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Growing up I was never really a big (no pun intended) Biggie Smalls fan. At the time, the East vs. West beef was at its height and everyone had to pick their sides. I was living in Chicago back then and most people there identified with the East Coast, hence they were Biggie fans. As for me, I was riding with 2Pac. In fact, I road with 2Pac and the Death Row camp so much that if a Biggie song came on the radio I'd turn the volume down. And if his music video came on I would turn the channel. But little did I know what I was missing out on.
Now, two decades later, many are reflecting back on some of the incredible hip hop albums that are celebrating their 20th anniversaries like Nas' Illmatic, Method Man'sTical and many others. I found myself recently listening to Biggie's Ready to Diealbum -- honestly, for the first time -- and boy was I blown away.
Upon listening to Ready to Die, the first thing that stuck out was Biggie's uncanny storytelling ability. His songs, "Warning" and "Me & My B*tch," were vivid to the point that listening to each verse was like watching a dramatic television show and the hook was the commercial break. By the end of the hook, I'd find myself sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what was going to happen next. In Biggie's more rugged songs, "Things Done Changed" and "Ready To Die," I felt as if I survived the rough streets of Brooklyn's, Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, doing what I had to, to get by. Even more impressive was his versatility. In a Jekyll and Hyde fashion,Ready to Die goes back and forth from lightweight commercial songs like "Big Poppa" to much darker songs such as "Suicidal Thoughts," yet it all flows smoothly and makes sense. more
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