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Biggie Smalls Is The Illest!
Article by:
Lee Tillman
 "Remember back in the days, when ni**as had waves/Gazelle shades, and corn braids"
Let's take a trip back to 1993. Whitney "Hell-to-the-Naw" Houston was still sane and riding the success of her Dolly Parton cover "I Will Always Love You." Sade gave us 'The Kiss of LIfe' and Janet Jackson told us 'Anytime, Anyplace.' If you're about 14 years old and you're reading this you can probably thank one of these ladies for your conception. All in all the music industry seemed pretty tame. Oh yeah, Dr. Dre was also supplying us with our first dose of 'The Chronic.' Dre & Co. had a hold on hip hop that year that couldn't and wouldn't be denied. It seemed the West had things on lock and there was nothing hip-hop could do about it.
"94 now I explore new horizons."
Apparently hip-hop hadn't met The Notorious B. I. G. The first proper track on is classic LP 'Ready to Die' said it all: "Things Done Changed." Sure, the West was still killing it (Doggystlye, Above the Rim Soundtrack, Tupac in general) but it was obvious there was a new sheriff in town. With help from other East Coast favorites (Nas, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, ect.) Biggie restored faith back into his hometown, "We did it Brooklyn!"
"M. C.'s used to be on cruddy shit/ took home 'Ready to Die', listen, study, shit"
In early interviews when asked his inspiration for making 'Ready To Die' his response was "I wanted to make an album Sooo Haaard". That he did but he also laid the foundation for every successful post-90s hip hop album afterward. No hip-hop album would be complete without: 1) The grimy street track: "Machine Gun Funk", "Everyday Struggle" 2) the track for the hip hop heads "The What", "Unbelievable" 3) the club track/ song for the ladies: "One more Chance (Remix)", "Big Poppa" 4) the radio single "Juicy" and last but not least the serious song "Suicidal Thoughts." It's hard to name a successful rapper that didn't benefit from this blueprint.
"Far from the inventor, but I got this rap shit sewed."
Biggie didn't reinvent the wheel but he did upgrade it to Yokohama tires. He wasn't he first to voice two characters in one song but who's done it better since "Gimme The Loot?" He had people scratching there heads and checking the credits for the featured artist. All sex interludes pale in comparison to "F!*@ Me" Most people prefer Kim's "pickle juice" line but the part at the end where he breaks character and says "I'm sorry" kills me every time. Whether being pared with 112, Total, R. Kelly or Mary J. Blidge no one did R&B/ Hip-hop collaborations better. He did them so well that singers now accompany rappers instead of the other way around. Wu-Tang is known for using movie samples and having mob aliases but after B. I. G. dubbed himself Biggie Smalls ('Let's Do It Again') and Frank White ('King of New York') everyone wanted to be mafioso. Flip Mode Squad, Triple Six Mafia, and Major Figgas are just a few of the many posse's, crews, cliques, or clans that appeared to be
following the "one chick in the group" pattern set by the Junior M. A. F. I. A. "I put hoes in N. Y. onto D. K. N. Y./ Miami, D. C. prefer Versace/ All Philly hoes, dough and Moschino/ Every cutie wit a booty bought a Coogi." Need I say more about his hold on hip-hop fashion. Rappers used to rap about driving a BMW or owning a fat gold chain. Biggie drove a Bentley and sported not one but two diamond encrusted Jesus pieces. He wasn't just a rapper, he was a businessman. Check who the Executive Producer of Diddy's "No Way Out" was if you don't believe me. He was one of the first to put us up on industry slang. His money was never funny and you still recoupin'... stupid.
"Ha! Sicker than your average."
So, why did we love Biggie so much? Like many other question that refer to artistry there and too many answers to pick just one so I won't attempt to do that. I'll just pick three.
1. He wasn't perfect. Can you imagine Jay-Z admitting to being punched in the face? Would Nas refer to himself as "Black and ugly as ever?" With Big we got to see the evolution of his "ashy to classy" success. For all his hardcore raps and boast of supremacy he still closed his debut by showing just how vulnerable he was. He even said things that might turn us against him (robbing pregnant women, smacking babies at their christenings) yet we still embraced him. He understood that his weakness only made him stronger. Exposing his physical shortcomings only made him more of a sex symbol.
2. There was no style he didn't master. This one is simple: "a ni**a rapping bout blunts and broads, Tits and bras, menage-a-tois, sex in expensive cars I still leave you on the pavement/ Condo paid for, no car payment/ At my arraignment, note for the plaintiff/ Your daughter's tied up in a Brooklyn basement" In six bars he utilized 3 differs weapons in his arsenal. The Playboy ("blunts and broads") the Gangster ("still leave you on the pavement"), the Storyteller ("note for the plaintiff.") He does this all without breaking a sweat. Not to mention, he out "boned" Bone, Thugs -n- Harmony and lets not even mention his slow flow: remarkable.
3. Much like Jimmi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain, he didn't live long enough to make any bad music. Imagine if Ice Cube had passed away after 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted' or LL Cool J after 'Radio'. I don't think anyone calls LL the G. O. A. T. except for himself.
"Geezus! get off the Notorious.....Peenus!"
Biggie did a lot of good for hip-hop. He showed us that it didn't matter where you began but the most important thing was where you finished. When Big went from ashy to classy so did hip-hop. It didn't matter how you looked but how you carried yourself. At he end of his life he said the B. I. G. now stood for Business Instead of Game letting us know that rapping could be a stepping stone to even better things. But just like any human that loses something that is important to them we overcompensated. Needless to say, Hip-hop hasn't been so good to the legacy of B. I. G. to the point that people are saying that its dead. Jay-Z didn't invent swagger jacking (In fact Biggie did it a few times: "Young G's", "B. I. G (Interlude)." Cam'Ron too: "Horse & Carriage") but even Jigga admits that he might have gone a little overboard. Ever rapper right now seems to be a baller now, or sold mountains of coke, or sexed the loveliest women. Biggie claimed to do all three but he did it with the love of an artist perfecting his craft. Rapping can be a stepping stone to better things but it seems that rappers now-a-days are stepping OVER the stone and trying to jump to the wealth without even mastering the art form. I'm not saying that there is not hope for us but we would all do hip-hop a favor if we listened to Big Poppa before we spoke.
"Stay far from timid/ Only make moves when ya heart's in it/ And live the phrase Sky's The Limit... see you chumps on top"
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