Ready to Die is the debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994, by Bad Boy and Arista Records. The album features production by Bad Boy founder Sean 'Puffy' Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse, among others. It was recorded from late 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 was released to critical acclaim and became a commercial success, achieving Gold certification. In 1995, it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[1] and has since reached a certified 6x platinum with sales. It was significant for revitalizing the East Coast hip hop scene, amid West Coast hip hop's commercial dominance.[2] The album's second single 'Big Poppa' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Ready to Die has been regarded by many critics as one of the greatest hip hop albums, as well as one of the best albums of all time.
Background and recording[edit]The album was recorded in New York City (mainly at The Hit Factory) in two stages between 1993 and 1994. In 1994, Biggie was 21 years old going on 22 when he recorded the album. In 1993, Biggie was signed to the Uptown Records label by A&RSean 'Puffy' Combs. Biggie started recording his debut album in New York, after making numerous guest appearances among his label-mates' singles during the previous year. The first tracks recorded include the album's darker, less radio-friendly content (including 'Ready to Die,' 'Gimme the Loot' and 'Things Done Changed'). In these sessions, XXL magazine describe an 'inexperienced, higher-pitched' Biggie sounding 'hungry and paranoid'.[3] When executive producer Sean 'Puffy' Combs was fired from Uptown, Biggie's career hung in limbo, as the album was only partially completed. After a brief period dealing drugs in North Carolina,[4] Biggie returned to the studio the following year on Combs' new Bad Boy Records label possessing 'a smoother, more confident vocal tone' and completed the album. In this stage, the more commercial-sounding tracks of the album were recorded, including the album's singles. Between the two stages, XXL writes that Biggie moved from writing his lyrics in notebooks to freestyling them from memory.[3] The album was released with a cover depicting an infant resembling the artist, though sporting an afro, which pertains to the album's concept of the artist's life from birth to his death. It has been listed as among the best album covers in hip hop.[5] Lawsuits and sample removal[edit]On March 24, 2006, Bridgeport Music and Westbound Records won a federal lawsuit against Bad Boy Records for copyright infringement, with a jury deciding that Combs and Bad Boy had illegally used samples for the production of the songs 'Ready to Die', 'Machine Gun Funk', and 'Gimme the Loot'.[6][7] The jury awarded $4.2 million in punitive and direct damages to the two plaintiffs, and federal judge Todd Campbell enacted an immediate sales ban on the album and tracks in question.[7] On appeal, the Sixth Circuit found the damages unconstitutionally high and in violation of due process and remanded the case, at which point Campbell reduced them by $2.8 million; however, the verdict was upheld.[8][9] All versions of the album released since the lawsuit are without the disputed samples.[10] Although a fair use issue, Combs and Bad Boy never raised the legal concept of the fair use doctrine in their defense.[8] This decision was questioned by some legal experts: Anthony Falzone of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School criticized Combs and Bad Boy for not defending the legality of sampling and suggested that they might have refused to raise such a defense because they feared it could later imperil their control over their own music.[11] On April 2, 2014, Lee Hutson of The Impressions filed a multimillion-dollar copyright infringement suit against Combs, Bad Boy Records, and the estate of the late Notorious B.I.G. for copyright infringement, alleging that his song 'Can't Say Enough About Mom' was illegally sampled in the production of the song 'The What'.[12] The estate countersued in turn, claiming the sample as used was short, adapted, and supplemented, and thus subject to fair use,[13] a legal tactic not pursued previously.[11] Composition[edit]Production[edit]The production on the album was mainly handled by Easy Mo Bee and The Hitmen. Cheo H. Coker of Rolling Stone depicted the beats as 'heavy bottomed and slick, but B.I.G.'s rhymes are the showstoppers. The tracks only enhance them, whether it's the live bass driving a menacing undercurrent or [the] use of bluesy guitar and wah-wah feedback' and that the production is used to 'push the rapper to new heights.'[14] The production is mainly sample-based with the samples varying from the percussion of funk tracks to the vocals of hip hop songs. Steve Huey presented some criticism over the beats, stating that the 'deliberate beats do get a little samey, but it hardly matters: this is Biggie's show'.[15] Lyrical themes[edit]![]() The Notorious B.I.G.'s lyrics on the album were generally praised by critics. Many critics applauded his story-telling ability such as AllMusic writer Steve Huey, who stated 'His raps are easy to understand, but his skills are hardly lackingâhe has a loose, easy flow and a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession'. He also went on to mention that his lyrics are 'firmly rooted in reality, but play like [a] scene from a movie'.[15]Touré, writing for The New York Times, referred to The Notorious B.I.G., proclaiming that he stood out from other rappers because 'his lyrics mix autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty, telling how he felt while making a living as a drug dealer'.[16] The album is also noted for its dark tone and sinister sense of depression.[15] In the original Rolling Stone review, Cheo H Coker declared that he 'maintains a consistent level of tension by juxtaposing emotional highs and lows'.[14] 'Things Done Changed' was also one of the few hip hop songs in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.[17] The lyrics on Ready to Die tend to deal with violence, drug dealing, women, alcohol and marijuana use, and other elements of Notorious B.I.G.'s environment. He rapped about these topics in 'clear, sparse terms, allowing the lyrics to hit the first time you hear them'.[14] The album contains a loose concept starting out with an intro that details his birth, his early childhood, his adolescence and his life at the point of the album's release.[16] Songs on the album range from homicide narratives ('Warning') to braggadocios battle raps ('The What,' 'Unbelievable'). The final song was 'Suicidal Thoughts', a song where The Notorious B.I.G. contemplates and finally commits suicide. Singles[edit]
Three singles were released from the album: 'Juicy', 'Big Poppa', 'One More Chance' and a promotional track of Biggie: 'Warning'. According to XXL the more commercial sound of the singles compared to the rest of the album was a result of encouragement by Combs during the later recording sessions in which they were recorded.[3] 'Juicy' was released as the lead single on August 8, 1994. It 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.[19] It shipped 500,000 copies in the United States and the RIAA certified it Gold on November 16, 1994.[20] Produced by Combs, it features a prominent sample of 'Juicy Fruit' as performed by James Mtume. AllMusic's Steve Huey stated that, along with the other singles, it was an 'upbeat, commercial moment', calling it a 'rags-to-riches chronicle'.[15] Andrew Kameka, of HipHopDX.com, stated that the song was one of his 'greatest and most-revealing songs' and went on to say it was a 'Part-autobiography, part-declaration-of-success. It document[s] the star's transition from Brooklyn knucklehead to magazine cover story.'[21] Producer Pete Rock, who was commissioned to remix the track, alleged that Puffy stole the idea for the original song's beat after hearing it from him during a visit. Rock explained this in an interview with Wax Poetics:[22] I did the original version, didn't get credit for it. They came to my house, heard the beat going on the drum machine, it's the same story. You come downstairs at my crib, you hear music. He heard that shit and the next thing you know it comes out. They had me do a remix, but I tell people, and I will fight it to the end, that I did the original version of that. I'm not mad at anybody, I just want the correct credit. 'Big Poppa' was released as the second single on December 24, 1994 and like the previous single, it was a hit on multiple charts. It reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number one on Hot Rap Singles.[19] It sold over a million units and the RIAA certified it Platinum on May 23, 1995.[20] Featuring production by Combs and Chucky Thompson of The Hitmen, it samples 'Between the Sheets' by The Isley Brothers. The song was nominated at the 1996 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Solo Performance, but lost to Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise'. Steve Huey named it an 'overweight-lover anthem'.[15] 'One More Chance' was released as the third single on June 9, 1995. The single was a remix of the album track. It was produced by Combs and featured a sample from DeBarge's 'Stay With Me'. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and Hot Rap Singles.[19] It sold over a million copies and the RIAA certified it Platinum on July 31, 1995.[20] Steve Huey labeled it a 'graphic sex rap'.[15]Rolling Stone writer Cheo H. Coker had a similar view of the song, noting that it was 'one of the bawdiest sex raps since Kool G Rap's classic, 'Talk Like Sex' and continued, stating it 'proves hilarious simply because of B.I.G.'s Dolemitelike vulgarity.'[14] Critical reception[edit]
Ready to Die received critical acclaim from music critics. In his review for Rolling Stone, Cheo H. Coker stated 'Ready to Die is the strongest solo rap debut since Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted. From the breathtakingly visual moments of his birth to his Cobainesque end in 'Suicidal Thoughts,' B.I.G. proves a captivating listen. It's difficult to get him out of your head once you sample what he has to offer'.[14]Robert Christgau from The Village Voice commented 'His sex raps are erotic, his jokes are funny, and his music makes the thug life sound scary rather than luxuriously laid back. When he considers suicide, I not only take him at his word, I actively hope he finds another way'.[24]The New York Times wrote 'Though drug dealing carries tremendous heroic value with some young urban dwellers, he sacrifices the figure's romantic potential. His raps acknowledge both the excitement of drug dealing and the stress caused by the threat from other dealers, robbers, the police and parents, sometimes one's own. In presenting the downside of that life, Ready to Die offers perhaps the most balanced and honest portrait of the dealer's life of any in hip-hop'.[31] Q magazine gave Ready to Die three out of five stars, and stated 'the natural rapping, clever use of sound effects and acted dialogue, and concept element (from a baby being born at the start to the fading heartbeat at the end) set this well apart from the average gangsta bragging'.[27] In their original review for Ready to Die, The Source gave it four-and-a-half out of five 'mics', stating 'Big weaves tales like a cinematographer, each song is like another scene in his lifestyle. Overall, this package is complete: ridiculous beats, harmonizing honeys, ill sound effects, criminal scenarios, and familiar hooks'.[29] Legacy[edit]Ready to Die has been highly acclaimed. In 1998, The Source included it on their 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time list,[32] and in 2002, they re-rated it to the maximum five 'mics'.[33]Rolling Stone has also given acclaim to Ready to Die over the years. In 2003, they ranked it number 133 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[32] and one year later, they re-rated it to five stars.[28] In 2011, Rolling Stone also placed it at number eight on their 100 Best Albums of the Nineties list, and described it as 'mapping out the sound of 'Nineties cool'.[34] Kilian Murphy from Stylus Magazine wrote favorably of the album in a retrospective review, and concluded 'Sweet, hypocritical, sensitive, violent, depressed and jubilant; these words could all fittingly describe Big at various points on Ready to Die.'[35] Steve Huey from AllMusic gave it five stars, stating 'The album that reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age, Ready to Die made the Notorious B.I.G. a star. 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'.[18] In 2006, Time magazine included it on their 100 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and stated 'On Ready to Die, Wallace took his street corner experiences and filtered them through his considerable charm. The result was a record that mixed long stretches of menace with romance and lots of humor. No rapper ever made multi-syllabic rhymes sound as smooth'.[36] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[37] Accolades[edit]
![]() Commercial performance[edit]The album shipped 57,000 units in its first week of release.[45] However, it was then certified Gold by the RIAA only two months after its release on November 16, 1994, and was certified double Platinum on October 16, 1995, only a year and one month after its release.[20] Ready to Die was then certified triple Platinum on August 26, 1998 and was later certified 4Ã Platinum by the RIAA on October 19, 1999.[20] Track listing[edit]![]()
Sample credits[edit]
Personnel[edit]
Biggie Ready To Die AlbumCharts[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ready_to_Die&oldid=899103264'
The album that reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age, Ready to Die made the Notorious B.I.G. a star, and vaulted Sean 'Puffy' Combs' Bad Boy label into the spotlight as well. 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. His raps are easy to understand, but his skills are hardly lacking -- he has a loose, easy flow and a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession. He's blessed with a flair for the dramatic, and slips in and out of different contradictory characters with ease. Yet, no matter how much he heightens things for effect, it's always easy to see elements of Biggie in his narrators and of his own experience in the details; everything is firmly rooted in reality, but plays like scenes from a movie. A sense of doom pervades his most involved stories: fierce bandits ('Gimme the Loot'), a hustler's beloved girlfriend ('Me & My Bitch'), and robbers out for Biggie's newfound riches ('Warning') all die in hails of gunfire. The album is also sprinkled with reflections on the soul-draining bleakness of the streets -- 'Things Done Changed,' 'Ready to Die,' and 'Everyday Struggle' are powerfully affecting in their confusion and despair. Not everything is so dark, though; Combs' production collaborations result in some upbeat, commercial moments, and typically cop from recognizable hits: the Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back' on the graphic sex rap 'One More Chance,' Mtume's 'Juicy Fruit' on the rags-to-riches chronicle 'Juicy,' and the Isley Brothers' 'Between the Sheets' on the overweight-lover anthem 'Big Poppa.' Producer Easy Mo Bee's deliberate beats do get a little samey, but it hardly matters: this is Biggie's show, and by the time 'Suicidal Thoughts' closes the album on a heartbreaking note, it's clear why he was so revered even prior to his death. Ready To Die Album Download
Today we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Christopher Wallace with a review of his 1994 debut Ready to Die, an unparalleled piece of rap history. New York City doesnât sell drugs anymore. Sure, there are bike messengers that peddle weed packed in plastic jars and Russian mobsters who launder money through Coney Island auto-shops, but the kind of trap-house, dope-boy, Robin Hood archetype that still carries in cities like Atlanta has been wiped clean from tri-state folklore. This is undoubtedly a good thingâentrepreneurial city teens today hustle fashion trends to ogling editors instead of baggies to scraggly addicts. But the shift has fossilized a certain kind of rap album, like The Notorious B.I.G.âs debut Ready to Die, released in 1994. The lawlessness it describesârobberies at gunpoint on the A train, open-air hand-to-hand crack deals on Fulton St., shootouts with the NYPDâland unfathomably to most New Yorkers today. Young transplants and natives alike would rather hear old tall tales than experience anything near it firsthand; distinct from nostalgia, it's more like moving into a home where a murder occurred. The thrill is a combination of fear and gall, rooted in the security that the scene will likely never repeat itself. But there may be something habitual in New Yorkâs craned gaze backward. Note that B.I.G. opened Ready to Die by complaining about changes in the city around him over 20 years ago. Even then, the album was a reflection: an over-the-top, fisheye union address of the cityâs waning crack era, and a reeling admission that something must have gone terribly wrong for it to have happened. Its intro maps B.I.Gâs life against the sounds of various erasââ70s âSuperfly,â â80s âTop Billinâ,â and â90s Doggystyleâbefore the 21-year-old launches into âThings Done Changed,â an opening monologue that sets the chaotic scene. Life used to be about funny hairstyles, curbside games, and lounging at barbecues, he says, but âTurn your pagers to 1993,â and the story has taken an inexplicably dark turn. It goes unmentioned here, but hip-hopâs region of choice had changed too: New Yorkâs first generation of rap inventors had given way to the West Coast, so itâs Dr. Dreâs voice we hear between verses, dispatching from Compton. âThings done changed on this side,â the sample declares, a savvy appropriation that characterized a rise in violence across coasts, and a shift in sound that B.I.G. hoped to correct. In 1992, âa whole lot of niggas want[ed] Big to make a demo tape.â Heâd been battling around Fulton St since he was 13, and was known in Bedford-Stuyvesant as a force, in music and otherwise. The demo he recorded, âMicrophone Murderer,â along with a few other cuts, made itâs way to The Sourceâs Unsigned Hype column, then influential in hip-hopâs walled off media environment, and then to Bad Boy, where Sean âPuffyâ Combs would sign him. But as the demoâs opening line specified, it was only at the nudging of his close friends that he pursued musicâB.I.G. was splitting time between Brooklyn and Raleigh, where heâd set up a profitable drug operation. When his record advance didnât land quickly enough, he went back to N.C. to pick up the slack, and Puffy called him, alternately begging and demanding the rapper stop hustling and return to New York, devoted to music for good. The day that he left, the Raleigh house heâd operated out of was raided by police officers. What made Christopher Wallace pop-palatable amid such a gruesome backdrop was his humor, personality, and wit. He was a gruff, neurotic alternative to the ice-cool Snoop Dogg: if Snoop had bitches in the living room till six in the morning, B.I.G. was getting paged at 5:46, wiping cold out his eye. If Cali crossed over with low-rider funk from Parliament, New York would ride on block-party boogie from Mtume. And if taut flows were giving way to languid hooks, B.I.G. would tighten everyone back up. âUnbelievableâ was the antithesis of âJuicy,â a love-letter to underground rap radio shows like Stretch & Bobbito, and to anyone with an oversized Land Cruiser (another change to considerâNew Yorkers used to drive). âThose that rushes my clutches get put on crutches, get smoked like dutches, from the masterâ; you can hear the roots of âpunchline rapâ forming in Bigâs puns and internal rhyme, and the ironic turns of phrase that kids like Camâron would intensify years later: ââI thought he was wack!ââOh come, come, now, why yâall so dumb now?â At the time, the album was praised for its honest portrayal of the drug dealerâs internal conflicts, as opposed to sunny glorification of gang violence imported from L.A. Songs like âEveryday Struggleâ and âSuicidal Thoughtsâ showed Bigâs depth, frequent references to his mother showed his rearing, and casual dropping of words like âplacentaâ showed his coy love of language. B.I.G. was a smart kid that had (or liked) to do dumb things, the record suggested, itself a comment on the how genius gets sharpened when faced with obstacles, and an affirmation of rap as a platform for such genius to be realized, and monetized. Despite its authorâs youth, *Ready To Die *shows its age with its production. The beats already paled in comparison to the high-definition score of Life After Death, B.I.G.âs follow up album, and the tinny drums and swampy samples on tracks like âMe and My Bitchâ and âRespectâ probably played better on cassette than they do on Apple Music. At the time of the albumâs release, more nimble producers were doing interesting work on neighboring albumsâone could say Illmatic dried everyone in New York up of their best material. The major tracks on Ready to Die had to be heavy-handed, and the filler was just an excuse to hear Big keep rapping. âBig Poppaâ was inseparable from Ron Isleyâs âBetween the Sheetsâ and snuck in a trendy, post-regional synth line that would perk up West Coast ears. The âOne More Chanceâ remix became a smash crossover hit; the original included on the album is expectedly disposable. Even strong exhibitions of songwriting like âThe Whatâ or âGimme the Lootââone a duet with Method Man, the other with himselfâare weighed down by loops from Easy Mo Bee, a dated producer who Puffy mightâve been smart to have axed shortly after. Which brings us to the true triumph in Ready to DieâSean Combs, whoâs been able to spot a dollar hidden in the most unlikely places ever since, finds proof-of-concept for New York hip-pop that can carry from street corners to school dances, with the right sonic contexts, visual branding, and occasional ad-libs, a formula heâd apply to Mase, Shyne, and his own material thereafter. The sounds may have shifted, but the thesis remains: drug dealers have stories for days, and Americans want to hear them. We revere the salesman more than the politician, and B.I.G. could sell the hell out of the life he lived. Maybe not all that much has changed after all. Back to homeGet Apple Music on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows19 Songs, 1 Hour 16 Minutes EDITORSâ NOTESFittingly for an album where the star memorably plays two characters (on stick-up classic âGimme The Lootâ), Christopher Wallaceâs debut opus has a beguiling duality at its core. For every swaggering corner boy anthem (âJuicyâ, âWho Shot Yaâ, g-funk-jacking slow jam âBig Poppaâ) thereâs a corresponding blast of hood paranoia and introspection (âWarningâ, âSuicidal Thoughtsâ). Sprinkled with cinematic grandeur and held together by that unassailable flow, Ready to Die represents Biggieâand hip hopâat its contradictory best. EDITORSâ NOTESFittingly for an album where the star memorably plays two characters (on stick-up classic âGimme The Lootâ), Christopher Wallaceâs debut opus has a beguiling duality at its core. For every swaggering corner boy anthem (âJuicyâ, âWho Shot Yaâ, g-funk-jacking slow jam âBig Poppaâ) thereâs a corresponding blast of hood paranoia and introspection (âWarningâ, âSuicidal Thoughtsâ). Sprinkled with cinematic grandeur and held together by that unassailable flow, Ready to Die represents Biggieâand hip hopâat its contradictory best.
* New subscribers only. Plan automatically renews after trial. Comments are closed.
|