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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Ready To Die

The Notorious B.I.G.

1994

Buy At Rough Trade
Ready To Die
Album Summary

Ready to Die is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album features productions by Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse, among others. It was recorded from 1993 to 1994 at The Hit Factory and D&D Studios in New York City. The partly autobiographical album tells the story of the rapper's experiences as a young criminal, and was the only studio album released during his lifetime, as he was murdered sixteen days before the release of his second album Life After Death in 1997. Ready to Die peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and was subject to widespread critical acclaim and soon a commercial success. Three singles were released from the album: "Juicy", "Big Poppa", "One More Chance" and a promotional track of Biggie: "Warning". "Juicy", the lead single, peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 14 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and reached number 3 on the Hot Rap Singles. "Big Poppa" was a hit on multiple charts, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and also being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. The Notorious B.I.G.'s lyrics on the album were generally praised by critics, with many praising his story-telling ability. In April 2018, Ready to Die was certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was significant for revitalizing the East Coast hip hop scene, amid West Coast hip hop's commercial dominance. It has been ranked by many critics as one of the greatest hip hop albums, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2020, the album was ranked 22nd on Rolling Stone's updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.39

Votes

15712

Genres

  • Hip Hop

Reviews

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Feb 05 2021
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4

I really wanted to give the GOAT a 5, but the skits on this album are out of control, in a bad way. This is definitely one where you put several tracks in a playlist and never touch the rest of it again. Best track: The What

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Nov 09 2021
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3

An album that suffers under it own sheer size. Much like Biggie probably did

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Jan 17 2021
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1

Misogynist lyrics made this nauseating, despite any potentially good musical qualities.

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Jul 28 2021
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5

We need to talk about Puffy. It’s universally acknowledged that this is one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time from possibly the greatest rapper to ever do it. Nobody comes close to Biggie for having it all - lyrical dexterity, whip smart word play, ingenuity and the flow - god that flow - play any beat, any style and he nails it every time, whether swapping verses with himself on Gimmee the Loot, messing with the beat on Unbelievable (‘The gat's by your liver, your upper lip quiver Get ready to die, tell God I said hi’) or that laid back slow flow on Big Poppa. Impeccable choice of producers and beats (The What, Juicy) make for a thrilling, enthralling, near perfect rap album. But we need to talk about Puffy. There’s no doubting his contribution to shaping and developing Biggie as an artist but, my god, let that be enough! We don’t need your lousy skits, hype man contributions and especially not not your wack ass acting on Suicidal Thoughts. Let the man rap! Back down and shut up! It’s Puffy and the skits that made me hesitate over five or four stars … but it’s a tribute to Big that even this cannot ultimately spoil this classic five star (five mics) album.

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Nov 01 2021
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3

This three-star review hurts to give. Biggie's skills are literally the stuff of legend but, man ... the album just didn't age well. The lyrical content is a one-note gong that he just keeps banging over and over and over. The majority of the album can be summed up in the phrase "I'm gonna shoot you." There's very little that strays from that central theme. And that ... well, that gets old after a while, doesn't it? Even if the delivery is fantastic. And then there are the skits. Pure cheese. The skits alone dragged the score down a whole star. Overall, a disappointing re-listen from one of the greatest rappers of all time.

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Mar 23 2021
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5

Absolute classic album. Do I wish there were fewer skits with him having sex? Of course. But the rhymes are enough to keep it a 5.

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Sep 16 2021
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5

Juicy is everything that hip-hop is about perfectly encapsulated into one song. Big Poppa is the perfect player’s anthem with an even more perfect sample. The rest of the album is proof that Notorious BIG was the best rapper alive at the time. And the closing track is a haunting look at the dark side of fame in a troubled mind. A hip-hop masterpiece.

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Jan 15 2021
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5

Like the Goodfellas of rap albums

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Nov 26 2020
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5

Great timing as i just watched I Got a Story to Tell, the documentary about Biggie. What a dude. How could i not give this a 5?

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Jan 04 2022
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3

As someone that doesn't listen to much rap, I'm pretty choosy on this genre. Part of it is that I can't identify with a lot of the content, and some of it is distaste for some of the ways it perpetuates and glorifies violence and gangsta lifestyle. Biggie was an excellent rapper, the pure talent and flow are amazing, he can weave a story so well and you do get a sense of his upbringing and coming out of that life to stardom throughout this album. For me what drags it down is a lot of the content though, the violence and gunshots, the music video where he blows away a bunch of guys from a balcony and it pans down to dead bodies, the juvenile skits and sex noises. I'm not a square but I just don't enjoy this, though as a teen I would have thought it was edgy and hilarious. 3 Stars from me, the talent is there and there are some bright spots in the album where he really gets into some great poetry, but it drags on too long and I just don't enjoy some of the content regardless of the talent behind it.

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Sep 02 2021
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2

Glad I listened. I can appreciate how influential it's all been. But nothing artistically useful to me.

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Aug 27 2024
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1

This is a difficult one to review. I liked the music and Biggie's vocals flow well. However, some of the lyrics are absolutely appalling. I'd feel embarrassed to listen to this album with other people around - and considering I'm happy to listen to Kunt and the Gang, that's not an easy thing to achieve. The glorification of violence, the casual homophobia and, in particular, the horrific levels of misogyny mean that I can only give this album 1 star, even though I thought the music was good. Some of the more delightful lyrics: From Me and My Bitch: "And I admit, when the time is right, the wine is right I treat you right, you talk slick, I beat you right" From Just Playing (Dreams). Where Biggie "Dreams of fucking an R&B bitch" "Make Raven Symone call date rape" Fuck off you creepy, vile weirdo.

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May 09 2021
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3

Liked the beats and music, struggled to connect to the content.

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Jan 21 2021
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2

Biggie sure does have good flow, and the beats are for the most part great. At first I felt like he surpassed the typical Rap culture tropes of just talking about themselves and their accomplishments. Because the album started as more of a nostalgic feel. But then it descended into the same old tropes and I quickly got bored of the lyrics. I stopped halfway into "**** Me" because I really don't want to hear people having sex. So I would say this album is garbage, not something you want to listen to as an album. Maybe individual songs are great. And musically some of the songs are 5/5. But thematically it is pretty much boring rap themes, with a little originality at the beginning of the album. Also I really disliked how it tried to be explicit in every way possible in a way that seemed on purpose just for explicitness.

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Nov 01 2023
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2

Never really cared for Biggie, even back when I was teenager in the 90’s. I got about 7 songs through this record and put on De La Soul’s “Buhloone Mindstate”. Someone add that to the list.

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Nov 12 2024
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5

I could do without the random women moaning in my ear during work hours, but the rapping was great.

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Aug 29 2024
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5

A classic in so many ways. So many memorable lines and a great snapshot of who Biggie was, before all the posthumous releases started popping out.

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Feb 18 2024
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5

Wow. Knowing very little, in the grand scheme of things, about rap and hip-hop, I don’t think I could tell you what makes this a standout example of its genres. But do know art when I see it, know an artist when presented with one. The concept of this album (loose though it may be at times), is well considered. Starting with Biggie’s birth and childhood, and ending with his suicide, it explores all aspects of his life, past and present. He tackles his criminal past, love, sex, fame and wealth (which I was confused about since this is his debut album and he presumably hadn’t achieved widespread fame yet; think I’m missing something there), poverty, stress, and much more. It’s a mosaic of his life, and each track feels like it was intricately written and produced to tell a specific part of it. It’s quite engaging. His delivery feels buttery-smooth while still conveying the emotion of each track. He’s not rushing or trying to impress the listener with how fast he can rap. He wants to be heard and understood. Where some rap can turn an uninitiated listener off with its references to other parts of the culture, fast deliveries, or just otherwise unfamiliar musical concepts, this album and Biggie himself stay rooted firmly in the moment of each song. The samples are brilliantly used to the point where I couldn’t always tell what was and wasn’t a sample. I cannot say enough about this album. It’s long but never overstays its welcome. It’s funny, it’s serious, it’s entertaining, it’s tragic. Absolutely no doubt 5 stars. I need more. Standout tracks: Intro (reminded me of Dark Side of the Moon’s “Speak to Me”), Things Done Changed, Machine Gun Funk, Ready to Die, One More Chance, Juicy, Everyday Struggle, Unbelievable, Suicidal Thoughts

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Nov 30 2021
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4

It is difficult to listen to this album detached from the events of Biggie's career as a result of the feud between Bad Boy and Death Row, the East vs. the West. Biggie and his style of storytelling is definitely a cut above his contemporaries and even today against the current lineup of rap artists. The feud between East and West, whether manufactured or real, Biggie had a real story to tell. This album is dirty rap, with a very specific story that will resonate with specific audiences because of how personal this all comes across. Toxic masculinity as a result of the struggle for respect, the unbridled sexual conquest of generically available women, and the consequences of these actions are played out as ending in tragedy through violence. Where art imitated life, Biggie would be murdered a mere three years after this album was released. All in all, the album is sad and Biggie is telling a truth that happened to him as a young kid, in spite of academic success and great opportunity, that respect, money, maybe even love, could not be granted to anyone other than from the streets. This listener is not really looking for a story to be told in music, but Biggie explored and rather explicitly at times, a story about life that is contraindicative for people listening to music to feel nice or good. In a way, the authenticity of the struggle supersedes that of the rhythmic blues, where we are forced to perhaps understand something that for many people, is impossible.

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Aug 23 2021
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4

Honestly, the skits are a bit over the top on here. They should have got ridden of a few. I don't care that P Diddy has confirmed that Biggie actually had Oral Sex at the end of Respect. Apart from that, this is an excellen album. One of the greatest.

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Jul 10 2024
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3

No. 215/1001 Intro 2/5 Things Done Changed 3/5 Gimme The Loot 3/5 Machine Gun Funk 3/5 Warning 3/5 Ready To Die 3/5 One More Chance 4/5 Fuck Me 2/5 The What 3/5 Juicy 5/5 Everyday Struggle 4/5 Me And My Bitch 3/5 Big Poppa 4/5 Respect 3/5 Friend of Mine 3/5 Unbelieveable 3/5 Suicidal Thoughts 3/5 Average: 3,18 Some very good songs, some ok songs. Didn't like the interludes.

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Nov 17 2021
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2

I was grossed out by the lyrics Music/vocals are interesting and sound like they must have been a huge influence

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May 16 2021
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2

Started off solid but after an hour of the same 3 words got boring. Almost turned off at the sound of fellatio, not sure how that is music!

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Nov 02 2024
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5

Bed-Stuy's chef d'oeuvre! Ready to Die is a success story that is entertaining and poetic!

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Jul 23 2021
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5

Classic album. One of the greatest hip hop albums ever. The storytelling, production, rapping are so point it's crazy. Biggie is one of the greatest rappers ever, flows are the best I have ever heard. 10/10

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Feb 06 2021
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5

Re-listening for the generator. What a superb album, tons of fun (rimshot). When he's in the zone, no one does it like Biggie. From all-time opener Things Done Changed to endlessly quotable story of impending conflict Warning to the gloriously victorious Juicy, this work by the notorious one is simply awesome. 9/10 and a probable future 10

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Jan 18 2021
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5

Gimme the loot is an absolute track. From the BERETTA puttin' all the holes in ya sweater

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Oct 01 2020
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5

Always loved Biggie. It was a great trip down memory lane.

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Jan 11 2021
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5

I know every lyric to this album for good reason.

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Sep 24 2024
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4

This album bought Diddy a lot of lube unfortunately

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Sep 08 2024
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4

Just about every song here is a certified classic. Incredible beats and quite possibly the best flow and voice of all time. Would be an easy 5/5 if not for the sex skits, which haven’t aged well, and Diddy not ever shutting up. Who Shot Ya? Is one of the best beats ever, but half of the song is his yapping. My favorite songs were Gimme The Loot, The What, Juicy, Big Poppa, Unbelievable, and Who Shot Ya?

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Sep 04 2024
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4

I enjoyed the autobiographical nature of this album. And not enough can be said about Biggie's voice. That throaty baritone filled with moxie. Pride in one song, rage in the next. Songs about coming out of the life of a drug dealer into the life of a musician are a common theme. It's a shame that changing his focus still couldn't keep him safe from violence. The Biggie vibe is that of a monster rhyme delivered with timing absolutely locked in the pocket. Stick those lyrics on top of beats by Puff Daddy and that's a winner all day long and twice on Sundays. All of that being said however, I could never give an album this misogynistic a five.

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May 19 2021
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4

Very influential and a classic album. His voice is super unique and recognizable. Kinda the king of sexual interludes - made this weird to listen to at home, but there's vulnerable parts as well that make it a really well-rounded album. A little long, but that's alright Saved: Gimme The Loot, Juicy

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Nov 09 2024
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3

It's hard to explain how monumental biggie smalls was in his day. His flow was just so unique and his rhymes so creative if gruesome and profane. Unfortunately it doesn't hold up very well. This may be a more recent thing but hearing Puff Daddy whispering stuff in the background puts off a different vibe than it did in 1993, and frankly the stuff he's wrapping about is kind of boring and juvenile. The back in the day I used to be a buyer for a record store that prided itself on an excellent hip hop selection the kids would travel from all around for it. The first time I heard of Biggie was when some of the hardcore hip hop heads started asking about him. None of our distributors knew the name, but within a few weeks he started showing up on some of the underground dj mix tapes we carried. Improbably, about 12 years later I inadvertently found myself gentrifying the very hood Biggie rapped about, Clinton Hill. It might have been the same place, but in name only. Still, it felt good to occasionally walk by the building he grew up in and fantasize about the childhood that developed this unique style we barely got to know before he was murdered. RIP.

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Jul 09 2024
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3

Mmm usual gangsta rap with usual tiresome tropes. Good delivery. Lots of annoying skits. Decent production.

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Apr 14 2024
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3

If I’m going to listen to misogynistic rap from the 90s it’s going to be Big L. Ready to Die did not age well and in fact has exceeded ready to die status and is firmly Ready to be Forgotten. Gimme the Loot is still great.

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Sep 23 2024
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2

Well then how violent. A 1-minute interlude of graphic sex audio lol, bit awkward at work.

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Sep 23 2021
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2

The music is undeniable and the talent real. Everything sounds so easy, but the message of some of the music doesn't age very well. I guess that's the appeal for some of the genre.

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Jan 17 2025
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1

The Good: realizing that rappers know how to spell a name The Bad: realizing the size of one’s ego if you’ve got to spell out your nickname… The Ugly: trying to convince us of an innocence lost I don’t want to get all philosophical here, so I will keep this one short… I don’t like rap. Not that rap is bad, nor that I can’t enjoy a good rhyme, or “flow”… but give me a beat poet any day over this “look at the size of my dick, click, there goes Rick, with my gin-n-tonic” Do I know what it’s like to live in the ghetto? No. Do I find this album a good means to let me understand what life is like in the ghetto? If I use most rap albums of that era, then yes… and how grateful I am that I don’t live in the ghetto, or have to worry about a ghetto… but for the love of all, stop glorifying the shit, pretending it’s all cool and shit. And what’s with blow-job in the middle of it all? At the end of the day, if I go by words being used, and the flow, then I’ve heard it before, which might prove that B.I.G. is the goat, or it just might prove that there are only so many words that rhyme with gat, rat-a-tat, or dick, or bitch, or cold champagne… Also, you can’t have a background line stating “remember they used to thump, now they blast, right?” inferring the better days of the past, to then glorify carrying a gun and knowing how to use it… So, needless to say, this album is getting the best possilbe rating 1*

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Sep 05 2024
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1

Voice, rhythm, and flow are good. Content not so much. Misogyny, porn, violence. Offensive.

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Sep 03 2024
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1

This album lost me with the misogyny and the threat of violence against women in the very first track. I didn't need to listen to any more, I knew what was in store for me. No thanks.

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May 22 2023
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1

Things done changed was pretty good! I did not enjoy the rest.

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Jan 17 2025
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5

An absolute masterclass in 90's rap. Solid 5 Stars.

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Jan 17 2025
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5

I’m at a 4.5, and I’m kind of conflicted about whether I should go down to a 4 or go up to a 5. I’ve heard this album before – I think anyone who claims to know 90s music has at least heard one of “Juicy” or “Big Poppa” before, and in my case, I listened to the whole thing for the first time… gosh, maybe a decade ago, when I was 15. I liked it back then, but I never really gave a lot of thought to the lyricism, and this is obviously when people still liked Diddy, before… well, you know. So, with several years removed from listening to this album in full, but with years of the songs coming up in my big playlist, I was really curious about how it would hold up as a complete front to back package. I’ve matured in spades since 2015, and as part of this whole 1,001 albums thing, I’ve learned to really & truly pay attention to music, and analyze it a lot more past “it sounds good”, for the most part. From the intro, though, this weirdly felt akin to riding a bike – once my brain locked in on “Things Done Changed”, a lot of it came right back to memory. From a purely musical standpoint (i.e., melodic flow, instrumentals/beats, mood-capturing energy, etc), this really is a masterclass on most of the tracks. Easy Mo Bee deserves a lot of fucking credit for the opening stretch of this album, because his stuff is an incredible tonesetter, and a bar for every other producer on here to meet, and they all got pretty close. The lyrics need to be talked about, because they are mostly the reason I’m wavering between a 4 and a 5 – it’s not even necessarily in the fact that a lot of the deeply misogynistic stuff has aged so poorly (although that is a really big factor that should not be understated), and more so in the fact that when you really pay attention, a lot of these tracks end up circling the bases on flexing, bragging, self-hype, and threats of violence, with a touch of domestic abuse throughout. Granted, that’s probably a lot of Diddy’s influence striking through on this album (and I’ll get to him at some point), and from what I remember of “Life After Death”, his songwriting improves tremendously in those regards to make a more varied, thoughtful, introspective & arguably, a more fruitful & better album. On here, though, while those subject matters have legs for a while, by tracks 14 and onward, it just feels like retreading old water, and it does get sort of bland. The curse of a long album, I suppose. However, I’m more inclined to lean towards a 5, if only because Biggie Smalls makes those lines, as poorly aged and repetitive as they might be, sound compelling and unique and mesmerizing every single time – yes, this is a 70 minute album, but it genuinely still flew by for me. Part of that is familiarity, but a lot of it comes in how charismatic and unique Biggie’s voice is, and how he’s able to pull you into the story he’s telling almost every time, without fail. It really didn’t hit me until I had headphones in just how smooth the man’s flow is – the ending of “Everyday Struggle” struck me as the key example, with the bass picking up, the percussion getting a little louder, and the clarity where you can hear just how on-beat he was the whole time becoming apparent. It’s that sort of mesmerizing appeal that’s pulling me towards a 5, and I think it’ll stay there. I’ll be damned if old Puff Sean Diddy Daddy P. Combs didn’t do his damn best to drag this down to a 4 though – it’s not even that he does anything especially bad, but for the love of God, man, do you need to be doing hype-man adlibs on every single fucking track? It’s a side effect of getting this album after all the crimes really came to light, but I just don’t need to hear the man give an Ariana Grande-esque “yuh” after every single fucking line Biggie says. It happens so often that it feels like I’m listening to a man ride coattails in real time, and it is by far the worst side effect of The Notorious B.I.G.'s success. Ultimately, though… I dunno, maybe I just have too much reverence for this album from my younger years, but I think I just have to give it a 5. I can see the case to go lower, and if I were going in with totally fresh ears, I’d probably be there. I cannot change the misogynistic parts of this album from existing, and they do genuinely drag it down on a modern relisten (and don’t even get me started on why the interlude had to be on this album), but on so many of the tracks, I’m just reminded of why Biggie felt special. Even in 2015, I just knew. Beyond the mythos of the Tupac rivalry & his own subsequent death, the man’s talent was on full display, and in 2025, I think his musicianship still speaks for itself. I could (& probably will) go down to a 4 in the future, when I have less of a starry-eyed glaze, but I feel OK about giving this a 5.

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Jan 16 2025
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5

Such a great voice and flow, it really is a shame he died so young. It is kind of weird how much he talks about dying on this album. The beats on this album are also really great and groovy. Mid 5.

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Jan 15 2025
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5

Top 10 rap album ever probably. I’ve of course heard songs off of this album but listening to it all in one sitting made me feel like it’s actually a bit more intimate than I realized. Kind of a chronicle of Biggies life, at least is how I took it. 5 stars

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Jan 14 2025
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5

A rap classic. You could maybe argue 4 stars because I don't love the skits but his its catchy. He has good flow, and the beats are good too

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Jan 13 2025
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5

this one is a hard one to rate, because on one hand this feels like a great view into peak 90's hip hop with some really captivating songs in here, some real good flow, and the intro was one of the best album intro's i've ever heard. on the other hand though, the theme of the album kind of just boils down to 'sex, drugs, violence, repeat'. I think i've decided on a 5 for this purely because this was jus the style of the time, and i still think it's done extremely well.

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Jan 03 2025
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5

What can we say more about this absolute classic. A contender for best rap album of all time. Incredibly influential.

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Dec 23 2024
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5

Yes, the skits are unpleasant, but the music is really good, and importantly, is not one-dimensional.

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Dec 17 2024
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5

Obligatory five stars because of what this album is. One of the greatest rap albums of all time this arguably could be the best rap album of all time because of a lot of things. I didn’t realize how much foreshadowing there was in his death. Literally every song is about him about to be killed or getting some ass lol

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Dec 16 2024
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5

Maybe the smoothest flow on an album you'll hear outside of maybe Doggystyle by Snoop. Biggie though has the incredible lyrical ability to go along with it, and some classic beats. It's an easy 5.

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Dec 15 2024
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5

Really good album the only one i dont like is where biggie is getting his lil biggie ridden and she calls him alot of racist things. Gimme the loot is really good

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Dec 11 2024
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5

Possibly my favorite rap album I’ve listened to during this project thus far. A perfect encapsulation of the struggle of gang life in that era set to a masterful flow and infectious beats. Definitely some work I’ll have to revisit. Notable Tracks: - Things Done Changed - Gimme the Loot - The Loot - Juicy - Big Poppa - Respect 9/10

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Dec 10 2024
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5

It got some flaws like the skits that haven't aged well but a majority of the songs make up for those parts. A weak 5 but a 4 would be too low.

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Dec 08 2024
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5

Believe it or not, Len Houmous was the first person to be interviewed on that fateful day for Biggie. They’d had a heated argument that afternoon. We wanted to cover Me & My Bitch in honour of Lens first wife, Andrea. Len just can’t stand swearing. So we wanted to change it to Me & My Witch but Biggie wouldn’t have it. Fortunately the only thing Len hates more than swearing his his ex wife and firearms so they knew it wasn’t him. 4.7

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Dec 05 2024
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5

Iconic and totally changed the game. One of the best rap albums of all time.

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Nov 27 2024
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5

"Gimme Da Loot" Plus "Who Shot Ya" on the remaster version...those are my faves.

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Nov 21 2024
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5

would love to listen to a version of this that edits Diddy and the two atrocious sex skits out. what was the obsession with taking 2-3 minutes out of an otherwise fantastic album for the least funny audio skits you've ever heard? those blemishes aside, wow. this is one of hip hop's first timeless albums; Biggie Smalls' flows are immaculately constructed, and listening to him light these beats up is a pure delight. there's tons of different approaches to the art of storytelling across these tracks! my favorite is when he plays multiple characters in the same song, like on "Gimme the Loot" or "Warning"; it feels like he was planting a seed for Kendrick Lamar to harvest a couple decades later. "Things Done Changed", "Everyday Struggle", "Suicidal Thoughts" and many other songs here portray Biggie's criminal lifestyle and condition in society with vividly macabre detail, matched with ornate, jazz-tinged production and piledriving drum grooves. it's undeniably New York, but the influence of West Coast G-Funk is also undeniable. there's also a few glitzier cuts dedicated to his material possessions and the women he's bedding (and threatening to beat if they act out of line), as any mainstream rap classic worth its salt tends to have. the production value and rhyming quality hardly ever dips, but the subject matter is often pretty repetitive. there's definitely no shortage of material here, with 15 proper songs clocking in at over an hour. this was the early days of the CD age, where everyone was trying to fill up as much of that disc as they possibly could. I think you could maybe trim this down by 5-10 minutes and it would be a much tighter experience. but, when so many of these songs are so legendarily good, I can hardly complain! light 9/10.

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Nov 05 2024
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5

delightful. smooth and way ahead of its time. could have done without the sex noises though

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Nov 05 2024
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5

A bonafide classic that is loaded with massive hits and some of the best hip hop deep cuts ever. Puffy’s production impresses throughout this record. Considering Diddy’s crimes, and some of the outdated lyricism from BIG, I was expecting to not like this as much as I used to. The sexual interludes and “sucking on your daddy’s dick” level of nastiness included in the lyrics is uncomfortable to say the least. That being said, BIG’s lyrics and flow are influential and timeless. The personal lyrics about thoughts of suicide are some of the first deeply personal lyrics included in hip hop. It’s hard to give this much lower of a score, because it shaped my interests at a young age honestly. And although, it has aged poorer than others, it is loaded with classics. Everyday Struggle isn’t a song that gets mentioned often, but I like it more than other rappers’ whole discography. Juicy is one of the best songs of all time regardless of genre. There are so many other tracks I could mention, because it is that loaded.

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Oct 31 2024
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5

This hit so hard, his lyrics are sometimes graphic and a bit intense, but the ending song is one of the greatest ways to end an album

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Oct 28 2024
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5

Best beats. A little uncomfortable.

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Oct 25 2024
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5

Definitely a skit or two that I never need to hear again.

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Oct 22 2024
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5

This album fucks so hard. Outstanding production, strong pop sensibilities, great voice and delivery from Biggie, it's got it all. The lyrics are kinda juvenile in a lot of places but I get it, they were basically kids. I wrote terrible lyrics/poetry at that age too. Anyways, now that I'm not a shitty teenaged metal snob, I can totally understand how this became huge and how (along with the Death Row stuff) rap/hip hop broadly became such a sensation around this time. I mean, not that it wasn't already popular but rap was basically the default soundtrack to the 90s. My only beef with this album is Big Poppa copping the West Coast style G-Funk sound. It's out of place. I mean, it sounds good, but it sounds like they were trying to dip their toes into waters that Dre basically owned. Other than that, this is basically flawless.

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Oct 10 2024
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5

päheetä sakkia nää tummat... valmiina koulemaan!!!!! elämä on rankkaa mut mun sielu on vankkaa.. virta on sulava mutta syön vittu pullavan... siks oon läski vitun läski joten laita pääskii... pikku riimiä teillekin, ehk extra settiä albumille emt... yyyhyyy rivouksia... yhyhyhyyyyy seksisti paskapää!!! on osa kulttuuria heh... opi tavoille... respect the culture..... mene kiina syö koira... osa kulttuuria, ongelma? ei kannata olla homo. saudi arabiassa... jos ei kulttuuri kelpaa niin ei tarvi vittuilla...... albumi vähän pitkästyttää loppua kohden mutta on ainakin semmoisen tunnin verran eliittiä settiä. i dont give a hell!!!!!! on nää päheetä sakkia nää tummat... respect

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Oct 04 2024
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5

Haven't listened through the album before, was good

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Sep 29 2024
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5

What flow. What a debut. Too much Puffy. One of the best to ever rap

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Sep 28 2024
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5

RIP Biggie. One of the OGs. Phenomenal album and such a classic.

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Sep 27 2024
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5

Essential 90s east coast rap. It tells a story that never gets old

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Sep 27 2024
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5

THIS IS NOT MUSIC! this is foul-mouthed pretentious self-indulgence with no musical content, innovation or inspiration..

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Sep 23 2024
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5

Inarguably one of the best debut albums of all time.

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Sep 21 2024
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5

Classic. The lyricism is incredible, the flow is impeccable, the beats are fantastic.

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Sep 20 2024
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5

Would be hard to say this is not one of the best hip hop records ever.

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Sep 16 2024
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5

This album just missed the day my twins were born which would have been amazing considering the album art and the song "Big Poppa." I love Biggie's cadence and rhyme. There is a smooth and crunchy sound to his voice that makes it so good. Some of the lyrics are your stereotypical rap theme (women, money, drugs, murder, cars) but when Biggie raps about these things it feels real. Biggie sounds like a motherfucker you don't wanna mess with. Probably what got him killed unfortunately.

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Sep 09 2024
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5

This rules. A classic for a reason.

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Sep 06 2024
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5

Pretty good, I liked Juicey, me and my bitch and big poppa

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Aug 27 2024
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5

I like Hip Hop as for me it has a massive cross over with metal and puck music and many fans have that common bond. This album when I heard it back in the day just blew my mind the heaviness musically and lyrically is just incendiary. I do wonder what he would have gone on to do if not killed at such a young age. Stand out tracks: - Gimmie the loot - one of my favourite tracks of all time The whole thing!!

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Aug 26 2024
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5

Already rated this one as the 2nd album in the list, still a 5

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Aug 19 2024
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5

A CLASSIC comming from a non hip hop guy!

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Aug 08 2024
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5

what a journey. Among the greatest hip-hop albums I've listened to. 5 stars.

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Jul 31 2024
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5

This is weird because it's serious. If you put out a song like "One More Chance" in 2024 it would be assumed it was satirical. Is it weird that the main thing I notice is parallels with Hamilton? Obsession with death. It's not my thing (a lot of the like, beats are kind of samey) but content wise I think it is a very good album.

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Jul 29 2024
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5

I am the whitest man I know and this album makes me feel like a straight up G, like don't fuck wit' me 'less you want tha heater. Feel me? just kidding but this is what rap is supposed to sound like to me, but I am also old. The beats and samples are so distinct to this era of East Coast rap that you know it immediately, then BIG's raps are so clear and clever you can't help but move your body and feel like a G.

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Jul 27 2024
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5

classic hip hop album. One of my favorites from when I was younger. Still holds up after all these years.

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Jul 27 2024
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5

A killer debut with great lines and wonderful production and sonics.

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Jul 25 2024
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5

I absolutely loved the Intro, it actually told us a story unlike what the recent music I have been listening

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