Reviews (page 12 of 14)
Some intense tracks. Too much braggadocio. Biggies flow is a bit samey after a while. Prefer more upbeat hip hop to this style. Nice production but themes and flows are too repetitive for me. In context of when it was made, it's pretty revolutionary, but sounds out of date in 2023
possibly the most iconic and era defining album of all time? incredible. apart from being too long and some weird ass interludes. you know the one. fav songs: gimme the loot, ready to die, one more chance, unbelievable, suicidal thoughts.
Hmm
Not very good tracks amongst horrifically bad interludes and skits.
Biggie’s lyrics and flow were amazing. Almost rated 4 stars as the beats were a little same-y to start, but enough variety shown through to keep it strong through the length of the album.
This album came at the wrong time in my life. He brags about how poorly he treats women and how his dick is so big it shatters bladders. Not for me.
Better than I remember
While It is arguably known as one of the best hip hop album debuts of all time in the last 4 decades, it still has it's negatives.
🐐
Yeah, like this was going to get rated anything else
Again, I don't really feel qualified to rate hip hop/rap albums, since I usually don't focus on lyrics for the first listen. I can see why this is a rap classic, with some great tracks and quality beats. Some songs seem to have aged poorly, lyrics-wise, and I didn't care for several of them. Decent listen, and an essential album if you live in Brooklyn, even if it's not my cup of tea.
Beats are boring. I gave up
Hip hop artists make a 40 minute album challenge (impossible)
👍
Duh
Not my style, but can see why it's included
Absolute 5-star classic album
I’m conflicted - a few songs I really like and a few I really despise.
Not my bag, but an important artist.
No idea why I find the same language acceptable that I objected to elsewhere. This is amazing.
Ouais le rap ouais
il m’a saoulee
yeah nah.
NOT FOR ME
I find gangsta rap confusing. I understand where they're coming from, but to me there doesn't seem to be any real anger - a bit like American punk - it just seems to be designed to shock rather than start an uprising.
Jaja, groundbreaking und so, aber naja echt nicht meins
Absolute classic. Why no samples though?
Biggie’s flow was that of a black belt martial artist. Smooth and beautiful but percussive, crisp, and potentially damaging. There haven’t been many like him since him. This album is on the Mt Rushmore of gangsta rap.
Hadn’t listened to this all the way through before but it was amazing. Some weird shit in there but it he music is all great
Pretty hard to get through. Definitely not my thing.
I can sometimes enjoy a little hip hop in moderation, but I just get tired after a whole album of it. I know this one's a certified classic but it's not for me. The best part of hip hop is the lyrics, and the music often takes a backseat to the words
This was B.I.G.'s debut album?! Create way to make an entrance if you ask me. Juicy is one of those hip hop songs I always come back to. Wearing headphones felt like a good idea until we got to the foley blowjob, that was a little too much for me.
Classic. Top 5 rapper for me. Great production and slick delivery and rhymes. Rip biggie
Good hip hop album. Enjoyed listening to it but more of a 2Pac fan. Definitely one to listen to again
Definitely heard his name many times when it was in the headlines for a long time in the 90s, but hadn't listened to his music before. I really like his vocal delivery. He hits hard but keeps it moving. Some very cool sampling all throughout the album, too.
One of my favorite albums!! My favorite rap album for sure.
I don't understand putting orgasms on an album and releasing it as part of a track. Talk about self-indulgent nonsense that adds nothing to an otherwise superb album. While the album is good overall, women are so objectified, I don't think I would go out of my way to listen to it again.
Enjoyed this overall. Many tracks I have heard before but never in the succession of the full (greyed out) album. Biggie's delivery is so good.
One of the greatest rappers of all time, even though he only really has two albums. Love the beats and instrumentals on this album and of course Biggie is the main event. Juicy and Big Poppa are absolute classics. I'm docking a star though for the explicit sex content - call me a prude but when I'm listening to my gangster rap while I do audit-related work I'd rather not hear Biggie getting his dick sucked.
Can’t beat Biggie’s flow. Rhyming multiple words within a sentence. Legend
Not a rap guy but there are really good beats here. Lots of iffy lyrics though, caught something about beating his girl? Also not the biggest fan of all the loud sex noises, makes it kinda difficult to listen to the album at work.
Nope
First listen, think it's good on most tracks. Fav Track in the Album: Big Poppa
I was surprised by how much I liked this album. Only listened to the songs available to play on spotify though. I would give it 4 stars but I hated all the skits so that takes it down
The subject matter in his raps was heart-wrenching. There wasn’t a whole lot of musicality to the album however.
entendo a importância para o gênero mas em geral mta violência e misoginia pro meu gosto
This is hard to score to be honest. If it weren't for the _actual words_ being said I might be wondering if I should score this 4. I'm not a rap fan but this guy has decent tunes and his own rapping style which I really enjoyed. But I just can't find enjoyment in an album with this content which is awful. It could still have been a 3 till he started rapping about his cock and then the stupid skits where they're acting out fucking it's dropped to a 1. What a waste of talent.
one of my favourite albums ever. the keyboards the bass the beats the storytelling and THAT VOICE!!! so incredibly distinct and timeless. if you don’t think this album is a masterpiece you’re fuckin dumb.
Gangsta rap. Good shit. Shooting some people.
Guns, sex and drugs. Everything you come to expect. Biggie flow, complexity and tone is one of the greatest ever. But I'm not quite hooked for 70 minutes straight.
Juicy and Big Poppa are absolute classics. Didn't care for the rest of the album as much as I figured I would. Not necessarily an all time great. 3.5/5
first time listening have heard juicy big poppa
Good but not my vibe
Great reminder that men who make misogynistic music should be shot <3
Wow that was intense. There were some incredible songs and the creativity and production was excellent, but man that was violent. 8/10.
This album has the best Rhythms of just about any RAP album. It’s also a classic. I don’t listen to this Genre, but even I admit it’s goooood.
Great for that era of rap, which was the last real one.
I guess it was good that he was ready to die. This is a really hard album to give a rating to. There are a ton of great moments, lyrics, and beats. But then he will make a good song and decide to ruin it by ending it with slurping bj sounds. If I tried listening to this album in public as a white dude it would probably be extremely embarrassing. I was worried in the beginning that every song would just be about killing people but there is a lot more interesting and real shit on here than that. It's an extremely sad and troubling look into someone's life and it definitely does deserved to be listened to. It's important and well made but personally for me I just can't relate to it or get into it as much as others. Score: 70 Art: 80 as it is pretty iconic
Biggie was a great rapper and extremely horny. He has a good flow but the subject matter is so repetitive. I could do without the porn skits or hearing P Diddy's voice. Favorite tracks are Big Poppa and Suicidal Thoughts.
BEtter than I thought
There's a reason BIG is one of the tentpole legendary figures of the Hip-Hop genre. An excellent debut album that still holds up to this day.
ma ovo je klasik, jedino bi skit izbacio, to definitivno - inače petarda.
This is my first time listening to a Notorious Big album. With my limited prior knowledge, this sounds very much gangster rap. I think the album is good up to "Big Poppa". After that, I feel like the album's songs start to slow like they're not as good as the prior songs. Except "Suicidal Thoughts", that songs feels eerily disturbing. After reading the Wikipedia article on Biggie, I wonder if this album was based on his real life.
OK, I quite liked it.
good beats, too graphic for me
Undeniable talent, great tracks and great delivery but I’m not connecting to the lyrical content at all. Skits did nothing but make me feel gross and uncomfortable. Deserves to be listened to, deserves to be on this list, but since I’m rating these based on how likely I am to want to listen to this in the future… 1.5
Some cool bits. Some eh bits. Probably not my jam ultimately.
Biggie never appealed to me the way other hip hop of the 90s did, and I thought it was ridiculous when people said he was assassinated. I was like, well he's an admitted criminal and drug dealer in his lyrics, why is anyone surprised when violent people meet violent ends? Anyway, listening to the whole album today, I can see the appeal that eluded me in the 90s. Its a good album. 4/5
I understand the appeal. The rap is kinetic, it feels like another layer of percussion. The lyrics have a little flow and I like the power fantasy, the black empowerment. I could even forgive the violence. What I cannot support is the misogyny. Can we please stop punching down and objectifying?
Great album. The highlights are really good and the regular songs are still really great and Biggie's flow is amazing.
Things done changed was pretty good! I did not enjoy the rest.
Great album. Little Simz is a technically accomplished rapper but it is the producer Inflo who really makes this stand out. Little Simz raps like it was the year 2000, and she explicitly references Jay-Z in the first track in the best line of the album. It somehow feels fresh with the old school It’s obvious she is a fan of the turn of the century New York hip hop. The lyrics are alright but not interesting enough for five stars. The production by Inflo though is definitely five stars. Dynamic, organic and banging.
4.25
I like bits of this but the skits are too much
Tough one to rate tbh. He raps with such magnetism and the production feels big and focused, for the majority. The best moments come when he is being braggadocious but cheeky and sincere. It feels too long and some tracks became a bit samey. The skits are very hard to sit through also. I try to look past lyricism from decades old tracks, recognising it came from a different time and culture (however cooked it is) but it is particularly gross throughout this album and it did spoil it somewhat. Fav Track: Respect
Effortless flow, sticky production, incredible rhyme schemes. The album runs a thick 76 minutes but never really gets old, which is a feat for me particularly with a hip-hop record. The sinister, braggadocious vibe is fantastically well-realised The only real complaint is the pretty rampant and graphic misogyny - it's pervasive and really limits the enjoyment of a lot of songs. Any mention of sex is so unimpressive, unsexy, and repetitive. And I never want sex skits!! It's gross!! Who are they for??? Fave track: Things Done Changed
This was a funny one to gather my thoughts around. Biggie has such a legacy and his skills are clear. Still felt kinda put off by quite a number of tracks and skits, and his reliance on discussing fairly misogynistic content. Great production from Diddy and some staples of classic hip hop, but I couldn’t help but feel a lot of the record was overshadowed by some bars that have not aged well - honestly it’s surprising this aspect would have been well received at the time. Maybe I’m missing something. Two and a half. Fave track: Juicy
The guy’s got great cadence with his rapping and some of the beats are good but it was a bit of a chore to get through. Plus can’t say I’m a fan of the glorification of violence and mysogeny
A number of good tracks, some excellent rhymes and good beats. The rhymes lacked the finesse of other artists but it was a pleasant listen. The quality felt like it decreased as it got more explicit, turns out the last thing I want is to hear about biggie fuckin. Stand out tracks: gimme the loot, juicy, warning
Big, he was a great rapper great lyricist no I’m not always impressed with the production which seems to favor the music over his rapping… I don’t every case on this album but in some of the cases and surprising in hindsight. But overall great hip-hop album.
I like a good Biggie Smalls single like the next person who came of age when he was making music, but I can't take a whole album of it. Gotta be a solid album experience to rise above 3 stars.
I like the soul samples
Good stuff
Rentoja biittejä ja olis suonut tämän sekä sen toisen tekevän vähän pidempään musaa.
Vakuuttava kokonaisuus. Överimachoilu tosissaan ylittää oman ymmärryksen, mut pääsin siitä yli. 3/5
Gangsta rap rhapsody, a hip hop opera. This plays out life and death drama with compelling and earnest gravitas. Also this is in an era before mumbling lazy, inane lyrics and auto-tuned melodies. I don't know how to judge his short, harsh personal life, but this record captured some of the maelstrom of his demons.
I quite enjoyed this. I don't know much about hip-hop but it was, in the main, easy enough to listen to and I could see the flow going on. It sounds good and works as an album pretty much. Lyrically I didn't spend long enough with it to dive too deeply into it. I get why people con't like this sort of thing in places, but contextually it works I guess. I mean, we can wrap sex up as a baseball commentary if you'd prefer... Yeah, this is OK. it's close to a 4, but I'm not sure I'd listen to it again, so it's a 3 here.
Hey!! Diego has a shirt of this picture. I've been actually liking old rap lately. This will be a good one. Good stuff! I'll probably be revisiting this one. A couple songs had some sexy sensual stuff! ;)
Very good album, but not all tracks were available on Spotify
Amazing.
I don't know if my opinion is totally skewed by nostalgia....but this album RIPS from start to finish.
One of his lyrics is so wildly offensive/gross in the album that I unfortunately can’t look past it to give this a positive and insightful review 😬
INCREDIBLE ALBUM!!! One of the best hip hop albums of all time for sure! Juicy, Big Poppa, Suicidal Thought, Ready to Die??? Biggie is one of the greats, absolute bangers on this album and loved listening to this again!
life’s too short and fragile to listen to death metal or gangsta rap
A perfect album - cinematic, grimey city criminality - with perfect rhymes and perfect beats - it’s timeless even though it’s a 90s staple. One the best records ever released - while being the perfect length. Maybe the sexual noises that pepper the record and the heavy violence in the themes prevent it from.l being a Beatles-level of ubiquity - which is why it is also such a great and important record.
"Ready to Die" is the debut album by American rapper The Notorius B.I.G (Biggie) and the only album released while he was alive. There were a host of producers including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chuck Thompson, DJ Premier and Lord Finesse. The album was autobiographical following Biggie's experience as a young criminal and drug dealer. It was recorded in two stages with the first stage and album half dark and the second half more commercial. It was also attributed as revitalizing East Coast hip hop, a commercial success and critically acclaimed. City noises and sort of a string background begin the Puffy produced "Intro." A bunch of hip hop and soul samples including "Pusher Man." Gun Shots. Biggie saying he's out while an older guy says "you'll be back." Biggie starts the rap in "Things Done Change." High production. Scratching. Dramatic. About how his neighborhood has changed. "Gimme The Loot" continues the beat. Police. Gun fire. He's robbing, stealing, dealing drugs. Biggie stresses his sexual prowess in the album's third single "One More Chance." A sample of DeBarge's "Stay with Me." Hypnotic beat. Easy flow. Great rhyming. How can you not appreciate when he easily rhymes genius and penus. The big single "Juicy" has soul with the backing vocals and funky with the bass. It's a rags to riches story. "If you don't know, now you know." A great song. The second single "Big Poppa" has a laid back smooth groove and the melody reminds of the West Coast hip hop at that time. An Isley Brothers' sample. He's got the girls. He's smoking the chronic. "Throw your hands in the air if you're a true player." The album comes to a shocking end in "Suicidal Thoughts" as Biggie raps to a half asleep friend how he's a piece of shit, can't change and doesn't deserve to live. The music is dreamy. A gun shot ends the song. Unfortunately prophetic. Biggie's rhymes are just fantastic. His lyrics are clever, graphic and funny. You get the sense of excitement and paranoia with the story telling. The music is smooth, laid back and has a groove. As with the top hip hop albums at this time, the production is great. No doubt Biggie is up there with the top rappers of all time. A classic album.
Reflection of the harsh realities of life in urban America. Despite the album's critical and commercial success, it was not without controversy. Some critics accused The Notorious B.I.G. of glorifying violence and criminal behavior, and the album's frank depictions of drug use and sexual promiscuity were also criticized. I say nah son. Bottom line, "Ready to Die" is a seminal work in the history of hip hop music, and a testament to The Notorious B.I.G.'s skill as a rapper and storyteller. Its honest and unflinching portrayal of life in the streets of Brooklyn has earned it a place in the canon of classic albums, and its influence can be heard in the work of countless other artists who have followed in The Notorious B.I.G.'s footsteps.
This is all on one album. Unbelievable. A Classic. So many of the sleeper songs are bangers too.
why.....? Sure it's got flow and rhythm, but still, Why?
Couldn't be less. Not usually the biggest fan of older hip-hop/rap, but pretty good. A little repetitive
DISCAZO!! me encantó y eso que nunca escucho este género pero bárbaro te amamos biggie. 9/10
I really wanna despise this album for the lyrics, but, on the other hand, it's a fascinating time capsule with some great sounds. A weak 4
Pojedyncze utwory wciąż się trzymają, skity z dźwiękami ruchania, albo robienia loda trochę przeszkadzają. No i gorzkie kakao rap, o mordowaniu i gangsterce.
A bit long, so long that it got a bit monotonous. The flow was excellent, the skits a lot less. I can appreciate the quality, but will not listen to the full album again.
Not that bad
The beats and lyrical flow is good, but the lyrics are so abhorrent, I would never listen to this again.
One knows something's pretty good stuff when it's not our genre or wouldn't listen to it a priori but still wonders us. This is fucking good shit!
Not really my jam but I get how it was a big breakthrough. Compared to Wu Tang Clan it's pretty cheesy and superficial other than a couple of key tracks.
Puff Daddy is too corny. Before I listened to this album I was prepared to give it a low score. All of the Puffy produced hits in the 90s were super corny. After the first few tracks of Ready to Die I was prepared to change my opinion but the album detours into some corny territory near the middle. Juicy stands out but Combs has to put his dumb vocal all over it. The beats are enjoyable enough, if a little bit predictable. There isn't much production on them -- rather many songs are instrumental tracks from 60s and 70s soul records.
An all-time great. This isn't just a hip hop staple, it's a historical document.
I hate doing this but it’s not a good listen. These skits. I don’t know what they were thinking.
Some interesting parts, lyrics didn't do much for me
1. Intro: intro with different snippits of narrative. 2. Things Done Changed: great flow and beat. His voice is nostalgic. 7.5/10 3. Gimme the Loot: again flow and beat are crazy. The change ups are great. 8/10. 4. Machine Gun Funk: banger. 8.5/10 5. Warning: cant say anything else than banger. 8/10. Rest of my ratings were lost. - favorite tracks: gimme the loot and juicy.
I liked the concept of the album and liked how the first song established the album and how the final song wrapped it up. His flow is rather nice to listen to. I don't really like hip hop, but there were still things to like here. Some of the album was gross. I don't really need to listen to him having sex for a minute and a half. There were things that were off putting, such as that and some of the lyrics. It's a lighter three. My favourite song was Juicy.
Setting aside Biggie’s contribution to the nature of rap and what it was, this is an amazing album in terms of what makes an album interesting regardless of the specific content. It plays like a prog rock concept album in that regard. No one’s pulled it off as well since.
Wasn’t my fav.
Classic. Biggie.
I like how there was a story behind this one, the samples were cool and most of the songs were catchy.
i'm really depressed today this was a good album to wallow in :) consider me READY TO DIE (fav tracks: gimme the loot, one more chance, juicy, big poppa)
Favorite biggie album
Sad violence and grim perspective.
Pretty fuckin' great.
No, didn't do anything for me. Usual foul mouthed lyrics and ranting. There were some tuneful parts butbthey seemed to be samples of other more accomplished musicians. 1*
Meh. As usual, quite cringey.
4/5
More like "Ready To Have Sex". Great album though.
Machine Gun Funk Ready To die
Biggie is one of the greatest.
it's just not for me.
Biggie is a classic, he knows the struggle, and it's a good album. But theres always something with his dick.
I’ve never listened to this style of rap before except for big poppa. Not sure what I was going into besides this being a classic I haven’t experienced yet. Some songs really didn’t do it for me but some did. Really surprised with the amount of sounds included.
Incredible beats and music. Love the bass. Strong lyrics and lotta catchy songs. No wonder it’s renowned and highly praised. 8.5/10
I haven’t listening to this album front to back since high school. I feel like I enjoyed it even more now. The interludes are a slight detractor for me given that they don’t feel to add much to the album. Otherwise a phenomenal album
Wished I had read the context of this album before diving in. Listened to the first half with only one earbud as I rode my mountain bike. Then the second on the speakers as I drew on my ipad. Some classic bangers and amazing lyrics for sure. But the misogyny is hard to listen to. It's a pretty dark/negative low vibe album overall. But I love the way Biggie raps. Will probably give it one more close listen.
I forgot how fucked up some of these songs can be. Real shit.
More musical than I expected. I get how important it is in concept, but loses points for being so long.
OK, but the trend of rappers having "skits" in their albums is perhaps a bit annoying.
First listen, very fun album. My loss for coming to it so late.
Top 5 rapper, maybe. But this is not his best album. Way too long, half his flows are about guns, and the skits are shit. Juicy, Big Poppa and Gimmie the Loot are undeniable classics, outside of that these tracks are not great. Someone needs to re-cut this album, remove Puff from everything and take all the wack ass skits out.
The talent here is undeniable but this album has not aged well IMO. Biggie's lyrical flow is incredible. The skits are simply not good. The gratuitous misogyny and sexuality come off as bravado and is dripping with insecurity.
Incredibly produced. Ultra-violent. Art imitates life imitates art.
Like most rap albums as time goes on it gets boring no matter how good the songs are because there’s just too many tracks. I liked it though 4/5.
Biggie had such a unique voice. His flow is unmatched, and the backing tracks groove. Really enjoyable listen. This is the first one in a while that I felt truly belongs on this list.
I know Biggie is a legend, but I've never really been sold by his rapping style. It doesn't do it for me. And this is a looooong album, so there's a lot of him here. It's fun in parts, repetitive in others, and all the sex noises on the skits are goofy. A true mixed bag, but nothing transcendent here in my opinion.
I find it so hard to rate these 90s hip hop albums; a lot of them don't sound outstanding to me today but then I don't know what really 'changed the game' at the time. The production is nothing special, and the lyrics cover all the classic rap tropes (but with 200% more sex, and a left-turn towards depression). I think it must be Biggie himself that makes this stand out, if anything? His personality comes across more than most and his rhymes cut through & grabbed my attention pretty well. 2.5, or something. But I had a dream last night (genuinely) that Biggie threatened to hurt me if I didn't round up. Better do what he says.
fajne
Deep roots of a whole lot of modern hip hop here. As with Tupac though, it's hard to separate the music from the senseless and unnecessary young death. The nihilistic shadings of a lot of the lyrics a bit too prescient.
Ready to Die was BIG's first album, and the only one released whilst he was alive. Whilst in some parts it felt a little drawn out, overall there is some stellar quite cinematic storytelling, with easy flows and great beats. Best: Ready To Die Worst: Me and My Bitch Note: Listened on YouTube as Spotify did not have all of the songs
Definitely an essential listen for the cultural impact and classic jams. My complaints are only due to the culture of rap records at the time, skits really annoy me for the most part, and the album is overly long.
Alongside other examples of the genre from the same time, this sounds like a parody - the music is repetitive and dull, the lyrics vacuous, and the posturing just designed to appeal to early teenage boys.. As things turned out, the ‘don’t give up the day job’ advice was unnecessary.
Incredible album. The beats are bombastic and catchy, the samples are expertly used, and Biggie has absolutely impeccable flow. I love how narrative his lyrics are too. RIP king.
So not my kind of thing
A good classic rap album. Some amazing beats and lyricism in this one. Some strange songs and interludes sprinkled in though. There's a rare glimpse at a rapper's vulnerabilities in "Suicidal Thoughts" and I thought that was a pretty powerful piece. Some good flow and storytelling for sure, and I can really see why Biggie's assassination shook the world of hip hop so hard. Honestly there's not all that much here that I'd personally come back to, besides the classics like Juicy and Big Poppa, but there's no doubt that this belongs on the list. Favourite: Juicy
SO GOOD
Effin and jeffin for ages. Lose half an hour, half the swearing and all the (hopefully) simulated sex and you’d have a cracking album.
by the end of this, so was I
Aika vaivaannuttavia nää skitit mutta itse musahan on hiphopin kaanonissa aika tärkeetä. Jotenkin oon pitänyt Biggietä aina vähemmän törkeenä kun muita aikalaisia, mutta onhan tää lyyrisesti aika tällästä uhoomista myös. Beateista tykkään paljon ja flowsta myös. Lyriikan kanssa tosiaan välillä vähän tökkii. 3/5
Onhan tää tosi kova. Melodista ja funkahtavaa ollakseen itärannalta. Ja biggien räbäily on tietty aika mint. Harmi, kun skitit on niin typeriä, mutta onneksi niitä on vähän.
Kelpo räp-klassikko! BIG:llä on hyvä flow ja monesti kiinnostavat taustat. Ei ihan neloseen yllä mulla mut ansaitsee paikkansa listalla.
Like Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted it has fantastic beats but the lyrics are absolutely not to my taste.
Some classic tracks.
I still know all the words to a few of these songs, front to back classic
2/5
I liked that a lot more than the Marshall Mathers LP! Good tunes and raw emotion.
No m'agrada el rap ni el hip hop, no hi entro
Phenomenal rap album front to back. Gimme the Loot, Juicy, Big Poppa are all classics.
classic one
I've heard of this dude.
Classic Hip Hop, but overly long
There are times when all this is ok. It’s kinda typical of rap at the time and nothing really stands out that much. There are also times when it’s excruciatingly painful to get through and I chose to watch the time run down on the track… ‘Another 30 seconds still!?? Waaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!’
I was enjoying this album but it was just too long for me. It really reminds me of what I felt about some previous rap albums. I just don't get the culture and am not appreciating the work. Good music
9/10 first time i have ever enjoyed a rap album this much
I heard this is Notorious BIG magnus opus - don’t know if it’s true because I am not a rap connoisseur. However, you can recognize the confidence of Notorious in this record. Unluckily, not my cup of tea.
The GOAT
Yeah nice album, a little bit underwhelmed. But the flows and production were really nice. Just not fully my style. solid 4.4 out of 10.
Fucking great. Never heard the whole album together before.
I'm not a big fan of rap, but BIG is very good at what he does. As this album goes on, I'm losing patience. It's still very good rap, but as I said, I don't like rap. Things Done Changed and Big Pappa are standout songs.
Some good tracks on here. Not sure if I enjoyed listening to a whole album of it
Epic and massive. But I don’t want to listen to it again. It’s brutal. An endurance test.
This is good. I, however, am very tired and can’t keep up.
Ooh I love a concept album and this one which represents Biggie's life from birth to death while he is still alive is very appealing. This is obviously a huge influential giant in hip hop showcasing Biggie's unique rap style which is memorable clear and catchy. I love him as an artist and a rapper and this is a pinnacle of his short snapshot in time of fame as he was murdered shortly after his second album was released. Biggie's music is a window into a world I will probably never fully understand, a grim life of crime and hardship but also the contrast of debauchery and celebration. So I find it very fascinating, I also love the grim topics being slotted into this up-beat catchy music. It's a very honest and raw account of an extreme life. Fascinating, impressive, exciting and interesting. I also love this work with insane amounts of samples, it's very cool! Almost like a musical version of a collage which you draw/paint your own work over and between. I don't mind for once about how long this album is because it's the amazing story-telling skills which keep even me hooked somehow for over an hour.
I really enjoyed this - its true that Biggie Smalls has a unique style and cadence to his rapping. Its really fun and easy to listen to. Not sure how I felt about all the sex stuff that was in there, graphic noises etc!! Not to be a prude just feels unnecessary when the rest of the album is so great.
It was good, I liked it
3/5 Because the first half sucks, the second one would be worth a 5/5, but -1 point for way to many sex skits, I am no puritan, but I ain’t in the mood of hearing biggie get sucked off. And -1 because of Who Shot Ya? Because it’s an obvious Pac diss and for me pac is the GOAT.
Average
Awesome, classic. Only complaint was the length. Besides Big Poppa my favorite was Respect
There’s a reason they call him Big Poppa, because daddy delivers every time. I can’t give this a 5, but it feels wrong putting this and Step In the Arena on the same pedestal, because it’s evident they are not. I’ll just repent my sins when I go to hell.
A truly legendary album. It was a bit awkward when someone walked past my room and Fuck Me (Interlude) was playing. I got weird looks. I also had a raging boner which made the interaction even more awkward. For that, 4 stars.
Excited to see if my middle school self that listened to two songs of PAC and two songs of biggie before deciding that biggie is better was correct... Yeah he was. This made me appreciate Diddy a shit ton more tbh. Found the beginning to be eh at first but the bottom like 80% of the album was great. Gimme a half star dammit, 4.5 prolly? Idk what a 5 is for me tbh, unsure if I'm giving it that half star for the album's significance or because I like songs about slanging dick that have sex noises
When a fish deserts its father for greener kale beds, it does something uncommon: claims its independence despite the consequences. Sure, it may meet a few fish along the way to give it guidance. And maybe one of them has a sexy facial scar. But at the end of the day, that father's heart will never be whole until its boy comes home. When I listen to this album, I feel like the father, watching my 7th grade music taste run away from home, claiming its independence. But as for this fish, I will not be chasing after him. I mean seriously, has the bloke never heard of natural selection? My 7th grade music taste can become shark bait for all I care. Ta Ta, Tuttle!
Still hits hard, the lyrics, the samples, classic
Nee,vervelend intro daarna wat gangster-gedoe maar eigenlijk zonder stoer te klinken. Ben gestopt met luisteren
Gangster rap is toch een beetje een wereld waar ik niet helemaal in thuishoor. Wel echt geprobeerd, maar dit is helemaal niks voor mij.
Meh...
'Ready To Die', tja dan vraag je er dus gewoon om. Ik muziekaal gezien had ie z'n microfoon al wel een paar jaar eerder aan de wilgen mogen hangen. Wat een cliché rap-geroeptoeter. Stoerdoenerij ipv muziek maken.
Waar was al die fuss over toen Biggie vermoord werd, als hij toch ready to die was? Ik ben overigens niet veel wijzer geworden van deze plaat.
Second half of this album goes absolutely insane.
Yuck
Probablemente uno de los discos más influyentes de los 90.
Pretty quickly done with this, some "songs" bring down the whole. Which is a pity as there are some nice ones on it.
Classic rap album. Lots of 5 star moments but never fully worked for me: the dialogue between the songs is highly annoying (I know it is part of the story-telling concept, but it stops me from putting the record on again).
I can appreciate (but not more than that) this album because of its variety and skillful raps.
Brilliant, funny, fresh, hard, cool, well pitched 90s heydey hip hop. Musically sophisticated, lyrically smart, thematically so stupid in a light life affirming way. Not lamely political, not gratuitous, not egotistical, simply clever. Biggy absolutely shits on Tupac. This album is very good
I didn't really like this. The songs felt too long and I kept looking thinking it was 5 minutes but it was like 3 minutes. Also, I don't really wanna listen to fake people fucking or getting head. Boring, overall. 2.49/5
The best rap album ever. Maybe. A little misogynistic at points, especially at the end, but damn if it doesn’t sound as good as ever, and if Biggie didn’t deserve all the roses he could get. A
Another hip-hop classic that matt will hate and or not listen to. The skits do bring this down a star but no denying Biggie had one of the best flows and deliveries of any rapper living or dead.
Rhymes are really good and I'd give some individual songs higher ratings, but struggled to get through it because of the skits. A lot of the messages didn't age well but can't deny his talent.
Really glad rappers stopped putting skits in their albums. That being said great album, really shows BIGs potential, who knows where he could have gone. 4.6
Songs missing from Spotify, so only a partial listen. Too explicit for this old man. Biggie could rap though.
I really like his flow, the samples are great.
East coast nihilism stands in sharp contrast to Pac's west coast existentialism.
broadened perspective, good songs past the sexual ones
Again, didn't really love this album. It felt like it was too long and some of the interludes we're unnecessary.
Je n'ai pas tellement aimé. Je n'ai pas trouvé ça mélodique, j'avais l'impression que tout était dans la voix et les textes, pas tellement dans les échantillons ni la musique. Les textes plutôt misogynes pour se donner du pouvoir, c'est moyen aussi.
Undisputed classic
Hard to believe it's nearly 30 years old because the production, flow and storytelling is better than 99% of anything that followed it.
Enjoyed this a lot, in patches. The guy is clearly really talented when he wants to be, the flow and rhythm is amazing and the stories are really well-crafted in patches. But, the skits are generally pretty awful (as they are pretty much invariably on any rap album), and there's a bit too much rapping about his dick for my liking... 3/5, 5/5 for his ability and most of the gang-related song, less 1 for the skits and another 1 for the really crude sexual stuff.
Biggie
I really enjoyed the vibe overall, at first I was scared because the album is 1h long but it turns out that even though the prods are boom bap they manage to keep being interesting. A couple of skips but overall I had a really really good time listening to it. Several classics like "big poppa" and "give me the loot" and I really enjoyed the groove of "Friend of Mine". I think I really like biggie, and he really likes sex. Solid 4.25 / 5
Incredible tracks in the album... Incredible lyricism and and really top notch listening experience. Weird skits.... Some forgettable songs and some good yet not perfect feats make it a solid 4/5... But I thought I would put more
I know Biggie was one of the most influential musicians of the 90s, but man, I really don't like his stuff.
alright, not a biggie fan more into pac
Love the intro track that illustrates Biggie's musical upbringing. His voice hits so hard, it's an instrument unto itself. The rhymes soar. The title is so prophetic, and it's depressing how much of this album is about street violence in light of what ultimately happened to BIG. Warning, Ready to Die, Juicy, Who Shot Ya and Big Poppa on ONE album? C'MON. 5 stars, easily. Long live the king.
I do find I need to be in a certain mood to listen to old hip hop so perhaps I’m not properly equipped to review this. Left no impact on me, I really do not think this genre warrants an hour and ten minute runtime especially with so little change to the beats. There are singles on this album that I enjoyed like gimme the loot and suicidal thoughts and I’m sure there’s a new appreciation from piercing together the song meanings as it appears to be a very personal record, but I just had no drive to look deeper into this album and found this a real chore to get through. I’ll say a 2 just because I reckon on a different day I would enjoy a lot more.
Ready To Die sadly lacks the deep cuts to justify being remembered as a classic hip hop record. It's pretty shocking that Rolling Stone has this as the number 1 hip hop album of all time. The inability to change subject matter, the awkward flows, the rhymes that occasionally verge on being nursery rhymes and the same damn tempo from tracks 2 to 9 that genuinely make me skip through each song all muddle up into what makes for a really tedious listen. The content of his songs are riddled in excessive violence, homophobia and misogyny. But that's not my issue with Ready to Die. My issue is that the tunes musically and lyrically don't justify the length of this record. An hour and 16 minutes of essentially the same themes being repeated over and over is a complete and utter waste of time. That said, the hits really hit, and completely carry this record to heights that it doesn't really warrant. 'Gimme The Loot', 'Juicy', 'Big Poppa' and 'Who Shot Ya' are era defining tracks of the genre, and are undeniably catchy. They also have the most melodic samples and offer much needed musical diversity in this 19 song track list. 'Suicidal Thoughts' however is the clear highlight of this record. It is a genuine self reflective and extremely dark song that doesn't hold back at all. The almost ad-lib like phone recordings of his friend talking creates this conversational structure that creates a narrative. His friends voice grows from being half-awake, to completely fearful and insistent, as Smalls' rapping continues past each plea to stop and remain calm. An incredible track that I'm glad reached mainstream success. It is still not a good listen overall. 19 tracks is simply too bloated. Every now and then some great tunes pop up that are instantly recognisable and really catchy, but that doesn't occur frequently enough to keep me engaged. I commend Smalls as being a necessary and genre-defining artist, but I don't think he really had the musical prowess to create a truly cohesive and consistent record. I only enjoyed 5 out of 19 tracks, so I can't give it much more than a 2.
This is the first time I've listened to Biggie, somehow it all passed me by. Now all things good and bad lead to the Fabs, somehow, somewhere. Listening to this my mind turned to Revolution No.9, that it is the first real sampling record and my mind turned to what would JL have thought of hip hop living in NY in the 80's. I'd think he and Yoko would have leapt right in. Anyway...number 9...motherfucker..number 9...cocksucker...number 9... Look, like Eminem I get what Biggie is coming from, which explains the hardcore themes and images, but unlike Mr Mathers a lot of these rhymes are kindergarten and silly, man if you going to use the phrase "clean penis" make it work ok motherfucker...cocksucker..? This is an entirely humourless record, its all about Biggie fool and not much reflection beyond that. Respect to Big Poppa though, me and the other 688,0000 likes. My biggest gripe though is the tempo. Please, please some variation in the tempo would go a long way, mate you've got the sampler at your finger tips and yet it's the same beat, I cracked by track 7. It is so constant in its pacing you could use the first half of this for one of those sleep tracks, like sounds from a British pub, it would be drifting off to the sounds of a motherfucker.
Last thing I felt like today was some epic hardcore hip-hop cd, so I wasn’t really looking forward to this. But whaddya know - this is a classic. I don’t know how he pulls that off, but he does. It’s in the music, the beats, the samples but most of all his words. What a storyteller. The first 3 trax knocked me out - Intro, Things Done Changed & Gimme The Loot. Much to my surprise, it never gets boring. Absolute highlight for me is Diana King’s vocals on the reggae-influenced Respect. You do get a bit sick of “bitches” & “motherfuckers”, over & over, but this is the context for it, I suppose. I love Randy Newman’s summary - one of the best records ever made…the first cut says “Let’s stop killing each other”- and then the rest of the record is all about people killing each other! It’s the damnedest thing.”
OK, so gangsta rap is where hip hop took a turn that I couldn't follow. I could see where it was coming from, but the violence, misogyny and homophobia just gets really unpleasant. I never really listened to Biggie, beyond the big singles. This album certainly contains a lot of what I dislike about gangsta rap (see above), along with being overly long and sprinkled with obnoxious skits/interludes. But that being said, I found this more listenable than other examples of the genre. Biggie's flow is exceptional and the slightly old-skool production is pretty tasty. I wonder why I found this better than other equally violent records. There is a certain verité to his description of his criminal persona (based on his dealing past and sadly played out in his sudden and violent death) and a modicum of introspection (eg Suicidal Thoughts). This gives the album a bit more artistic weight than some of the empty posturing that followed in the genre (Eminem, I'm looking at you). But not an album I really need to listen to again.
Great starter album for the legend biggie smalls.
Solid
Legendarisk, verdensklasse rap, vanvittige beats, bars, rim
Pretty good rap album
meh
Listened on the 12th of November happy to listen again, already heard most of the songs just never the album all the way through, some bangers, some sus, overall very good, I’ll give a light to decent 8.
Rough and unwavering in its lyrics and skits. A classic that represents hiphop at its peak. Great beats and great flow
Entretenido, explícito 🤐😳🙊
seriously why do rappers think we want to hear skits where we hear them fucking
Could've done without the s*x interlude
Looking around then nodding my head
An old favorite, my true introduction to the world of 1990s rap, and the reason I will always prefer NY to LA. It really hit home on this listen through that Biggie was NINETEEN YEARS OLD when he wrote and recorded all of this stuff. He packed a lot of living in his short life. How tragic. Listen, I don't really care for skits or interludes, and I find these ones particularly.... gross. But that just comes with the genre I guess, and it doesn't takeaway from the historical impact or the frankly excellent listening of the actual tracks.
Ready to Die is a heavy chunk of music, and the first time I heard it was a kind of wash, around me one moment and gone the next; Not repeated this time, thankfully. I was listening to newer underground East Coast stuff recently and thought about the similarities of the form to straight-ahead jazz: Head, solos, something to cap it. If you follow the time trail back to jazz and scoot a little to the side, I find this album now. The beats are more abstract than those on Low End Theory, but still low in the mix. The missing samples leave holes, but Biggie was always there to fill them. The oft-maligned skits even have a sense of rhythm. The ingredients the rapper is playing with here are simple ones, but he understands their limits and pushes just beyond them, until the story crashes in on itself. After any death, there's plenty of work left to do for the living.
Bombastic and proud, with production ahead of its time and great bars. Classic
Stonecold classic
4.5/5
Never heard this as was fiercely resistant to this generation of hip hop in 1994. Opened my mind later but it does mean I don't have nostalgic memories of thinking this was the greatest record of all time or whatever, I didn't even know who he was when I heard he had been killed. I still can't imagine a time when I want to kick back and listen to someone rap about bitches and guns for over an hour, and however good this is for other stuff, that's what this mostly is. Stuff like Things Done Changed, Everyday Struggle and Juicy are best. But yeah the album feels like it goes on forever, and I don't have any residual fondness for tracks, so not for me.
This is a whole genre I just can't relate to. Doesn't mean it's no good, just means it's not my cup of mother-flippin tea.
Þessi gangster aesthetík er ekki að gera neitt fyrir mig, en heilt yfir finnst mér þetta ekki ekki leiðinlegt. Og reyndar heldur ekki eftirminnilegt. Fínt að renna þessu í gegn en ég þarf ekki að hlusta aftur.
Was better than I expected. Unfortunately Spotify only had some of the songs on the album.
It's not my music.
Biggie had a really great flow, really convincing in his stories about death and sex. He also likes to talk about his penis a lot. Unlike it though, the album is just too long and there are 4 or 5 tracks that could have been easily removed to keep the album tight.
I might be ready to die, but I sure wasn't ready to listen to this album.
I was listening to this album when I was youger and wanted to feel badass. Really juvenile theme. NSFW album. Good flow, but there's more impressive stuff within this genre.
Usually I'm a big fan of 90s hip-hop/gangsta, but this album just doesn't appeal to me. That said, big classic, undeniable. The flow is excellent, good beats, without being exceptional. I'm not sure where to place myself to rate this album, so... A good old 3 stars will do.
Never listened to this whole album. Biggie is masterful, and the trick on Gimme The Loot of Biggie rapping with himself as two different characters is inspired. The production still holds up, but the skits are pretty dire and definitely skippable. I don't know enough about hip hop to know why skits are such a staple on albums, but this would be much better served by cutting them down and making this a leaner and much more hard-hitting album.
Again, not my favorite genre. Loved the storytelling and excellent beat
October 23, 2022 I listened to this album with Kenny in Orlando.
3.5: Sound too consistent and lack of variation.
Brutal and distressing and long.
I was excited to see this album, as I have never taken the time to listen to a Biggie album. I did not fall in love with it. There were some very jarring tracks and the even the bright spots would start to drag on a bit much for me. I appreciate Biggie's skills, but I think not as an album listen on any kind of regular basis.
Well. This was hard to listen to. It's nihilistic, misogynistic, and violent. It made me feel sick to my stomach most of the time. And yet...there were moments where I was in awe and even felt a sort of delight at some of the genius rhymes. I can see why he was considered one of the greatest rappers. And I think I've heard enough.
Having heard a lot about The Notorious B.I.G. over the years, I figured I should listen to something from him at some point. Looks like I’m there today. I liked the way he opened the album at birth. Interesting concept. I can appreciate how real and raw this all feels. Uncomfortably so quite often - with some pretty explicit sex and misogyny that turned me off. Not something I expect I’ll ever revisit.
Except for the frequent mention of pagers, this feels like it could have been released any time in the last 30 years. It doesn't sound dated, though several of the lyrics perhaps are.
Good
Don't get the love for this. It's all pretty basic gangsta rap, the skits are awful and the lyrics are often unpleasant and misogynistic. And there's nothing anywhere near as good as 'Mo Money.." though Big Poppa is grudgingly the best song.
.
17th October 2022 Started on the Monday evening finished Tuesday morning. First touch rugby session Monday evening. Enjoyed parts of this and I get where he fits into the rap cannon, but I don’t really get the hype.
rap classico, parla di clitoridi e che un suo amico è morto
Pretty fun album, comedy in the songs, enjoyable beats
actually worse than I expected there are more than one instances of gross sex noises a couple hits keeps this afloat 2.5
There are some really good songs on this album. Juicy and Big Poppa are the best songs. The sole reason this is not a 5 is because it was 72 minutes long and that felt like it should have ended earlier.
Notorious is Notorious for a reason.
Lol, like I was going to give this anything less than a 5. Favorite track: Gimme The Loot
I love true school hip hop but I was never really a biggy fan of Notorious B.I.G He is good though. Lovely laidback flow and interesting rhyme structures. Nice beats. I dunno, maybe a bit too R&B for me, while also out there shooting homies? I just done rate him as one of the all time greats. I’d have liked this over a weekend to dig into the rhymes. 4 or 5… let’s give him a break, he is pretty dead and phat, I go full marks.
esta suave
Amazing, not the biggest fan of the whole women treatment
Grimy, Hip Hop, Gangsta, Boastful, Crime, Philosophical
Really amazing beats and Biggie just has a great flow. Lyrical content is a bit heavy and super misogynistic. It's hard not to just appreciate this album for when it was created but I have to fold the content in with modern times and base my rating on all of it. Standout Tracks: Things Done Changed, Juicy, Big Poppa, Respect
Lyrical skill shines through some dodgy content, typical of the time making this one of the more digestable rap albums I've come across on this thing...I grew up loving rap, bit time has not been kind to some of its obsessions and attitudes. What once sounded like rebellion and romanticised streetwise, sometimes blurs into being a bit of an arsehole with few redeemable qualities. Biggie at least owns his shittiness, with one track making it clear he knew he was headed to hell. Despite all his misogyny, a liveability shines through that suggests a bit more is going on, his seemingly prescient awareness of his own mortality reveal insecurity behind the bravado. Behind all this the backing tracks are a rich treat to be explored.
It's cool but I really didn't need to hear Biggie getting his dick sucked. Fellatio doesn't make for the best musical experience in my honest opinion - it's kind of droopy, drizzly, maybe a tinge yoinky, too sploinky and icky, truly hacky, smacky, very acky, creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky and all together ooky. Oh yeah the music. It's pretty good. Not my favorite rap album or anything, but Biggie is an undeniable legend in the genre. Strong three out of five.
Like the flow and the beats but the lyrics and skits just killed the pace which is a shame because there was lots to love about the songs. A decent record.
Very interesting storytelling, really enjoyed the intro sequence too, the music itself I could take or leave, there was some interesting beats but on the whole didn't do much for me
brilliant flow and gangsta storytelling, lots of filler; not much replay value for me personally because of the content, but i respect the talent
On par med public enemy fast annan vibe, bättre än Tupac, synd att alla låtar inte kunde spelas på Spotify...
pallar inte snusk!!
Really just doesn't get much better than this, when it comes to gansta rap. I'm biased, because my youth was spent running around shouting the lyrics to "Gimme the Loot". But the beats are still incredibly fresh, and Big's rhyming and flow are still unmatched. Favorite tracks: "Gimme the Loot", "Machine Gun Funk", "Juicy", "Suicidal Thoughts"
First time after all these years I actually listened to Biggie. Entertaining? yes. But harrowing, too. A guy talking about living with so much violence, with so much bravado, but still a tremendous feeling of worthlessness and self-loathing. A tough listen but a great one too.
Just a classic! From the intro skit time lapsing his growth to the themes carried through to his fictional death that leads into all that carried out in the real world, this is a powerful album from a powerful MC. No one can top his flow. RIP Biggie!
Biggest draw of this important album was definitely Biggies flow and rhymin skills. Even without being an expert onRap Lyrics, one could notice that he had the ability to make everything sound like a mean bar. Asides from this though, the album was rather long and for me didn't have enough stand out songs to warrant more than a standard 3 stars
Very familiar with this album was a ex gf's favorite so interesting to hear it 20 years on
Pac better
2nd behind pac
We all know this is a classic. I don’t think the singles accurately reflect the sound of this record. Biggie tells of his experiences as a young criminal, and his life before getting rich. This record seems more as a precursor to drill rap, similar to Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers. There are some great vulnerable moments on this record as well. The only thing keeping it from a higher score is the sheer size of this record. It clocks in at 1 hr 16min. Lots of skits throughout the record also made it age a bit badly in that regard. Overall, this is a must listen for any rap/hip hop fan
It was OK
Some all timers on here. Like most 90s rap albums I could go without the skits. Also feel like all the remixes and mashups I’ve heard have kinda ruined some of these songs for me.
The sheer honesty in this album is incredibly eye-opening. A glimpse into the life of someone who pushed forward with a deck stacked against him. Friend of Mine and Suicidal Thoughts are standouts here. Lighter tracks like Big Poppa and Juicy are juxtaposed by periods of deep introspection that was almost never seen in 80's rap. Maybe the most definitive rap album of the 90's, though I'd like to say that title belongs to Enter the Wu-Tang.
Biggie
I've heard Big Poppa but that's It, I'm excited to hear the rest This album is like watching a gangster movie and it's pretty interesting, funky After listening to it all, It has been a journey, My favorite is still Big Poppa
5 minutes in and no rapping yet. Is this a hip-hop album or a vaudeville play set in the projects? Would’ve been a masterpiece without all the talking.
Steady, thought I'd enjoy it more but the majority isn't really my thing
Not my thing