album, Ride Wit Us Or Collide Wit Us. Featuring a cover that placed 2Pac's image in the foreground, along with numerous references to the deceased legend, this debut made the most of Outlawz' reputation for being 2Pac's supposed protégés. Unfortunately, the album didn't prove to be much of a success, and neither did the group's follow-up album a year later, Novakane, also released on the group's Outlaw Recordz label (distributed by Koch). Later the members went to realese solo albums and collaborations with other artists.

Current Years

As of 2010, The Outlawz, reunited with former member Hussein Fatal, who immediately left the group following the deaths of 2Pac and Yaki Kadafi.

The group has teamed up with allhiphop.com to release a new Outlawz song every week on the site in a series entitled "Return Of The Real" in anticipation for their upcoming studio album "Perfect Timing".^[1]

The Outlawz put out 2 new mixtapes before the official album, Killuminati 2k10 and Killuminati 2k11 available online for free download.

The Outlawz last studio album Perfect Timing was released on September 13, 2011. The album features guest appearances from many big name rappers including Bun B, Tech N9ne, Scarface, Krayzie Bone, Young Buck, Lloyd, among others and production from Focus..., Cozmo, Maxwell Smart, The Network and CyFyre.

Discography

Main article: Outlawz discography

Studio 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: The Street LP 2011: Perfect Timing Collaboration albums 1999: Still I Rise (With 2Pac) 2006: Can't Sell Dope Forever (With Dead Prez)

Digital albums 2006: Retribution: The Lost Album 2010: The Lost Songs Vol. 1 (iTunes Exclusive) 2010: The Lost Songs Vol. 2 (iTunes Exclusive) 2010: The Lost Songs Vol. 3 (iTunes Exclusive)

Mixtape

• 2010: Killuminati 2K10
• 2011: Killuminati 2K11

DVDs

• 2002: Outlawz: Worldwide

References

1. ^ AllHipHop.com: The Outlawz Return With 'Perfect Timing'

External links

• Outlawz discography at Discogs
• OutlawzMedia.net
• Yaki Kadafi