On the seminal breakthrough single РІР‚СљJuicy,РІР‚Сњ he professes his love of hip-hop through a deeply personal come-up narrative so exemplary that few, if any, have come close to matching it since. The violence and costs of the hustle are laid bare on the stick-up-kid anthem РІР‚СљGimme the LootРІР‚Сњ and the closer РІР‚СљSuicidal Thoughts,РІР‚Сњ which ends with the sound of him killing himself while on the phone with executive producer/mentor Sean РІР‚СљDiddyРІР‚Сњ Combs (then known as Puff Daddy), who pleads for him to reconsider.Р”В«ut against the backdrop of violence and death, Big mixes in moments of aspiration and confidence.

РІР‚СљРІР‚ВYouРІР‚в„ўre saying youРІР‚в„ўre ready to die? WhatРІР‚в„ўs up, Big?РІР‚в„ў He told me, РІР‚ВIРІР‚в„ўm going through a lot.IРІР‚в„ўm tired of being up there hustling, my mom is sick, I have a baby on the way.РІР‚в„ў He was going through a lot of pressure.РІР‚СњР”Р‡rom the autobiographical РІР‚СљThings Done ChangedРІР‚Сњ onwards, Biggie Smalls spoke directly, without distillation, about Brooklyn crime and culture, connecting instantly with those in the know while compelling others less attuned to catch up. РІР‚СљI remember when he was doing the title track, I was a little disturbed,РІР‚Сњ Easy Mo Bee, who produced several of the albumРІР‚в„ўs standouts, tells Apple Music. elevated the form to a divine art of brutal honesty. While hardly the first to rap about the pleasures and pitfalls of drug dealing, The Notorious B.I.G.

By naming his debut Ready to Die, the Brooklyn rapper bluntly encapsulated both his fearless, take-no-prisoners lyrical style and his perpetual sixth sense that death could come for him at any time. By the age of 22, Christopher Wallace had already lived quite the life.

Notorious big ready to die songs