November 05, 1996

LAS VEGAS SUN

Just past the stroke of midnight, 19-year-old Lisee Shans got what she was waiting for: the last album Tupac Shakur recorded before he was shot to death.

The late rapper's fifth album, "Makaveli," goes on sale on record racks today. But at Odyssey Records, which is open 24 hours a day, today meant 12:01 a.m.

"I'm first," said the 19-year-old Shans, who stood at the counter for two hours waiting to make her $9.99 purchase. "I have all his albums, and I wanted to be the first one in Vegas to get the tape."

CC Miller, 28, who was second in line, said she took off early from her job at a casino where she works so she could buy the 12-song CD.

"Makaveli," produced by Death Row Records, is the late gangsta rappers' last album. After Shakur's "All Eyez on Me" album was released in February, it sold more than 3 million copies, and record store clerks predict the latest album will do even better.

Record stores are predicting a run on "Makaveli" when sales begin today.

Heavyweight Boxer Mike Tyson, who lives in Las Vegas, tried to buy the album a day early from Tower Records on West Sahara Avenue, general manager Steve Unmack said.

"Mike Tyson came in looking for it today," he said. "He didn't believe us when we told him it wasn't available yet. We told him to come back tomorrow."

Julie Mernin, store director for Odyssey Records in the 1600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard, said she expects to sell most of their "Makaveli" stock of 1,200 cassette tapes and CDs this week.

"I want it tonight," Tony Chambliss said.

A steady flow of customers at Odyssey Records continued late this morning. An employee said a count of how many Shakur albums had been sold had not yet been tallied.

Patrol and bike officers kept an eye on the parking lot after security called them to the store.

"They're just worried about rival gangs showing up," one officer said.

"It should be OK unless somebody goofs off," Zimmerman noted. "There's no problem. We're just going to monitor."