I know there a lot of rap fans on the blog. Thoughts on BIG's legacy? Where does he rank for you vs. his contemporaries and all time?
I wrote a quick piece on my memories growing up a fan of his:
Forever Notorious
I wrote a quick piece on my memories growing up a fan of his:
Forever Notorious
I seriously do not understand why people wish dead people happy birthday. They are not going to read it. Same goes to idiots on social media that wish there kids happy birthday when the can not read or dont have an account on said social media site.
ReplyDeleteHis legacy is that a lot of drunk white girls bump his music. Whether that's good or bad, I cannot say. I just know white girls lose their shit over Biggie.
ReplyDeleteBecause they're celebrating the life of someone who means something to them, whether it's as relatively insignificant as a dead rapper whose music was important to them when they were young (and likely still is) or as meaningful as their own child.
ReplyDeletePeople share things like this because it means something to them. I understand your point that it's objectively silly since the recipient won't see it, but if you're so antisocial as to not understand this.....I mean, get out more.
It allowed the south to get a stronger foothold on the rap game.
ReplyDeleteIt left a huge void in the east the dmx/ja rule/Jay-Z to fill.
Along with pacs death, it effectively killed the west.
Their two deaths killed rap in my eyes, even though I wasnt a huge fan of either.
I'm an alt-rock guy, but I had a rap phase around 89-91, just before Biggie's time. I'm not such a huge fan of hip hop anymore. Whenever I do up a 90's mix, there are only a handful of hip hop songs that make the cut, including "California Love" (duh) and "Hypnotize". That's it.
ReplyDeleteGood article btw.
ReplyDeleteSuccinct and to the point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB5KbH-ug1A
ReplyDeleteFor having a fairly small body of work while he was alive, he certainly left a legacy.
ReplyDeleteI can put on Juicy, or Me and My Bitch, or qutie a few others any time.
"I can put on Juicy, or Me and My Bitch, or qutie a few others any time."
ReplyDeletehobbes allows you to listen to that stuff? does susie derkins like the bad boys?
Ready To Die is one of my five favorite albums of all time. Strangely enough, I've never been much of a fan of Juicy, but I have so many verses on that album memorized down to the inflections.
ReplyDeleteBig is overrated. Not saying that to be controversial but his body of work is too small to put up against great rappers.
ReplyDeleteNot a huge rap listener and not a Biggie fan either. Thought Ready to Die was okay.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's highly impressive that he stamped a profound legacy in his profession on the back of just 2 albums, only one of which was released in his lifetime. That's no small feat.
And since inevitably, you cannot have a Biggie discussion without 2Pac, I can say that I'm probably more a fan of Biggie than 2Pac. Growing up on the West Coast and having a brother who listened to nothing but 2Pac just burned me out on the guy before I even knew who he was.
"Kick in the Door" and "You can't Stop the Reign" are my two favorite Biggie songs.
ReplyDeleteFUN FACT : even if Biggie had lived, he'd have probably died by now due to obesity.
ReplyDeleteI like Kick in the Door. I think my favorite song of his would have to be Respect.
ReplyDeleteA top 20 all-time rapper.....kind of like the Warrior (not in that sense) in that upon his death became a waaaay bigger legend after the fact
ReplyDeletePeople keep saying their styles are similar. I don't see/hear it.
ReplyDeleteUmm.....why is that a FUN fact?
ReplyDeleteIf Big lived he'd be running Bad Boy and Ma$e, the Lox and a few others would still be on the label.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they're similar at all, just that their legacies are so intertwined that you can't mention one without the other coming up. Like Peyton and Brady.
ReplyDeleteReady to Die is arguably my favorite rap album of all time, depending on the day (along with College Dropout and All Eyez on Me). I'm not a huge huge rap guy, but he definitely was one of the best.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Ive heard people say he was the greatest of all-time....I think as Puff Daddy's stock rises, so does Biggies overall.
ReplyDeleteObesity is FUN!
ReplyDeleteWhat sucked was that Puff said that Rick Ross reminded him of Big and people in NY went berserk to the point he had to clarify/amend his statements.
ReplyDeleteThe Eminem remix or the original? Because the Eminem verse is ridiculous.
ReplyDelete"Heart Attacks are FUN!" - Jerry Lawler
ReplyDeleteYeah it was kind of a dick move, in retrospect.
ReplyDeleteThe Ross/Big comparison stops at them being fat and rapping about selling drugs.
ReplyDeleteYeah, mainly because BIG actually did it.
ReplyDeleteHobbes is gangsta. You see him throwing up gang signs in that avatar?
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/LKXX4fxBYUs
ReplyDeleteMost people don't believe me when I post shit like but here goes nothing: I was a big (pun intended) fan of Biggie and I think he had a huge impact on Hip-Hop. At the time he was making music, NY rap was pretty much dead in the water as West Coast artists had taken over Hip-Hop and R&B. Biggie and Wu-Tang Clan made my city relevant again and set the blueprint for Nas, Jay-Z and everyone else that came after.
ReplyDeleteIn the 90's I used to make beats, and I wanted to work with Biggie badly, because he could rhyme over just about any tempo song that I could think of. Most rappers can't be as versatile.. especially back then. I got to meet Biggie twice.. once in 1993 at the beginning of his career and again in 1996, shortly before his car accident. Biggie was a fan of the comedian/rapper that I was producing songs for.. this comedian shouted Biggie out on Def Comedy Jam, and Biggie's manager Mark Pitts had a meeting with us in late '96. We were trying to work out a way for Biggie to do a song with us.. I had a beat ready to go and everything.. but Biggie died before anything could happen.
It's hard to rate someone as the greatest of all-time off of only two albums, but i will say that Biggie will always be on the top of my bucket list as someone that I would have loved to make music with.
I was never a Biggie guy - I hate Juicy - but he was a very good storyteller. If you can find the free download of G Brown/J Period's "March 9" memorial mixtape, matching some of Biggie's lyrics to different tracks really enhances their quality.
ReplyDeleteBut 2Pac was something else, more like a force of nature.
"blah blah blah henna-SEEE/blah blah blah penitentia-REEE/blah blah blah THUG/blah blah blah shot 9 times..." 80% of Tupac lyrics.
ReplyDeletei don't believe you!
ReplyDeletei wonder if anyone ever targeted cena
ReplyDeleteword life, yo
Carlito has someone stab Cena.
ReplyDeleteBased just on his music, Biggie is the most overrated rapper of all time
ReplyDeleteTGGI...but if you say that in Brooklyn you will get run out of there.
ReplyDeletelol, i forgot about that. new jack wanted it to be him
ReplyDeletethey showed his match with that dude on 24/7 once during their phase where they wouldn't show blood in color, and the whole damn match was in b/w
I'm a 2pac guy but Dear Mama I got have the most retarded lyrics ever
ReplyDeleteFloss on my ene-MEEEEEEEES!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Pac always annoyed me. I won't deny his talent, but I've never worshiped him the way many do. And yes, Big was a hell of a storyteller. More so on Life After Death than Ready to Die. Ghostface has surpassed him in the storytelling category though.
Eminem remix and agree, Em kills it.
ReplyDeleteHis death, West coast/pac feud, essentially being a founder of bad boy, etc are all parts of his legacy but his actual music I never thought was that good
ReplyDeleteNas COULD have been the greatest storyteller but his albums never delivered.
ReplyDeleteThe best is still Slick Rick.
Disc 1 of All Eyez on Me is fucking awesome. The second disc is trash.
ReplyDelete"That's why I fucked your bitch you fat motherfucker. "
ReplyDeleteEm murders pretty much murders everything he's on.
ReplyDeleteVic Grimes?
ReplyDeletetrue or false:
ReplyDeletepuff diddly daddy only has a career b/c biggie died
Yeah, Mears! Whoop that ass!
ReplyDeleteTrue. Same way Jay-Z had a career because Big L died.
ReplyDeleteTrue
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm also not a big fan of his.
What? Can't C Me. Picture me Rollin. Wonder Why they call you bitch. Heaven ain't 2 hard to find. Check out time. Etc
ReplyDeleteI like disc 1 better but 2 was really good
He produced for Mary J Blige and brought Criag Mack before Biggie, but Big was his master plan.
ReplyDeletePuffy would've been successful, just likely not as successful.
Eminem just slaughtered that verse. You just rewind it several times and say "god damn!"
ReplyDeletejesus (Aaron Aguilera)
ReplyDeletePretty sure he mows my lawn
ReplyDelete"brought Criag Mack before Biggie"
ReplyDeletesounds like a meeting with the godfather (the italian one)
Oh I know who it is, just anytime you say something of New Jack, I think of Vic.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't even have Biggie in in my top 10...maybe top 15
ReplyDeleteCraig's second album was a bust.
ReplyDeleteI've never been as disappointed in an album than that Craig Mack flavor in your ear album
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't even put him there. There was nothing about him that made me say, "rewind that." when I heard a Biggie song.
ReplyDeleteand that insane bump
ReplyDeleteFalse. Puff would have succeeded as a producer. As someone said, he produced for Mary, and also did a hell of a job on Jay Z's "American Gangster". He would have been all right, just not the megastar he is because of Biggie.
ReplyDeleteWho thinks that Jay-Z is one of the more annoying rappers.
ReplyDeletewait, i thought this was about big e langston
ReplyDeletedoes he now?
ReplyDeletedidnt know he liked rap
Shut your mouth whore
ReplyDeleteWith a taser!
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight, his push is about as dead as Biggie is.
ReplyDeleteJay was great when Sauce Money was writing with/for him. Then he sole Young Chris "whisper" style and stopped trying.
ReplyDeleteNope, anytime he pops up, I get annoyed by him.
ReplyDeleteGreat emcees pass the "rewind test" Listen to Eminems freestyle at the BET awards.
ReplyDeleteWhy? I lile everything about him. Super smart with a diverse brand. Like how he carries himself. I don't know what there is to possibly not like about him, except for the Trayvon thing
ReplyDeleteHe is now. He's gotten quite lazy recently, especially with the "whisper". He knows that his voice will draw attention to whatever song he's on, but he hasn't really brought it with the lyrics in a while. Maybe American Gangster or The Blueprint 3.
ReplyDeleteI haven't liked a lot of Jay's work in awhile and he killed Def Jam as a label when they made him president over LL Cool J.
ReplyDeleteHe would have been a successful producer regardless. Probably not a household name though.
ReplyDeleteI'd go back further and say the Hard Knock Life album.
ReplyDelete:thinks for a sec:
ReplyDeleteOh wait! Sorry, I was thinking of Lil Wayne.
Jay- Z's cool.
Yea. I still like his work but I'm definitely biased. Been a huge fan for awhile. The American Gangsta stuff and blueprint 3 weren't bad imo
ReplyDeleteI definitely like him as a dude, which colors my perception of his music
I used.to despise lil Wayne. He's grown on me like a fungus the past few years
ReplyDeleteSorry, my real question is who thinks Lil Wayne is one of the more annoying rappers.
ReplyDeleteChingy wins this award
ReplyDeleteThat laugh and that voice......
ReplyDeleteUgh.
i like that time he was on george lopez, and the grandfather was like "whats chingy doing here?"
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things about rap are the distinctive laughs and cackles.of the rappers in their music. 50 used to have a great little chuckle, pac had an awesome cackle, etc
ReplyDeleteWho's gonna look in a mirror and call him out 3 times?
ReplyDeletePuffy made the decisions on track list and single releases, hence "Making Moves with Puff" is the follow up to the colossal Flava in Ya Ear and the remix. Puffy basically used Mack to push himself. Mack is still pissed.
ReplyDeleteActually people say he's a snake. I say it's you he does business but his name is shit on the street.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason the only person he took care of is Bleek.
He's no Fabolous.
ReplyDeleteI still LOVE his storytelling rap "Meet The Parents" from Blueprint 2. Proof that when he's motivated, he can deliver.
ReplyDeleteGood post. Didn't know this
ReplyDeleteWe all know that Ice Cube has gone soft over the years.
ReplyDeleteI like the stuff that Gillie wrote for him. The songs Drake helped him write? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteWhat 50 says AFTER the song is over is funny as fuck.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a few of the snake rumors, bit always assumed they were from people that were either outsmarted by him or had a beef with him. Never have seen any actual evident that he's a snake. Not saying it's not true...I've just always wrote that rumor off
ReplyDeleteHe played out Dame and Bleek for the Rocafella brand. Dame is considered an asshole and is more or less blackballed because he did shit to protect Jay.
ReplyDeleteEver hear that song "Dildo Hopper"?
ReplyDeleteTrue. BIG was the only great/good act Bad Boy ever had.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Dude was dissing Ma$e
ReplyDeleteYea. Cracks me up every time
ReplyDeleteSeems like Mase and Ja Rule are the the Miz and Santino of the rap game.
ReplyDeleteJa played himself with all that singing.
ReplyDeleteWhat, no love for Dannity Kane??
ReplyDeleteI'd give those bitches some love...and that all white chick singing group as well.
ReplyDeleteThey had some solid performers but take away BIG and I probably never would have noticed Bad Boy at all.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered if someof the songs in that album were ghostwritten or did his style change because he was doing cyphers with cats from NY when he was locked up.
ReplyDeleteListen to "Ambitions az a Ridah" amongst other songs and tell me that's not his usual rhyme style.
We can all agree that Curb Henning vs Master Ps stable is the greatest thing ti ever grace our tv screens.
ReplyDelete#RapIsCrap
Who didn't love Silkk Da Shocker's birthday bash?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of money WCW pent on Master P and his flunkies is mind boggling to this day. Like what did they serious expect to happen? What's the end game? I just don't get it
ReplyDeleteIn my lifetime is a forgotten Jay classic
ReplyDeleteDamn. Didn't know that
ReplyDeleteWait, so Jay and Bleek beefed for awhile?
ReplyDeleteHe melted.
ReplyDeleteDid ABeyAnce expand his gimmick from just Asians?
ReplyDeleteI happen to think Rick Ross is kind of overrated as well (but not as much)
ReplyDeleteYou mean Seth? Lol
ReplyDeleteTrue...though if you've seen Notorious, Biggie WAS kind of a dick as well
ReplyDeleteI saw a midget show recently and one of them was Little Little Wayne.
ReplyDeleteHe was a cool guy.
That Shady Cypher? I have that on my regular rotation. Pretty much all of them brought it but Em's verse floored me.
ReplyDeleteWiz does that now and I can't stand it.
ReplyDeleteCube's last great album, IMO, was The Predator. You could hear him going soft and lazy with the rhymes on Lethal Injection.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna set set the over under at 2 for the amount if Biggie sounds Scott can name without googling
ReplyDeleteThe best of all time is Bone.
ReplyDeleteI definitely suspect ghostwriting on that album.
ReplyDelete...
ReplyDelete...
...
Because WCW
I liked him in Junior High and beginning of high school when he was doing all that shit with Ashanti.
ReplyDeletei like how for the most part it's a bunch of us honkies discussing this
ReplyDeletei love curb henning!
ReplyDeleteand his son, coitus axis
yep, ben stiller is good like that
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is that most rapper's debut albums are the best, whether they are solos or duos. All Eyez on Me was 2Pac's fourth!
ReplyDeleteThat's extremely offensive.
ReplyDeleteit's cool... i'm one myself so i can say it
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest stories ever told: Hoe Biggie indirectly killed Kwame's career.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/Rj2M-LxCqlM
http://www.troll.me/images/pissed-off-obama/i-see-you-hatin-cracker.jpg
ReplyDelete"Hoe Biggie"
ReplyDeletegood ol' garden tool
but DAT LANA
ReplyDeleteLol!
ReplyDelete...er?
ReplyDeleteyou said "hoe biggie"
ReplyDeleteTrust me, its a good thing.
ReplyDeleteChristopher or Wallace Ave sound upstanding enough to me.
ReplyDeleteIm a Biggie guy, love his stuff.
ReplyDeleteHobbes is a Notorious Thugs kinda tiger.
ReplyDeleteI felt like posting this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNF4wXrz5rg
ReplyDeletehis first album and his sound were fun, then nothing.
ReplyDeleteTAKING IT BACK!! UP WITH WHITEY!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great way of putting it.
ReplyDeleteNo, Bayless did it for a Bod PPV.
ReplyDeleteSuicidal Thoughts is the fucking jam - I admit I always preferred Pac's music but Biggie was always the better lyricist (not deeper or poetically, just better with wordplay)
ReplyDeleteCool. It's true anyway..
ReplyDeleteNever?
ReplyDeleteIllmatic is all-time greatness.
No one expected anything from Illmatic. The other albums people EXPECTED great things but they never did. Stillmatic was good though.
ReplyDeleteI did?
ReplyDeleteediting and erasing it my gimmick, mate
ReplyDeleteYep. What kills artists is producing your own albums and being surrounded by yes men that tells you is sounds great when it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteHe has revitiligo. It's the opposite of what Michael Jackson had.
ReplyDeletePac was better but Biggie had his place. Rap died with these guys. People like Jay Z cant touch these fellas...
ReplyDelete50 did a GREAT play by play of the Jay-Z fight with Solange, I think it's on his Instagram.
ReplyDeleteI admit to having a guilty pleasure for the Empire State of Mind song. They seriously need to give that to a Yankees closer at some point.
ReplyDeleteI'ma assume this has been linked like twenty times, but lets make it 21, so Jake can beat me with his robust 22.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETfiUYij5UE
Look up the one with Rick Ross' babymama doing porn. I laughed for 21 hours.
ReplyDeleteAlso his Pimpin' Curly stuff was funny too.
First they need a closer that can actually, you know..close.
ReplyDeleteEQUAL ABILITY TO BE OFFENDED FOR WHITE PEOPLE! IT'S A THING, IT REALLY REALLY IS!
ReplyDeleteI also dont understand when people wish a happy Date of Death to living people.
ReplyDeleteI prefer "cracker" myself.
ReplyDeleteI'd put jay z's first two albums against anything anyone did, and the next three have some awesome songs. Reservoir dogs is an all time fave of mine on the 3rd album I think. Anything jaz z did after blue print 1...well I'm not a fan? But two classics and 3 good ones is solid run.
ReplyDeleteTheres still great rap but those were the last dudes to get over as big music stars while being great rappers. Kanye and Lil Wayne definitely aren't PAC and big
Take some ice up for the nicest MC And please yo, tell Big he's UNBELIEVABLE
ReplyDeleteWho do the you think the player on the Knicks girl biggie was fucking in that one song? LOL I love that one
ReplyDeleteDidn't have as much cash for sure. Died to soon
ReplyDeleteFall back young'n I got this top spot on lock
ReplyDeleteLol
IT'S BIG SWOLE AND THE SOLDIERS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteEven though I was a West Coast kid growing up during the East/West beef, I always liked Biggie more than 2Pac (or anyone else for that matter). Although 'Pac worked harder and was a better live performer, Biggie was simply more talented lyrically IMO. He's still my all-time favorite rapper and IMO still the best lyricist in history.
ReplyDeleteRaw Footage (2008) is pretty good. There were some things going on in the news at the time (Obama, Jenna 6, Mike Vick, etc.) that I feel had Cube motivated in ways he hadn't really been since The Predator.
ReplyDeleteWhich is crazy because it turns out Ja was just before his time. Drake, Wayne and all these guys can get away with singing now, but Ja's career was damaged for it.
ReplyDeleteLil Kim, Faith and 112 would've been enough to keep Bad Boy relevant outside of Biggie. But I can definitely see them going more toward R&B than hip-hop without Biggie's influence.
ReplyDeleteBiggie was very over rated. If DMX had died in 1999 he would have been remembered as being way above Biggie. 2Pac was in another dimension and Biggie shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Pac.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Puff really thought Black Rob was gonna be the next big thing, or did he know that guy was a 2-hit wonder.
ReplyDeletePac and Biggie are Hogan and Flair, Jay Z is Randy Orton....
ReplyDeleteOf course because Biggie died we don't know how he would have held up on the longevity scale, but I still won't say he's overrated. Lyrically, he was better than Pac IMO, just not as prolific or energetic as a performer.
ReplyDeleteKurt and Dan = GOAT
ReplyDelete#onlyhalffacetious
I'd say Janis John Cena...just a different style in a different era. I'm a huge Jay mark
ReplyDeleteJay z is hhh
ReplyDeleteTop 5 living rappers
ReplyDelete1. Sean P
2. Kills can
3.prodigy
4.buckshot and 9th wonder
5. Tons of guys I love
All these guys saying biggie smalls was overrated... gtfoh
ReplyDeleteI got 7 Mac 11's/about 8 38's/ nine 9's/ 10 Mac 10's/ the shit never ends/ you cant touch my riches/even if you had MC hammer and them 357 bitches
Rhyme a few bars so I can buy a few cars/then a kick a few flows so I can pimp a few hoes
ReplyDeleteMy personal favorite biggie verse
ReplyDeleteArmed and dangerous/ain't too many that can bang with us/straight up weed no angel dust/label us notorious thug ass niggas that love to bust/its strange to us/y'all niggaz be scramblin gamblin/up in restaurants with mandolins and violins/we just sitting here trying to win/trying not to sin/high off weed and lots of gin/so much smoke need oxygen/steadily counting them Benjamins
I love Big L (he lived 3 blocks away from me), but I can't co-sign on that. Jay-Z was blowing up way before Big L died. Big L was supposed to sign to Roc-A-Fella right before he died and that may have taken him further, but much like Beanie Siegel, I think Big L was too lyrical for most people. Jay-Z (like Biggie) knew how to be lyrical, funny and create hooks that made people want to rap/sing along. That's why they were so popular even to this day.
ReplyDeleteThumbing through this thread, biggie is clearly underrated
ReplyDeleteBiggie wasnt underrated. Getting killed made him much bigger than he was....
ReplyDeleteSnoop and Tupac were much bigger on the food chain....
To me out of all that early to mid 90's rap the shit that holds up the best is snoop and the Dogg pound and CNN and mobb deep. Not the guys who were stars at the time
ReplyDeletePuffy capitalized off of the death of Biggie more than anyone else. The Puff Daddy World Tour that happened later that year drew money on the strength of the Biggie tribute songs and Puffy's first album ripped some of the best songs from his artists (The Benjamins).. so yeah I agree with that statement.
ReplyDelete"I'm in his ass, while he play against the Utah Jazz".
ReplyDeleteI could listen to that song every day.
I like the remix of this with Twista and Bone.
ReplyDeleteHe's overrated. There is no what he is as good as the fanboys made him out to be.
ReplyDeleteCam?
ReplyDelete'Pac was overrated. THere is no way that he CAN'T be because he's treated as a GOD.
ReplyDeleteProbably should have switched him and P now that I think about it
ReplyDeleteEven his worse line "get the puters putin'" was just a radio edit for "get the pukers pukin"
I love camron