The Notorious B.I.G
The Duets: The Final Chapter

Release Date: 19th December 2005

Reviewed By: Usman Sajjad

Jamie Foxx-Unpredictable
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However, the winter release, which features many recycled Biggie verses, has led to talk that it is yet another Biggie venture for Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs (the executive producer of the ‘Duets’ album, and President of Bad Boy Records), to push some extra dollars into his presently healthy bank account. Nevertheless, the Notorious B.I.G. legacy lives on with ‘The Final Chapter’, with a string of artists accompanying the ‘King of New York’, including Jay-Z, Eminem, The Game, Nas, 2Pac, Nelly, Akon, Fat Joe, Big Pun, R. Kelly, Missy Elliot, and many more illustrious names, all showing their utmost respect for the late rapper.

The release kicks off with the Eminem-produced ‘It Has Been Said’, featuring verses from Em himself, protégée Obie Trice and P. Diddy. Puffy also makes an appearance on the lead single ‘Nasty Girl’, featuring Nelly, crooners Jagged Edge and a club-friendly beat from Jazze Pha (the same beat the Atlanta producer used on Angie Stone’s single ‘I Wanna Thank Ya’), contribute to the heavy rotation the track has received in form of video and radio airplay.

Almost reuniting from their performance on ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’, (a record from Jay-Z’s 1996 debut, ‘Reasonable Doubt’), Hov lends an incredible verse to the Brooklyn native on ‘Whatchu Want’. A strong Southern flavour is brought up on ‘Breakin’ Old Habits’, which sees appearances from two of today’s biggest Southern rap stars, Slim Thug and T.I.

Other standouts include ‘Living The Life’ and ‘Hustler’s Story’ featuring Scarface, Big Gee and the R&B star of 2005, Akon. Continuing his success from Young Jeezy’s ‘Soul Survivor’, the unique sounds of Akon carry this record once more. On ‘1970 Something’, West Coast newcomer Game spits alongside the rapper, someone the Dr Dre protégée has name-dropped in a number of his records, whilst Nas and Mary J. Blige jump on the Just Blaze-produced ‘Living In Pain’, alongside former friends Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.

However, with the whole intention of using recycled verses to build a duets album, the dilemma of classic Biggie rhymes being unable to mesh with new beats or the latest rappers being thrown onto the record is one that is of utmost significance on tracks like ‘Beef’ and ‘Mi Casa’. On these tracks, both Mobb Deep and R Kelly, respectively, are unable to save the songs from being an easy skip. The Scott Storch-produced ‘Ultimate Rush’ featuring Missy Elliot also fails to pull great sounds out of a lacking track.

With all being said, the Biggie ‘Duets’ album suits Puffy’s aim of drawing contributions from today’s biggest stars to carry Biggie’s legacy. The album will be an ultimate record for those unaware of many of Big Poppa’s tracks, and will be fascinated by the endless amount of ‘A List’ collaborations. However, long-term fans of the Notorious B.I.G. will not be blown out of the water, with many of the verses having already been used on the three albums released before Biggie’s death in 1997.

Rating: 3.5 Out of 5

Top Three Tracks:

14) Hustler’s Story (featuring Akon, Scarface & Big Gee)

4) Whatchu Want (featuring Jay-Z)

15) Breakin’ Old Habits (featuring Slim Thug and T.I.)

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