took what Slick Rick was credited for enhancing in the hip-hop art of storytelling into a different realm altogether with his vivid crime sagas “Niggas Bleed” and the Buckwild produced “I Got a Story to Tell”, where he grafted entertaining thrillers full of suspense, plot twists, and even comic relief. Throughout Life After Death, his style never appeared out of place, whether over the spirited leadoff single “Hypnotize” or the album’s opening track “Somebody’s Gotta Die.” B.I.G. made the most of his high demand as a collaborator, lending vocals to none other than the King of Pop’s single “This Time Around” and Shaquille O’Neal’s “You Can’t Stop the Reign.” Proving to be rap’s ultimate Renaissance man, his seemingly effortless flows sounded as impeccable over groovy R&B love tunes as they did set atop late-night mixtape murder bars. traded Mafioso bars with Borough-mate Jay Z on Reasonable Doubt’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” at D&D studios, dropping gems like, “Who shot ya? Mob ties like Sinatra / Peruvians want to do me in, I ain’t paid them yet / Tryin’ to push 700’s they ain’t made them yet.”įorced to delay his follow-up long player’s originally slated release date of Halloween 1996, B.I.G. created a memorable moment for the culture with the back-and-forth cadence of their contrasting rhyme styles.Īlmost a year later, he summoned his own star power to introduce his Bed-Stuy neighbors and mentees with the line “I’m surrounded by criminals / heavy rollers, even them sheisty individuals” on Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s debut single “Player’s Anthem.”ī.I.G. Sparring with Wu-Tang swordsman Method Man on Ready to Die’s “The What,” Biggie declared, “Niggas, know they soft like a Twinkie filling / playing the villain, prepare for this rap killing.” Meth and B.I.G. to Big Poppa in his ascension to the top of the Billboard charts.Įven with an impressive succession of hit singles to accompany his acclaimed debut album, he reined undefeated in collaborations during a period that spanned arguably the most competitive period for true lyricism. Cocky enough to frequently reference his optical disadvantages, his lyrical ability alone helped his transition from Biggie Smalls to the Notorious B.I.G.
seemed to effortlessly connect with audiences by being relatable (“It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! magazine”), inspirational (“I made the change from a common thief / to up close and personal with Robin Leach”), or charming (“However, living better now / Coogi sweater now / Drop top BM’s, I’m the man girlfriend”). Having sharpened his teeth alongside some of the ravenous rap dogs in the pits of the New York underground rhyme scene, Biggie made it obvious by the summer of 1994 on the star-studded remix of label mate Craig Mack’s hit “Flava in Your Ear” that he had every intention of securing the role of Bad Boy’s top shotta with well delivered punch lines like “you mad ‘cause my style you’re admiring, don’t be mad UPS is hiring.”īy the time Ready to Die hit, B.I.G. His husky baritone transported you into his childhood classrooms and into the streets of Brooklyn for vivid episodes of his early mischief and delinquency. From proclaiming that he “was a terror since the public school era” over the Easy Mo Bee produced “Party & Bullshit” which opened the Who’s the Man soundtrack in 1993, he showed that his lyrical ability had already developed as an instrument capable of captivating audiences’ imaginations. Heralded among the elite group of potential saviors of East Coast rap in the early ‘90s along with Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan, B.I.G.’s flow revealed not one flaw between his debut as Biggie Smalls back in 1992 and his untimely death in 1997. With mixed emotions of enjoying B.I.G.’s signature lyricism and the expansive arrangement of the double LP, the experience of listening to the album was solemn, as the best moments solidified that we may have just lost the best to ever formulate rhyme schemes. Only two weeks after receiving the news of Christopher Wallace’s death, grief now accompanied the anticipation for the long awaited follow-up to B.I.G.’s classic 1994 debut Ready to Die. Twenty years ago, the concepts of hip-hop fact versus fiction intersected like never before with the posthumous release of the Notorious B.I.G’s sophomore album, eerily titled Life After Death. The lines often blur on whether art imitates real life, or real life imitates art. Sadly, life beyond the lyrics of hip-hop music is sometimes filled with as much tragedy as the vivid street stories its artists recount about the harshness of life inside our inner cities.
Happy 20th Anniversary to The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death, originally released March 25, 1997.