Notorious B.I.G.

Today in Hip-Hop History: Notorious B.I.G.’s Debut Single ‘Party & Bulls**t’ Turns 30 Years Old!

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In the summer of 1993, a young record exec who was known as “Puff Daddy” started a label called Bad Boy Records which premiered two records to launch the label; the first being the premier track from the legendary Notorious B.I.G. called “Party & Bullshit”. The song appeared on the soundtrack of Who’s The Man, a movie with Hip Hop’s who’s who starring Yo! MTV Raps‘ Ed Lover & Dr. Dre.

Biggie Smalls became one of the most prolific MCs in the history of the culture and is arguably one of the best that the game has ever seen. Before B.I.G. became “Notorious”, Biggie and Junior Mafia were only about “Party & Bullshit”. Salute to B.I.G., Diddy, Bad Boy, and the whole Brooklyn.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Notorious B.I.G.’s Debut Single ‘Party & Bulls**t’ Turns 30 Years Old! appeared first on The Source.

The Notorious B.I.G. And Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s ‘Notorious Thugs’ Couldn’t Have Happened Without Fat Joe, He Explained

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In March 2021, Fat Joe told Swizz Beatz and Timbaland that he and the late Notorious B.I.G. “cut about five songs together” for an album before he was murdered on March 9, 1997 at 24 years old. This week, Fat Joe is back with more Biggie-related revelations.

Iconic Records, a visual podcast series hosted by Angie Martinez, is digging deep into Biggie’s iconic 1997 album Life After Death. The sixth episode premiered on Monday, June 5, and focused on the track “Notorious Thugs” featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

Around the five-minute mark, Fat Joe told Martinez that he was in the studio with Biggie when he made “Hypnotize,” noting, “From 12 to 1, it was 10 Spanish girls. From 1 to 2, 10 Black girls. From 2 to 3, 10 Asian girls. From 3 to 4, 10 Italian girls. I mean, I never seen nothing like this in my life! I’m sitting in the studio like, ‘This is what it’s like to be The B.I.G.!’ … The ladies loved B.I.G.”

Fat Joe later laid out how he linked Biggie with Bone Thugs, whom he’d “clicked up with” as fellow signees to Relativity Records at the time.

“I would go to Cleveland, hang out with them. I would ride with them on their tour. These guys sold 30 million records, so they were selling out stadiums. The stadiums looked like they was gonna collapse. The stadiums would look like it’s bending,” Fat Joe said. “Biggie hit me up and was like, ‘Yo, bro, I’m trying to get in touch with your guys. They don’t wanna do it. They’re ignoring me.’ They didn’t want to do a song with Biggie.”

He continued, “Just for Biggie to think that advanced because New York wasn’t up on Bone Thugs like that. He knew that they was gigantic, and he was like, ‘Yo, I need to do a song with them.’”

Fat Joe explained that Biggie saw him as “the plug” capable of connecting him with Bone Thugs, but Bone Thugs felt a conflict of interest because “they had already been cool with Tupac.”

“They was like, ‘Yo, Joe, we can’t do it. We cool with Tupac.’ And I’m like, ‘Yo, bro, this is B.I.G. You know what it is to do a song with B.I.G.?! And so, I convinced them,” he added.

Martinez pressed for more details, and Fat Joe rightfully took another victory lap:

“I made them go do the song with B.I.G. I don’t know how to explain it to you in any other language. They’ve confirmed. Like, ‘Yo, you gotta go do it. This is my brother.’ And they’re the happiest people in the world to confirm this because they still touring off that record. That record is one of the biggest treasures in hip-hop, and so, they happy they listened to Fat Joe and they did that.”

Fat Joe additionally relayed that Steve Lobel, Bone Thugs’ manager, was the one to inform him of Biggie’s death. Martinez is joined later in the episode by Lobel, Layzie Bone, and Lil Cease.

Watch the full 45-minute Iconic Records episode above.

Timbaland Never Got To Work With The Notorious BIG So He Used AI To ‘Collaborate’ With Him Instead

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Over the past few years, rap fans have unfortunately gotten plenty of calls to debate the ethics of posthumously releasing an artist’s works — especially when it comes to collaborations that the artist may not have approved. With the advent of AI technologies that reproduce artists’ voices and likenesses, that debate has heated up a lot lately.

The latest figure in hip-hop to join the debate is Timbaland, who used AI to “collaborate” with The Notorious B.I.G. — someone he never got the chance to work with in real life before Biggie died. He shared part of the song, in which Big’s voice shouts out artists he never lived to see such as Nipsey Hussle and Young Dolph, on Instagram, saying:

We know that it’s a lot of talk about AI and we know how the feelings of violating certain things. But let me tell you something: I got a solution, I’m working on it. It’s gon’ be beneficial to everybody. I gotta share something I’ve been working on because I always wanted to do this and I never got a chance to. I always wanted to work with Big and I never got a chance to.

Fans on social media have received the “collaboration” with some trepidation — people who pay for Twitter Blue aside — pointing out that although the machine-learning algorithm can reproduce Christopher Wallace’s voice, Tim’s still just talking to a computer simulacrum.

The Debut Season Of ‘Iconic Records’ Will Dive Deep Into The Notorious B.I.G.’s Classic Album ‘Life After Death’

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The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 album Life After Death, which was released just days after he was murdered, is an iconic piece of hip-hop history. Now, to coincide with the ongoing celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary this year, Warner Music Group’s WMX has announced the debut season of visual podcast series Iconic Records will focus on the landmark Biggie Smalls album.

The eight-episode run of the show, hosted by Radio Hall Of Fame member Angie Martinez, will premiere on April 29 at 8 p.m. ET, on the new WMX Hip-Hop channel on The Roku Channel (channel 1137). Further episodes will debut every Saturday after that. It will also be available on Biggie’s YouTube channel and on major audio podcast platforms starting May 1. Guests appearing over the course of the season will include Fat Joe, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Too Short, Lil Cease, and surprise guests yet to be revealed.

Martinez said in a statement, “Biggie was, and still is, one of the most important artists of our lifetime and Life After Death is a masterpiece! To collaborate with WMX on this series has been an incredible experience. It’s especially meaningful as we also pay homage to 50 years of hip-hop and how it’s changed the course of history.”

Ben Blank — WMX president, media & creative content — also noted, “We’re excited to be able to share stories about the albums that have shaped entire generations so profoundly – beginning with Biggie’s Life After Death. The launch of Iconic Records embraces the huge appetite and need for unique content tailored for genre-specific audiences. WMX lives at a crossroads where artists, content, and experiences converge to reach music fans where they are, and this exciting series is the first of many forums in which we will continue to tell the stories about the art that shapes and inspires our culture.”

Wayne Barrow, Biggie’s manager, added, “The Notorious B.I.G. is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. His work has been examined and reviewed before, but this series provides new stories and firsthand accounts by the people that were there. It’s something special.”

Check out the Iconic Records trailer above.

The Notorious B.I.G. is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

[WATCH] Outlaw Napoleon Says Snoop’s “Hit ‘Em Up” Comments Were Because He Was Upset ‘Pac Took His Shine

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Napoleon of Tha Outlawz has commented on Snoop Dogg saying he didn’t like the late Tupac Shakur’s landmark diss record “Hit ‘Em Up”, which was aimed at his friend-turned-nemesis Notorious B.I.G.

Napoleon said Snoop never expressed that sentiment before now, adding, “For Snoop to say he never liked ‘Hit Em Up,’ he never expressed that. You got videos of him on stage with ‘Pac, Pac rapping ‘Hit Em Up’ and he’s rapping right along with him.”

He went on to say that Snoop was even singing the lyrics with him while at the House of Blue performance and bobbing his head in the studio.He says it’s strange that Snoop would say all of these things that he’s never say if’Pac was alive.

The post [WATCH] Outlaw Napoleon Says Snoop’s “Hit ‘Em Up” Comments Were Because He Was Upset ‘Pac Took His Shine appeared first on The Source.

[WATCH] Snoop Dogg Says He Didn’t Like 2Pac’s Biggie Smalls Diss Track “Hit ‘Em Up”

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In an exclusive interview with Big Boy for the Untold Stories of Snoop Dogg, the Doggfather himself delved into the strained relationship between him and Death Row labelmate Tupac Shakur in the months leading up to his untimely demise in September 1996.

He says he and ‘Pac were on good terms the week before his death, but the public comments made about Puff Daddy and Biggie made things more complicated for the Long Beach newcomer.

“Man, I’d say a week before he died, we was best of friends. Two days before he died, I don’t think he liked me,” Snoop said. “Because we was in New York and shit had happened. New York n-ggas had shot at me and did all kinds of shit to me, just the worst shit you could think of, and I forgave ’em. Snoop added, “Then I went and did an interview and was asked how did I feel about Puffy and Biggie. I was like, ‘I like them n-ggas, I wanna do some music with ’em. And that just rubbed cuz the wrong way, like, ‘N-gga, fuck them n-ggas, them n-ggas tried to kill me. N-ggas shot at you, and you talking about you wanna do a song with them n-ggas?’”

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“Even when he played the video for me to ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ even when he played ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ the song, I didn’t like the song,” he said. “I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the shit. It wasn’t the shit to me. Like, you buying more problems, cuh. You buying problems. Gangstas is everywhere. They make ’em everywhere.”

See the entire interview above.

The post [WATCH] Snoop Dogg Says He Didn’t Like 2Pac’s Biggie Smalls Diss Track “Hit ‘Em Up” appeared first on The Source.

Diddy Reiterates The Notorious B.I.G.’s GOAT Status On The Anniversary Of His Death: ‘There Will NEVER Be Another’

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Today is the 26th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.‘s death, and social media is awash in posts praising the Brooklyn rapper’s impact and legacy. Of course, that includes B.I.G.’s friend and business partner, Sean “Diddy” Combs, who shared a throwback video of B.I.G. giving some motivational advice in an old interview alongside the caption,”There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME. Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!!”

In the video, Biggie explains the importance of remaining true to yourself. “Don’t be the fool to just sit back and do it because somebody else is doing it,” he says. “Because those of you who do just gon’ follow in somebody else’s footsteps, and you just gon’ be a shadow. Who wanna be a shadow for the rest of their life. If you got a lil’ something’ that you know how to do, progress that and keep trying. I mean, God knows what could happen. That’s what I did. Just kept on walking, just happened to get to the right ends.”

Even though so much time has passed since The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in Los Angeles, his peers and contemporaries never seem to get tired of talking about him and his game-changing effect on hip-hop. Recently, Usher called Big “the most profound talent I think I’ve ever seen in an MC.” Meanwhile, Biggie’s hometown, New York, honored what would have been his 50th birthday last year by lighting up the Empire State Building with a crown on its mast along with citywide celebrations like murals and limited-edition MetroCards.

[WATCH] Layzie Bone Says Biggie Tried To Steal Weed During “Notorious Thugs” Studio Session

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Bone Thugs N Harmony’s Layzie Bone appeared on Breakbeat Media to discuss making “Notorious Thugs” with the Notorious B.I.G. for his Life After Death LP. Layzie talked about how the late Frank White tried to bounce with two ounces of weed he brought for the session.

“We first got to the studio, it was Lil Cease, Stevie J, Puffy was in there man the whole Bad Boy camp; so I come in, I had two ounces of weed,” said Layzie. He continued, “So the n***a, Biggie Smalls, put my weed in his pocket, man. I’m like ‘Ay n***a.’ [He had it] in both of them. He talking bout he thought I was giving it to him, and I’m like, ‘Nah, n***a, that’s for the party, man.’” 

See the entire interview below.

The post [WATCH] Layzie Bone Says Biggie Tried To Steal Weed During “Notorious Thugs” Studio Session appeared first on The Source.

Jonah Hill Chooses His Top Five Rappers In A Deleted ‘You People’ Scene And Gets Flak For His Eminem Pick

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Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy team up for You People, but in a scene that didn’t make the film’s final cut, more legends find their way into the movie. Specifically, a number of hip-hop icons, when Hill’s character makes his pick for the top five rappers ever and gets roasted for including Eminem.

In the clip, Ezra (Hill’s character) and Mo (played by Sam Jay) are hosting an episode of their The Mo & E-Z Show podcast when the topic of their top five rappers comes up. Ezra makes his picks: “1. Jay-Z, 2. Biggie, 3. 2Pac, 4. Nas, and 5. Eminem.”

Mo responds, “That’s in order? — Eminem though?” Ezra replies, “Why do I have to keep defending Shady? I mean, his sole purpose is to be on other people’s tracks and murder them. I mean, ‘Renegade?’ ‘Dead Wrong,’” he says in reference to tracks by Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G.

Mo then says, “Dog, he’s like, I don’t know the Larry Bird of rap, you know what I mean? He’s not great: He’s just great because he’s a white man in a Black man’s game.” Ezra retorts, “That is so stupid. That might be the dumbest sh*t you’ve ever said to me.”

Check out the clip above.

[WATCH] Diddy’s Former Bodyguard Says Snoop Is Lying About His Relationship With Biggie

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In an exclusive interview with Art Of Dialogue, former Bad Boy bodyguard Gene Deal calls into question as to why Snoop’s version of his relationship with the Notorious B.I.G. wasn’t privy to the public ntil after his death.

“That’s something that sounds good for the media,” he said of the Doggfather’s accounts of his friendship with Biggie. “You know, ‘I’m the peacemaker. I’m the one that’s showing love. I’m the one that’s out here when everybody else is dead, wishing that I coulda did something to put the shit together.”

“It wasn’t all that love until ‘Pac was dead,” Deal continued. “Wasn’t Big out in California three, four weeks and Snoop never saw him? Snoop never came and smoked nothing wit’ him. Snoop never came and ate nothing with him. But it was a lot of love? Come on, man.”

Snoop has spoken several times about his relationship with Biggie and even talked about the moment they shared after hearing the news about the death of Biggie’s friend-turned-nemesis, Tupac Shakur back in 2018. The alleged conversation took place after a shooting in Times Square during the filming of the Dogg Pound’s “NY NY” video, of which he felt B.I.G. was responsible after announcing on NYC Hip Hop station HOT 97 where the video shoot was taking place. The two allegedly bumped heads in ATL and came to a resolve.

“It’s just me and him, one on one,” Snoop Dogg recalled. “And he giving me the rundown about how much he loved 2Pac and he didn’t wanna see cuz die. And a lot of shit that he said and did, he was wrong for. He just was apologizing like a man, to me.”

“Just getting an understanding on what he did, ’cause I never tripped on him for what he did,” he continued. “That was a Dogg Pound video, that wasn’t a 2Pac video. And we got shot at, and the direct shot came from him. But nobody got hit so we let it go. So with him apologizing to me, we became friends again.”

When asked to confirm if that conversation actually took place, Deal says he was not present, therefore, he couldn’t confirm or deny if the convo actually went down.

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