March 9, 2007

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (September 13, 1994)

The overrated rapper Canibus once said, "The greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th". Ten years ago to this day, actually, and Christopher Wallace can still safely be considered one of the greats, with little to no argument. Gunned down during the heat of the "east coast/west coast" beef, Biggie was never truly able to create the catalog of music that would define his legacy.

It's too bad that a certain somebody feels otherwise, repeatedly raping his corpse by releasing sub-par albums chock-a-block full with collaborations with rappers that Biggie probably would never have worked with otherwise. I haven't seen this level of incompetence in the handling of a legend since Pac died, and I don't think Pac was even a good rapper in the truest sense. (His songs had more emotion than you could shake a stick at, though.)

Ready To Die was the debut album from the upstart Notorious B.I.G. The second release on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records label (the first being Craig Mack's Project: Funk Da World, an overall exercise in futility, albeit with one or two hits), Biggie would soon become Bad Boy Records, epitomizing the lavish lifestyle of a successful rapper (at least right until he was usurped by his boss). Rumors of Biggie getting fucked over with his publishing aside, Ready To Die accomplished a lot for being just one album; it introduced an artist who did not disappoint, it turned its record label into a household name; it turned the white kids in the suburbs who actually buy all the hip hop records on to a rapper who was at ease with both the club-friendly jams and the gangster shit; and, ultimately, it led to this.

As it stands, Ready To Die is one of only two albums that Christopher Wallace participated in recording, and is the only one to be released while he was still around to celebrate the success.

1. INTRO
Hey, I never said there wasn't an intro to this fucker.

2. THINGS DONE CHANGED
An interesting first song, but not great.

3. GIMME THE LOOT
Biggie does a back-and-forth with a high-pitched version of himself, advising (in both hilarious and controversial detail) would-be victims to run their jewels and garments. (The controversial stuff was eventually edited out before the album's release, but it's not hard to figure out what he really said.)

4. MACHINE GUN FUNK
Not horrible, but I'm still waiting for that next shit.

5. WARNING
Contains one of the best first lines in hip hop history: "Who the fuck is this?". Simply a great song about a rich man's overall paranoia regarding his so-called "friends". The video is even pretty good, especially for one shot that sums up the whole song: Biggie eating cereal (with the brand names hilariously hidden) at his table. Even though he has his riches, his bitches, and his producer pretending that he's a trained actor in the video, ultimately, he was all alone.

6. READY TO DIE
Title tracks, as a rule, usually suck. This one doesn't.

7. ONE MORE CHANCE
The album version is much, much better (and much filthier) than both the hip hop remix (bad name for a remix, by the way) and the slow-jam mix that Ashanti would later rape and pillage...sorry, I mean "sample".

8. FUCK ME (INTERLUDE)
Um...notable, as it's Lil' Kim who is faking the orgasm? (Or maybe Biggie fucked her in the booth, I don't know, and I don't care.)

9. THE WHAT (FEAT METHOD MAN)
This was a huge, huge collabo back in the day, especially since Biggie had beef with the Wu. Method Man was his old-school grimy ass self, and Biggie more than held his own.

10. JUICY
The single that introduced Biggie to the masses. Also the song where he talks about "blow[ing] up like the World Trade", for those who also read the Jay-Z review earlier.

11. EVERYDAY STRUGGLE
Not bad, but...

12. ME & MY BITCH
Story Time with Christopher Wallace, and he pulls it off like a charm.

13. BIG POPPA
You already heard this one; my opinion won't matter anyway. (Okay, since you asked; it's all right, but I'd rather listen to the Isley Brothers' "Between The Sheets" any day of the week.)

14. RESPECT (FEAT DIANA KING)
Every good album has to have one clunker. I present exhibit A.

15. FRIEND OF MINE
Meh.

16. UNBELIEVABLE
DJ Premier supplies the bangin' beat to one of the best songs in the Biggie catalog. This song is just ghetto like sunflower seeds and quarter waters.

17. SUICIDAL THOUGHTS
I thought this song was amazing when I first heard it, especially the part at the end where he kills himself and Puff freaks out. Hell, I even wrote about this song for an English paper once. (Got an A, if anyone gives a fuck.) Still an awesome piece of work.

In 2004, Bad Boy Records celebrated the ten-year anniversary of Ready To Die's platinum success by releasing a remastered edition with a DVD and two bonus tracks:










WHO SHOT YA?

This song is just epic. Internet nerds also believe that Biggie was taking a pot shot at 2Pac's recent shooting, but internet nerds are dead wrong here.

JUST PLAYING (DREAMS)
This had been out for a while on mixtapes; it's better known as "Dreams of Fucking An R&B Bitch". And it sounds exactly like it reads: delicious. C'mon, like you've never fantasized about sleeping with celebrities before? All Biggie did was record his thoughts on wax.

In 2006. Bad Boy Records lost a court battle stemming over the illegal Isley Brothers sample on the title track, and was forced to pull the original from the shelves...after it had already been available for twelve years. Smart move, Isleys. Anyway, Puff quietly re-released the
remastered edition with a slightly different version of "Ready To Die" included. I have no idea what the "new" version sounds like, though, since I still have my original copy from 1994.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Ready To Die is probably one of the best debut albums in the history of hip hop, and I say that even though I fully admit that some of the songs are shitty. Oddly, everyone always calls out Puff Daddy as Biggie's producer, and I suppose in an executive producer capacity that makes sense, but as in producing the instrumentals? Puff's name is rarely found here. Talents like Primo and Easy Mo Bee (who doesn't really work anymore, and that's a damn shame) contribute that gutter shit that assisted in taking hip hop back from Dr. Dre's G-Funk soundscapes.

BUY OR BURN? Oh, come on.
Buy this shit. Buy it! BUY IT! You can even choose between the original and remastered version, as either one is worth the benjamins. Although if you spend one hundred dollars on this CD, you might be getting ripped off.

BEST TRACKS: "Warning"; "Suicidal Thoughts"; "Unbelievable"; "The What"

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out

17 comments:

  1. This album is the shit. I got the original from '94 and it's still making my day. & puffy ain't shit. Good blog this one Max, I like the none-downloading-from-this-page-thing. Go buy the albums suckas. Thanks for the comment, I'll link you up 4 real. Be good. Messy @ www.takeazipofmydrink.blogspot.com.

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  2. AnonymousMay 19, 2008

    good review, I am waiting for a review I completely disagree with...

    mr.childs

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  3. AnonymousJune 18, 2009

    Though you give credit to Easy Mo Bee due the end of review, it seems like you don't appreciate his tracks here that much.

    AND IT'S DAMN FUCKING SHAME!

    Easy Mo Bee is top-5 producer of all times and should be considered GREAT in any fucking producer-discussing.

    kormega

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  4. I was reading some of your reviews and i agree with many of them.. but i think that you can't know much about rap if you say "Not horrible" when you are talking about Machine Gun Funk, and you don't have to wait for tha next shit because I can listen that song hundreds of times.. come on.. have you really listen to it? in that song biggie has the best flow that i ever heard in a hip hop song and the Chief Rocka sample in the chorus is just awsome.. I hope you give me an answer beacause i think that you made a very very big mistake, and please listen to Biggie's FLOW

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  5. I completely agree, Machine Gun Funk is an amazing song

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  6. Also I think you should listen to Project: Funk The World once again and forget about your lame
    "exercise in futility" comment. The album got amazing production!

    And do your math, Ready To Die was first Bad Boy release, Craig Mack's appeared a week later.

    kormega

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  7. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Every time I drag my tired ass out of bed at 6am I think of the line "Who the fuck is this/Who the fuck is this?/Pagin me at 5:46 in the mornin crack a dawnin/Now Im yawnin, wipe the cold out my eye"

    I worked at a record store when this came out, and everyone was into it, but I held off until five years later...

    And thanks for being honest about the less-than-brilliant songs.

    There musta been something in the water in NY in 1994 - a string of classic albums came out around then.

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  8. "Not horrible, but I'm still waiting for that next shit."

    whatever the fuck that means...

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  9. Damn Max. I didn't start reading your blog (which is great btw) until sometime in 2009. I had no idea how bad your writing was in 2007. You improved a lot since then.
    You should consider re-reviewing this album. You write Machine Gun Funk "isn't horrible", but seriously, your review is. Not only for not appreciating this song, or for dismissing "Friend of Mine" (one of the best Easy Mo Bee beats ever), but simply for the lazy writing, for not giving reasons for these dismissals, for not really talking about the music.
    Smashing deceased artists' uncriticized, overhyped god-like status is fine, but Ready to Die deserves better than that.

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  10. Don't hold back man. machine gun funk is one of the best hip hop songs ever made, I think. and everyday struggle, well that's just a classic. Agree with you on Respect though, always skip that one out.

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  11. the remastered version of the song 'ready to die' uses a slightly different hook in the chorus, that's about the only difference to the song

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  12. lol to say that any of those tracks were shit means your retarded, and you are, congrats dickhead

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  13. Out of interest Max, can you remember what was the thesis of your piece on Suicidal thoughts? I'm genuinely interested!

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    Replies
    1. Something something and then someone died something. Literary something. Sorry, but it was quite some time ago,

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  14. I'm surprised you didn't like "Everyday Struggle." That one is my favourite on the album.

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  15. I don't care how much Puffy gasses himself in the biopic.

    EASY MO BEE SHOULD'VE PRODUCED THE FUCKING ALBUM. He could've given Biggie his Flava In Ya Ear. The album still would've sold as much as it did.

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  16. lol @ this review, how old were you when this album came out? 2? 3? Machine Gun Funk IS that next shit. This is the last time I read any review online, most of you people have no idea what your talking about.

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