Many of Shakur's usual producers were not involved in the project. Before that, it was going to be a sort of an underground. George 'Papa G' Pryce, former head of publicity for Death Row, claimed that 'Makaveli which we did was a sort of tongue-in-cheek, and it was not ready to come out, after Tupac was murdered, it did come out. The album cover, which features Shakur on the cross in an attempt to convey his crucifixion by the media, was created in mid-August 1996.
Ronald 'Riskie' Brent is the creator of The 7 Day Theory cover painting. Tupac wanted the album to be called Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, with Makaveli the Don as the artist name. Mean of the Outlawz and Ronald 'Riskie' Brent revealed in an August 2014 interview that the official name of the album was mixed up in the rush to release the album following Tupac's death. The album's preliminary title was 'The 3 Day Theory', (originally consisted of around 14 tracks). These are the last songs Shakur recorded before he was shot on September 7, 1996. The lyrics were written and recorded in only three days and mixing took an additional four days. The album was completely finished in seven days during the first week of August 1996.
