X-Raided worked on Unforgiven while serving 31-years to life for murder at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, California.

[2] X-Raided recorded vocals for his previous album, Xorcist, over the phone from Sacramento County Jail.

The clarity of the vocal recordings that went into The Unforgiven album suggest that it was made using more sophisticated equipment.

Vibe (August 1998) reported, "The Unforgiven is culled from 65 tracks recorded onto a DAT, with beats added afterwards at a studio."

The state of California targeted the album and tried to have it pulled from stores, claiming that it fell under the Son of Sam law.