Notorious B.I.G :
Ready To Die

Release Date: 13 September 1994

Reviewed By: Usman Sajjad

1. Intro

2. Things Done Change

3. Gimme The Loot

4. Machine Gun Funk

5. Warning

6. Ready To die

7. One More Chance

8. **** Me (interlude)

9. The What - feat. Method Man

10. Juicy

11. Everyday Struggle

12. Me and My Bi**h

13. Big Poppa

14. Respect

15. Friend Of Mine

16. Unbelievable

17 Suicidal Thoughts

N.E.R.D. - Fly Or Die
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After his tragic death in ‘97, and the recent passing of what would have been his 32nd birthday, we felt it was only right to review a classic hip hop album which really blew up both the Notorious BIG and Bad Boy records.

‘Ready to Die’ was released in September ‘94, and along with debut albums by artists such as Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, had masses of hype building up to the release. After appearing in The Source’s Unsigned Hype section and later releasing his own track ‘Party and Bulls***’, which was included on the soundtrack for the Dr Dre film ‘Who’s Da Man’, the hip hop world eagerly anticipated the huge release of the soon-to-be ‘King of New York’.

Producers included Easy Mo Bee (who produced Craig Mack’s ‘Flava in ya ear’), legendary producer DJ Premier, Digga (who produced records such as 50 Cent’s ‘Many Men’), and Big Daddy Kane’s DJ Mister Cee.

Biggie’s unique and flowing hardcore lyrics are shown early on in tracks such as ‘Gimme the Loot’ and ‘Machine Gun Funk’, where Big displays more of a street hip hop image.

Big also puts emphasis on records relating to his struggle growing up in Brooklyn, with records such as ‘Thing Gon Change’ and ‘Juicy’, the first release of the album. This was soon followed up by ‘Big Poppa’, which many say was the record that put Biggie on the map. The B-side to this was ‘Warning’, where Big was first acknowledged to be such a great lyrical genius: “Who the f*** is this/ Paging me at five forty-six in the mornin’/ Crack of dawn/ Now I’m yawning, wipe the cold out my eye/ See who this paging me and why.” ‘Me and My B****’ is a different record, with its deep, romantic storyline opening up gates for artists like Jay-Z to release similar tracks such as ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’.

The only collaboration on the album (except for tracks featuring Puffy), is ‘The What’ featuring Wu Tang star Method Man. This certainly goes to show that if true talent is present in an artist, guest appearances are unnecessary. Debut records by rappers like Snoop Dogg, Nas, Eminem and 50 Cent had no major guest appearances, but all went double platinum.

Back to BIG’s album. ‘One More Chance’, produced by Digga, is a well-paced track which compliments his rhyming skills. Apparently re-done three times before its release, due to it’s originally explicit vocals, the track is now a classic anthem and will be played in clubs for a long time to come.

So, what else is there to say? The album is a total classic. Every aspect and avenue is top notch and to the highest level. Any fan who loves real hip hop will fall in love with the album. Even though I’m saying this 10 years after its release, if you don’t already have this album, seriously go and buy it, so that you can hear Biggie’s fresh lyrical ability for yourself. His sensible and genius lyrics in his street-like records really push the LP to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. B.I.G.R.I.P

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