On this date in 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. was booed on stage before presenting the award for Best R&B Soul Single Female at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards.
The audience in Los Angeles wasn’t too friendly towards Biggie, especially since his then rival Tupac Shakur was just shot and killed in Las Vegas six months earlier. Big gave a cynical “What’s up Cali?” as the boos and jeers grew louder and more intense.
Biggie was killed a little more than a day later in a drive-by shooting after leaving the Vibe Magazine Soul Train Awards after party. Biggie’s sudden murder proved that Tupac’s murder the year prior was more than a random shooting and that the East Coast vs. West Coast beef was more than just a rap beef between two former friends.
Last fall marked the 25th anniversary of Tupac’s death. Meanwhile, next month will mark the 25th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death. Since their deaths, hip-hop has experienced the loss of other major rappers. Some examples include Nipsey Hussle and Young Dolph, who were shot and killed in 2019 and 2021, respectively.During a recent interview with HotNewHipHop, Rick Ross spoke about how impactful their deaths were to this generation.
“Losing Nipsey and Dolph for this generation, I’m sure, was just as equivalent or greater to what [Notorious] B.I.G. or ‘Pac was for my generation,” he said. Nipsey was shot and killed outside of his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles back in 2019 and Young Dolph was murdered inside of Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis last fall. Rick Ross collaborated with Nipsey and Dolph throughout their careers and he even tried to sign Nipsey to his label, Maybach Music Group, at one point.
Rick Ross’ comments come after dropped a video for “Little Havana” with The-Dream — a track from his recently-released eleventh album RIcher Than I Ever Been.
You can read Ross’ interview on HotNewHipHop here.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s second and final album, Life After Death, is turning 25. To commemorate the LP, Biggie’s estate announced Wednesday that they plan to release a limited edition 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set of the project.
According to reports, the box set will include eight vinyl LPs, a special commemorative booklet with rare photos from the Life After Death cover shoot, liner notes from from music writer and editor Sheldon Pearce, as and contributions from multiple people who were involved with Life After Death’s initial 1997 release.
Life After Death, which turns 25 on March 25th, boasts tracks like “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” “Hypnotize,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” and “Kick In The Door.”
The super deluxe box set drops on June 10th and retails for $179.98.
For those who might remember, Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready To Die 2013 Record Store Day release was highlighted by sleek white vinyl records that matched the color of Biggie’s signature suit. But what the Estate of Christopher Wallace, Rhino Records, Bad Boy, and Atlantic have in store for the Life After Death 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe release will blow it out of the water.
The first step in the year-long “Sky’s The Limit: A Year Celebrating The Legacy of the Notorious B.I.G.” multimedia campaign, the Super Deluxe vinyl box set is an 8-LP edition. The first four are a remaster of Life After Death, followed by the Hypnotize 12″, Mo Money Mo Problems 12″, Sky’s The Limit 12″, and Nasty Boy 12.” The booklet insert is filled with photos from the album photoshoot, liner notes by music journalist Sheldon Pearce, and reflections of Biggie’s life from his inner circle.
The Life After Death 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe will be released on 6/10, but you can pre-order it here. Take a look at the box set and complete tracklist below.
Rhino
Life After Death
A1. “Life After Death”
A2. “Somebody’s Gotta Die”
A3. “Hypnotize”
A4. “Kick In The Door”
B1. “Fuck You Tonight”
B2. “Last Day”
B3. “I Love The Dough”
B4. “What’s Beef?”
C1. “B.I.G. Interlude”
C2. “Mo Money Mo Problems”
C3. “Niggas Bleed”
C4. “I Gotta Story To Tell”
D1. “Notorious Thugs”
D2. “Miss U”
D3. “Another”
D4. “Going Back To Cali”
E1. “Ten Crack Commandments”
E2. “Playa Hater”
E3. “Nasty Boy”
E4. “Sky’s The Limit”
F1. “The World Is Filled…”
F2. “My Downfall”
F3. “Long Kiss Goodnight”
F4. “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)”
A1. “Mo Money Mo Problems” (Radio Mix)
A2. “Mo Money Mo Problems” (Instrumental)
B1. “Mo Money Mo Problems” (Album Version)
B2. “Fuck You Tonight”
Sky’s The Limit 2×12
A1. “Sky’s The Limit” (Radio Edit)
A2. “Kick In The Door” (Radio Edit)
B1. “Going Back To Cali”(Radio Edit)
B2. “Sky’s The Limit” (Instrumental)
C1. “Kick In The Door” (Club Mix)
C2. “Going Back To Cali” (Club Mix)
D1. “Kick In The Door” (Instrumental)
D2. “Going Back To Cali” (Instrumental)
Of all the many rap beefs in the history of hip-hop, none has been as brutally dissected — and deadly — as Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac’s East Coast/West Coast spat. Things reached a head when Tupac dropped the supremely insulting “Hit ‘Em Up” in June of 1996, which besides being lyrically pointed at Big, Puff and Mobb Deep, rode samples of two Junior Mafia tracks in “Get Money” and “Player’s Anthem.”
While Biggie got his shots own shots in over the years (“Who Shot Ya?” came out months after Tupac was shot at Quad Studios in November of 1994, although Biggie never admitted it being pointed at Tupac), there was more in store from Biggie that never fully materialized the way he ended it to. In an interview with The Art Of Dialogue, Junior Mafia member and Biggie’s cousin, Lil Cease, shed more light on the epic beef and what might have happened if things went as planned:
“Big wasn’t gonna put forth a full effort into a whole full song dissing Tupac… Big was kinda more like just sprinkling on it,” Cease said of “The Ugliest,” a J-Dilla produced track that featured Busta Rhymes. Biggie delivered the verse, “And the winner is, not that thinner kid / Bandanas, tattoos, my fist never bruise / Land still cruise, Frank White paid his dues.” While Tupac wasn’t name-checked, it was clear who the lyrics was pointed at, and the diss was strong enough for Busta to not put the song on the album it was earmarked for, The Coming, but this was hardly the epic shot that Biggie thought he could take with a little help.
Cease says the original plan was for Nas and Busta to do the heavy lifting on the diss which could have really lit a fire under the beef. But that’s not how it went down.
“It’s not a diss if you don’t say their name. Ya gotta say somebody’s name if you wanna call it a ‘diss record’” Cease says. “If you’re just throwing subliminals, that’s only for that man to hear and figure out ’cause you’re gonna say something that only he would understand like, ‘Alright, he’s talking about me.’ Big didn’t say his name… It was for Busta Rhymes’ song at that. The song never came out — supposed to been Busta Rhymes, Nas and Big. It was produced by Q-Tip. But everybody never did their verse after Big did his. Nobody laid the verse on it, so the song kinda just pushed away. ”
Nevermind that Cease confuses Dilla with Q-Tip as the song’s producer (Tip was famously J Dilla’s manager), but had Nas and Busta joined Biggie in the spat, “The Ugliest” could very well have topped “Hit ‘Em Up” as the piece de resistance of the Tupac/Biggie beef.
The Notorious B.I.G. and Redman continues to reign notorious. The hip-hop legends continue to live on through Concrete Jungle’s new namesake statuettes. Notorious B.I.G. Gets Memorialized In Hip-Hop Statuettes Concrete Jungle Studios, an artistic endeavor by Steven Cartoccio, is paying homage to The Notorious B.I.G. through the creation of figurines. The statuettes also double as […]
Most collectors of Funko Pop! action figures know the brand has collectibles for just about every form of entertainment from music to TV. The brand even has some exclusive Golden Girls Funkos. Funko has been recently beefing up their collection of music-related actions figures, and after unveiling dolls of Aaliyah and Devo earlier this year, they are now immortalizing some of hip-hop’s biggest stars.
Funko just dropped their new Vinyl Gold collection this week. Fans can now show some love to their favorite emcees by purchasing a Notorious B.I.G, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, or Tupac Shakur Funko. Rather than having a large head and cartoonish features like most Funko figures, the rappers in their Vinyl Gold collection are more realistic looking.
Each premium vinyl figure stands at five inches tall and features one of their recognizable outfits, with Biggie sporting a crisp white suit, Lil Wayne showing off his tattoo’d arms and red accessories, Ice Cube in some all-black attire, and Tupac standing shirtless with his signature bandana and Timberland boots. Biggie’s Funko is the only one with a different size option as there’s a 12-inch figure available for fans who want to make a statement.
A lucky (and wealthy) person could be the next owner of a special property in Brooklyn, New York. The Notorious B.I.G.’s old apartment where he recorded his classic album, Ready To Die, has gone up for sale. According to The New York Post, the apartment — two-bedroom, two-bathroom property in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn — is currently listed at $1.7 million. The property is also located blocks away from the Brooklyn street that was named after the late rapper.
Caroline Duncan, the costume designer The New York Post interview spoke with, spoke further about the apartment. “When I moved in, the basement was just a raw space with concrete floors,” she said. “I framed and put up all the walls and created a bathroom with barn wood and modern finishes.” She continued, “Upstairs had been carved into a series of puzzling small rooms so I did the opposite, and knocked down all the walls to create a lofted open space,” adding that she loved “the fact the building is on the Historic Register and had the bones of a true artist’s residence.”
This comes months after Biggie’s estate-approved Netlfix documentary Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell was released on the streaming platform. A description for the film said it “offers a fresh look at one of the greatest, most influential rappers of all time by those who knew him best” while labeling it as an “intimate rendering of a man whose rapid ascent and tragic end has been at the center of rap lore for more than twenty years.”
Late rap icon Notorious B.I.G.‘s famed New York City apartment is up for grabs but it’s going to cost a pretty penny. The hip-hop mogul’s Brooklyn home is reportedly on the real estate market for nearly $2 million. Notorious B.I.G.’s NY Home For Sale According to reports, fans can get their hands on the hot […]
If there’s one thing MSNBC host Ari Melber is going to do, it’s force an awkward hip-hop quote in reference to complicated current events and political issues. Whether that’s a good thing or not is up to the viewer, but at least he’s trying to keep things relevant. His latest attempt came this afternoon during a segment on COVID-19 vaccine reluctance, into which Melber injected a quote taken from The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 Life After Death track “What’s Beef?”:
Beef is when your moms ain’t safe up in the streets
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU
Melber clarifies that while COVID-19 isn’t exactly the same as having a street feud with the 6’2″, 395-pound, Brooklyn-bred rapper, it could conceivably go about as sideways. His point, of course, is that emergency rooms and intensive care units across the country are being overwhelmed with new cases of the vaccine — and that 99% of those cases are people who have not been vaccinated.
Melber’s quotes have been wide-ranging and deep; in recent months, he’s mined material from the likes of 21 Savage and Nicki Minaj, and while there are definitely plenty of rap fans who could seemingly do without his quotes, the fact that they nearly always go viral ensures that the important information and context he provides receive much-needed exposure.
