although the original version of the album never came to fruition as the album went through a number of changes, tupac performed the planned first single from the album, "out on bail" at the 1994 source awards. although the album was originally released on interscope records, amaru entertainment, the label owned by tupac's mother, afeni shakur, gained the rights to it. "thug life: volume 1" was certified gold. the track "how long will they mourn me?" appeared later in 1998 from 2pac's "greatest hits" album.