"Tupac Back" is a song by American hip hop recording artist

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

, released as his debut single and the lead single from the Maybach Music Group compilation album, '' Self Made Vol. 1''. The song features MMG label boss and fellow rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Diddy's Bad ...

, and peaked at #31 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. Rick Ross said that, in making the song, they were “paying homage to the fallen icon.”

Music video

The official music video was released on June 17, 2011. makes an appearance in the video and is directed by Mr. Boomtown. The video was shot on Grape Street in Watts,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. It features Rick Ross sitting in the back of his

Maybach Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of '' Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', a ...

and Meek Mill "Stranded On Death Row" (a reference to the song "Stranded On Death Row" from The Chronic) in a prison.

Remixes

Numerous unofficial remixes have been released including "Tunechi's Back" by

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

on his '' Sorry 4 the Wait'' mixtape, " Big Pun Back" by

Joell Ortiz Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Aft ...

, "Snapbacks Back" by

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

with

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

on his mixtape Well Done 2 and Brown's mixtape Boy In Detention, " Biggie Back" by Maino, and UK-based rappers Giggs and

Lethal Bizzle Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" c ...

released Westwood's back.

Lil Wyte Patrick Dhane Lanshaw (born October 6, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wyte, is an American rapper. He is a member of the rap collective Hypnotize Minds and owner of the independent label Wyte Music. Early life Growing up in Frays ...

also did his own version called "Elvis Back".

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a so ...

also released his own freestyle over the beat titled "Dirty Diana." Tupac's protégé's

The Outlawz Outlawz (formerly known as Outlaw Immortalz) are an American hip hop group founded by rapper Tupac Shakur in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Collectively, they were best known for their association with Shakur. Most of the group ...

also recorded a remix which had an official video shot with archive footage of Tupac which the video was directed by Iamhaym & Young Noble.

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

released the official remix for his series #MonsterMondays on his website, called "Reebok Back". It features the producer/rapper himself, along with the two original artists on the record. Only the clean version was released.

Chart positions

The song peaked on 31 on the

and 22 on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

. As of August 2013, the song has sold 176,000 copies in the United States.

References

2011 debut singles 2011 songs Meek Mill songs Rick Ross songs Maybach Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Mike Will Made It Songs written by Rick Ross Songs written by Mike Will Made It Songs written by Marquel Middlebrooks Songs written by Meek Mill {{2010s-hiphop-single-stub