He sounds imperious, the Herb Alpert-sampling production is starkly funky, while the chorus nods to Slick Rick and Doug E FreshвЂ™s old-school classic La-Di-Da-Di.Amazon Music has unveiled a new mini-documentary that coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Notorious B.I.G.вЂ™s debut album, Ready to Die. The track Biggie was in LA to record a video for when he was murdered and a posthumous US No 1, Hypnotize is a fabulous single. ThereвЂ™s shock value, but its real power comes from detail: the regret over stealing from his motherвЂ™s purse, the bleak image of вЂњpeople frontinвЂ™ at my funeral like they miss meвЂќ. Ready to Die ended with the negative image of its swaggering big hits: one verse, no hook, self-loathing poured out over an austere beat. Life After DeathвЂ™s big hit found BiggieвЂ™s lyrical skills and CombsвЂ™s pop smarts in perfect harmony: the latterвЂ™s use of Diana RossвЂ™s IвЂ™m Coming Out is inspired the formerвЂ™s verse shifts from celebrating his own success to suggesting, with a certain grim irony, that heвЂ™s interested only in music, not internecine hip-hop wars: вЂњBruise too much, I lose too muchвЂќ. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo 4. Later transformed into the musical HamiltonвЂ™s Ten Duel Commandments, BiggieвЂ™s witty, acerbic advice to potential dealers вЂ“ вЂњThat goddam credit? Dead it! You think a crackhead paying you back? Shit, forget it!вЂќ вЂ“ rides a superb, minimal DJ Premier beat, where scattered electronic beeps meet a fierce sample of Public EnemyвЂ™s Chuck D.Д«iggie in 1997.

But itвЂ™s a fantastic track, menacing, darkly funny вЂ“ вЂњI feel for you, like Chaka KhanвЂќ вЂ“ with an oddly hallucinatory sound, a bad dream captured on tape. You can view Who Shot Ya? as a fatal mistake: whether it was about Tupac or not, it acted as the spark in the beef that may have claimed BiggieвЂ™s life. Things Done Changed (1994)ДЄ lyric that ended up being included in a 2004 anthology of African American literature, Ready to DieвЂ™s opening track offered an unsparing depiction of the havoc wrought on poor black neighbourhoods by the influx of crack: вЂњOur parents used to take care of us / Look at them now, theyвЂ™re even fuckinвЂ™ scared of usвЂќ. Performing at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago in April 1995. Notorious BIG at his most chilling, delivering a litany of horror вЂ“ his threats cover everything from raping and murdering children to arson and castration вЂ“ in a disturbingly blase tone, the mood heightened by the trackвЂ™s eerie strings, excerpted from, of all things, a luxuriant 70s cover of Bacharach and DavidвЂ™s Close to You. If you believe the rumours, they sound evenly matched because Biggie had a hand in writing her rhymes. Take your pick from the Sylvia Striplin-sampling original, or the remix based on Dennis EdwardsвЂ™ DonвЂ™t Look Any Further, itвЂ™s all about the sparring between Biggie and LilвЂ™ Kim, who trade different verses on each version. Junior Mafia вЂ“ Get Money (feat the Notorious BIG) (1996) Note the original lyrical twists вЂ“ no howвЂ™s-your-father until Biggie has had his dinner! вЂ“ and period detail: a pre-Auto-Tune, wildly off-key vocal on the hook. Craig MackвЂ™s debut album was duly eclipsed by the release of Ready to Die a week beforehand.Д«y most accounts, the making of BiggieвЂ™s debut album was a struggle between the rapperвЂ™s street instincts and Sean вЂњPuffyвЂќ CombsвЂ™s commerciality. Craig Mack вЂ“ Flava in Ya Ear (remix feat Notorious BIG, LL Cool J, Rampage & Busta Rhymes) (1994)Д«oth an incredible single and an object lesson in the perils of getting Biggie Smalls to guest on your track despite the stellar company, his verse turns the song into his show.

Posthumously, it sounded like a self-penned eulogy, complete with epitaph: вЂњLive the phrase вЂSkyвЂ™s the limitвЂ™вЂќ. One of several tracks that took on a different hue after BiggieвЂ™s death in 1997, aged 24, SkyвЂ™s the Limit was initially Life After DeathвЂ™s equivalent of his breakthrough hit Juicy, an alternately wistful and dark account of his rise. The rapper elects to lie in wait: needless to say, it doesnвЂ™t end well for his would-be assailants. A beautifully concise bit of storytelling, complete with an impressively naturalistic conversational interlude during which Biggie, in character as a friend, informs himself that someone has taken a hit out on him.

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