Outlawz

In the earlier years of the Outlawz, they were known as Dramacydal. Dramacydal first appeared on the B-side of Tupac Shakur's 1993 single "Holler If Ya Hear Me", on the track "Flex". Dramacydal was composed of K-Dog (Kastro), Young Hollywood (Yaki Kadafi), Mutah or Mu (Napoleon), and Big Malcolm (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".

When 2Pac signed to Death Row upon his release from prison, he recruited his stepbrother, 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. Together they formed the original lineup of the Outlaw Immortalz that debuted on 2Pac's multi-platinum smash hit album All Eyez on Me. They later dropped the title of "Immortalz" after the untimely deaths of 2Pac and Yaki Kadafi. Subsequently, some of the members of Thug Life, not joined by the others, moved on as the "Outlawz".

When Tupac Shakur recorded "Hit 'Em Up", a diss track beamed towards his former friend and rival The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Lil' Kim, he recruited three members from the group he had previously worked with, eager to work with them again. Together with New Jersey rappers and other associates they formed the original lineup of the Outlawz. Young Noble was later added and appeared on 2Pac's second Death Row release, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, that carried 2Pac's new stage name, Makaveli. It was on this Makaveli album that Outlawz, appearing on a few songs, first came to the greater rap community's notice.

The idea behind the group was for each member to have a rap name coinciding with the names of various leaders who resisted control by the new world order, 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 group's name and is used infrequently.

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 and were originally going to sign to Makaveli Records, but after his death, the leftover members of the Outlawz decided to do just that. As a result, Fatal left the group, claiming they were not 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 was looking for solo deals for Storm. And Young Noble as well. She left the group around late 1998.

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. 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. 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). In 2008 they signed a short deal with Young Buck's Ca$hville Records. In 2009, Kastro had confirmed he had left the Outlawz to pursue a solo career. He reunited with the group on Outlaw The Lost Songs Volume 1 & 2 in March 2010. Later the members went to release solo albums and collaborations with other artists.

In 2009, the Outlawz reunited with former member Hussein Fatal, who had left the group following the deaths of Makaveli and Kadafi.

The Outlawz sixth studio album Perfect Timing was released on September 13, 2011 on 1Nation Entertainment. 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.

In 2011, some of the remaining members of The Outlawz made peace with longtime rival enemy Lil Cease of Junior Mafia. They both recorded a track called "Bury the Hatchet", on a DJ Kay Slay album. They also confirmed the longstanding rumor that they smoked Tupac's ashes.[5]

In 2014, Outlawz released a single named Karma featuring Snoop Dogg on June 5, 2014.

In 2015, Hussein Fatal died in a car crash.[6]

In 2016, Mussolini died at his home in California.[7]

Between 2016 and 2017, the group released their final albums, Livin Legendz and LastOnezLeft.

• Outlawz discography at Discogs