Tupac Shakur's posthumous CD, 'Loyal to the Game', debuts at No. 1

Jet, Jan 17, 2005

Late rapper-actor Tupac Shakur died nine years ago, but his music has continued to live on with non-stop charttoppers.

Shakur's latest posthumous CD, Loyal to the Game, reached No. 1 on the Billboard album charts in its first week of release.

The project, executive produced by Eminem, sold 330,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album features guest performances by 50 Cent, Jadakiss, Lloyd Banks, Nate Dogg and Ron Isley, to name a few. Shakur's mother, Afeni, also served as the executive producer of the project.

This is the late performer's fifth No. 1; it is his third posthumous project to go to the top of the charts.

Shakur has sold 24 million albums with 18 million being sold since his death.

Born Lesane Parish Crooks, his mother later changed his name to Tupac Amaru Shakur. As a tapper, the former member of the group Digital Underground used the spelling 2Pac.

Also a noted actor, Shakur performed in such films as Juice, Poetic Justice and Gang Related.

The rap legend was murdered in 1996 in Las Vegas. Soon after his death, his mother started Amaru Records to release his catalog of unreleased songs.