Live Squad - Chesse - Instrumental

Live Squad were Stretch (Randy Walker), his brother Majesty aka Maj (Christopher Walker) and their DJ K-Low.

Shock G first met Stretch and Maj in 1990 and, through Shock, Stretch was introduced to 2Pac in the summer of 1991 where the two instantly became best friends barely spending even a few minutes apart from that moment on. Stretch was a producer as well as a rapper and he became involved in a lot of 2Pac’s pre-DeathRow work, and most of the tracks he produced he would have a verse on. Stretch makes his first guest appearance on the Digital Underground track “Family of the Underground” from the 1991 album “Sons of the P”.

Stretch was close friends with Ed Lover from ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ who got Live Squad signed to the record label “Tommy Boy” where in 1992 they released their first double A side single “Murderahh/Heartless” (from where Pac’s "Heartless" tattoo takes it homage). Stretch started performing in shows with 2Pac, appearing in his music videos and he produced songs on the albums “2Pacalypse Now”, “Strictly 4 My Niggaz”, “Thug Life Volume 1” and the scrapped album “Troublesome 21” (from which most of the tracks were later used for “Me Against the World” and "R U Still Down?").

In some of Pac’s early work a company called “Grand Imperial Thug Music” is credited whenever Live Squad appear on or produce a 2Pac record, although Stretch or Majesty are not named for any of the production in the "Thug Life" booklet this same company is credited for production for a lot tracks on the album and it is my understanding that “Grand Imperial Thug Music” is 2Pac plus Live Squad meaning Stretch and Majesty helped produce "Thug Life Volume 1"; “Grand Imperial Records” went on to become a record company co-owned by Majesty and Queens rapper E-Moneybags who recorded a few songs with Live Squad and 2Pac, most notably the track “Big Time” which was released in 2001.

In 1993 Live Squad released the ultra-violent mini-movie called “Game Of Survival” which was a showcase for 6 songs from the forthcoming soundtrack, the members of Live Squad only briefly appear in the movie in a music video at the start and in one skit, the rest of the movie is played by actors. Due to the movie’s graphic nature and Live Squad’s hardcore style, Tommy Boy were forced to drop them from their radio friendly roster and the soundtrack was never released.

In 1993 2Pac, Stretch and the Notorious B.I.G. starting hanging and performing shows together, during this period the three made several songs together which remain unreleased.
Stretch was with 2Pac when he was shot in New York on November 30th, 1994. 2Pac and Stretch were still friends until Pac was sent to jail on 14th February 1995 but their friendship quickly deteriorated after 2Pac learned that Stretch was still doing shows with the Notorious B.I.G. after he had accused him of being involved with the New York shooting, Pac felt like Stretch had sided with BadBoy while he was locked up, In a Vibe interview 2Pac went on to insinuate that Stretch never tried to help him during the shooting which Stretch responded to in another Vibe interview. 2Pac sent a letter from jail and in the footer are the names of all people he considered his enemies struck out, Stretch’s name is last.

Stretch features again on a 2Pac track called “God Bless the Dead” which was released on “Greatest Hits” in 1998, this appearance apparently slipped through Amaru’s radar as they have obviously been erasing Stretch from all of Pac’s work that is posthumously released for whatever reasons. This song is dedicated to "Biggy Smallz" which is mistakenly thought to be about the Notorious B.I.G or the producer Big D The Impossible aka Deon Evans, it was in fact a friend of Stretch's named Drik who was killed.

The co-owner of Grand Imperial Records E-Moneybags was shot and killed in 2001, Majesty appears on a remake of the song “Regulate” which also has a music video in which he features.

A "Game of Survival" DVD and CD box set was released in 2001, the DVD contains the promo movie from 1993 plus a music video of the remake of E-Moneybag's "Regulate" featuring Majesty and Prodigy. The CD contains various Live Squad unleaked material that is not available on any other releases including the phenomenal track "Daddy Bigtimers" as a bonus.

Majesty continues to drop the occasional verse on a mixtape, he also produced the track “The Reason” on Smif-n-Wessun’s album “Still Shinin’” in 2004.

The 2Pac album "Loyal To The Game" which was released in 2004 is further proof that Amaru have no intention of publicising Live Squad's material; the booklet for the album shows that Stretch and Majesty have writing credit for a majority of the original songs however their verses, choruses, backing vocals, ad-libs and production were not used once.

[livesquad]

Samples Used For Live Squad Appearances

Cashflow - Foster Sylvers "Misdemeanor"

Another Memory - Donald Byrd "Think Twice"
Another Memory - Big Daddy Kane "Young, Gifted and Black"

Blowen 'Em Out Da Frame - Eric B. and Rakim "Let the Rhythm Hit 'em"

Holler If Ya Hear Me Original - Syl Johnson "Different Strokes"

Game of Survival (Gangsta Funk Mix) - Idris Muhammed “Say What”

Game of Survival - Public Enemy "Welcome to the Terrordome"
Game of Survival - Brand Nubian "Step to the rear"

Trouble On My Mind - Public Enemy "Welcome to the Terrordome"

Murderahh - Undisputed Truth “Smiling Faces Sometimes”

Pump for a Livin - B.T. Express “If it Don't Turn You on (You Outta Leave it Alone)”

Crooked Ass Niggas - Idris Muhammed “Crab Apple”

Runnin - Kool and The Gang "Summer Madness"
Runnin - Bootsy Collins "Munchies For Your Love"

Who Do You Love (original) - Lakeside "Eveready Man"

Family of the Underground - Sly and the Family Stone “Family Affair”

So Many Tears - Stevie Wonder "That Girl"

Stay True - Curtis Mayfield "Just Want To Be With You"

Pain - Earl Klugh “Living Inside Your Love”

Hold On Be Strong - Earth, Wind and Fire "I'll Write a Song For You"

Enemies With Me - Love Unlimited Orchestra "Making Believe That Its You"
Enemies With Me - Ice Cube "The Bomb"

Crooked Nigga Too (original) - Cypress Hill "How I Could Just Kill a Man"

Daddy Bigtimers - Geto Boys "My Minds Playin Tricks On Me"

Strugglin' - Eric B and Rakim "Paid in Full"

[livesquad]

Extract from RETURN TO THE WORLD AS A THOUGHT
by Dave Tompkins
While producing Tommy Boy act Live Squad, CJ (Studio 1212 engineer CJ Moore) dangled mics out the window to record skits of staged car jackings in the 1212 parking lot. Mick Carrey awoke to gun shots and called the cops, unintentionally adding to the scene’s authenticity. The Live Squad was too live for Tommy Boy and the only thing that got out was a bootleg video whose highlights included a baby being tossed out a car window and a cop being shot. In ’95, Studio 1212 burned to the ground.