Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits is a double disc greatest hits album for late rapper 2Pac, released by Amaru/Death Row/Jive/Interscope in 1998. The album’s non-chronological sequence highlights 2Pac’s career; the 21 popular hits, some slightly re-edited for legal reasons, are accompanied by four previously unreleased songs: the dead friends tribute “God Bless the Dead”, the dedication song “Unconditional Love”, the tough talk “Troublesome ‘96”, and the album’s single “Changes” also helped earn 2Pac the first and only posthumous Grammy Award nomination since for Best Rap Solo Performance. Some tracks have alternate mixes, while “California Love” makes its first proper album appearance after only being available as a single prior. Of the new material, the raw-sounding “God Bless the Dead” has been the subject of the most speculation, owing to its subject matter: an apparent eulogizing of “Biggie Smalls”—a mysterious feat, since Tupac was killed six months before Biggie Smalls. The song has been interpreted as a clear and direct homage to Biggie. According to Nielsen Soundscan, 2Pac’s 1998 Greatest Hits (Interscope) had sold 4,620,926 copies (corresponding to 9,241,852 discs, as a double disc album) by 2007, and in June 2011 it was certified by the RIAA for shipments of over 10 million copies, the late rapper’s very first RIAA Diamond award.[1][2] In addition, the album has ultimately edged out ’96s All Eyez on Me to become Shakur’s biggest selling album.[3] Tupac Shakur’s two-CD Greatest Hits collection debuted at No. 5 with 268,000.