Today’s a BIG day for a throwback playlist—see what I did there? No? Well, in case you didn’t catch, this day marks twelve years since Ready To Die the historic debut album released by East-Coast rap icon The Notorious B.I.G. (now you see what I did?).
Released under Bad Boy Records, Biggie’s premier album featured production by Bad Boy’s P. Diddy, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse. What fans received, however, was Biggie’s artistic narration of personal experiences pertaining to his notorious persona. Kilian Murphy from Stylus Magazine retrospectively praised the record as “sweet, hypocritical, sensitive, violent, depressed and jubilant [which] fittingly describe Big at various points”.
Astoundingly, fans and critics alike welcomed the debut with critical acclaim and imminently became a commercial success, swiftly achieving RIAA certified gold, and in 1995, double platinum, and inevitably, quadruple platinum.
The second track, “Big Poppa”, boasted Grammy Award nomination status for the Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996, and in 2003, the album celebrated induction at the 133rd title on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. These are but a few praise points of the many, folks.
Despite the acclaim, however, Ready To Die transcends as a very significant element sparking East Coast Hip-hop against the more commercially-dominant West Coast brand. AllMusic’s Steve Huey claimed the record “reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age,” further commending into current-day status: “today it’s recognized as one of the greatest hardcore rap albums ever recorded, and that’s mostly due to Biggie’s skill as a storyteller”.
Ready To Die was the only studio album released during Big’s lifetime, since the rapper abruptly passed away just a few days before the release of his second album Life After Death.
Despite being short-lived, Biggie orchestrated a tremendously-significant movement within the Hip-hop scene, which many artists and fans still witness today. Like I said, it's a BIG day for a throwback radio. Relive the beginnings of this movement with the Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready To Die.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
