CD Me

During the Reagan era of "all-for-me" economics, MCs like Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap painted pictures of silky rap gangsterism, inspired by movies like The Mack and Superfly. Out of the post-Reagan rubble came Notorious B.I.G.'s debut, the "Hustler" reality-trip Ready to Die (also the LP debut for beat-thief producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs). Biggie still rhymes about the gold, the Moet, and the ladies, but also reveals the casualties on the road from struggler to hustler to player. "Juicy" sets up Biggie's rags-to-riches story, but then the curtain gets pulled back, with unapologetic, hardcore tracks like "Gimme the Loot" and "Machine Gun Funk." It's a funky album (just try not throwing your hands in the air when you hear "Big Poppa"), and it's a powerful album--possibly even the Mayflower of 1990s East Coast "Hustler" rap. --Todd Levin

User Reviews about The Notorious BIG: Ready to Die: The Remaster CD and DVD

Widely heralded as a classic, this would've been a great album had it stopped at about 10 songs. I like about 10 songs, most of which are still forgettable...

I really don't see the hype though, lyrically its cool, but musically it sucks... There is really no variety, it all deals with the same subject matter, killing people, selling drugs and club songs... Everyday Struggles works as a breath of fresh air and Suicidal Thoughts is nice to... but the large majority is about, as I said, killing, drugs and club songs... I doubt the majority of the album would appeal to anyone other than the hardcore rap fan....

I'm not hating on Biggie, I think he is one of the best rappers as far as skill is concerned, but this album is not as good as people claim... This album and Biggie are quite possibly the most overrated rapper and album in hiphop history... -- Highly HIGHLY overrated...

For many years i have changed my mind on what i thought was the best hiphop album of all time, but i think i have finally come to the conclusion that Biggie's Ready To Die takes the crown. Thats not to say that he's the best emcee ever (though hes certainly top 5 all time) but of all the hundreds of hiphop albums in my collection this is the 1 i listen to more than any other, still 12 years later i listen to it at least twice a week. There is simply not a skippable track on the entire album, every single track is great most being classics. When i think of other albums that I have considered the best of all time, Me Against The World, The Chronic, Illmatic etc.. they all have songs im tempted to skip in order to get to better ones. Thats not to say they have filler because i can listen to all of those albums right through however they have in my opinion noticeably weaker tracks. Ready To Die has none.

If you only own one hiphop album this should be it, it is far better than his other album Life After Death, which is quite simply bloated and one of the most over rated albums of all time and it has Puffy's influence all over it, thankfully this doesnt. It is really pointless making a list of my favourite songs as they are all superb, however i will give a quick mention to Gimme The Loot which is undoubtedly my favourite song of all time, the way Biggie raps back and forth as 2 characters is amazing, but Biggie is lyrically superb throughout and the beats are perfect, though Biggie could flow over anything, his flow is untouchable and almost certainly the best ever. This is a must buy for all fans of good music, if you dont own it buy it!! -- The best hiphop album of all time

Can anyone forget this album? This album (as well as Nas' "Illmatic" were the front runners of the year 1994. Christopher "Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls)" Wallace debuted with this album with the lead single "Juicy". A rags to riches song that still gets played here in 2006. Biggie's lyrical skills were excellent. I hear a lot of rappers (who I will be here all day naming) saying excellent lines that came from Biggie. I think to myself "Damn, this guy said everything".

The album is excellent too. A lot of these songs are about drugs, robbing, and what not. Big was just rhyming about things that he went through before he had a record deal, trying to survive and eat. Who could blame him? "Give Me The Loot" is one of those songs about his struggles (some words were edited in this song. I'm pretty sure rhyming about robbing a pregnant woman was going to gain some negative attention). "Machine Gun Funk" is self explanitory on how a good song it was. "Warning" was a short song and video about people targeting him for his money. "One More Chance" is a great song about how he gets his females. The song would be remixed and made into a video a year later, but both versions sound great.

Guest appearances are only one. Method Man, back when his rhyme skills were phenomonal, would rhyme on "The What". Classic track if you ask me.

Production was by Mr. Cee, and Puff Daddy. True, Puffy might be the "king of beat jacking" and what not, but he did a damn good job with them. The Isley Brothers "Between The Sheets" would be made into the classic single "Big Poppa" was one of them.

This album was pulled off the shelves earlier of this year, because of unauthorized sampling on this album. But recently I've seeing it back on shelves. I guess it got settled. I bought this back in 2003 when it had the origonal white album cover. If you purchased this in 2004, you get the album with a few extra tracks like the more popular "One More Chance (Remix)". And you get the DVD with all the videos that came from this album. This album had a heavy impact in 1994, is a classic and is a must have for any hip hop collection. Most of these songs are rehashed into choppy verses on his postmothous albums unfortunately. But this is where most of them origonally came from. Biggies legacy helped influenced a laundry list your favorite rappers today, who bite his style. That alone should explain how this impacted hip hop. Word.

Rest In Peace Biggie Smalls

Lyrics: A+
Production: A+
Guest Appearances: A+
Musical Vibes: A
Overall: A+

Favorite Tracks: Give Me The Loot, Machine Gun Funk, Warning, One More Chance, Juicy, Every Day Struggle, Me & My B*tch, Big Poppa, Respect, Friend Of Mine, Suicidal Thoughts

Peace!
-- The Album That Set The Year '94 (Rating: 10 out of 10- -5 stars)

Great album, Juicy is probably my favourite song on the album. I had to drop 1 or 2 stars because of Puff Daddy talking all over the records. I didn't notice it the first time I listened to it, but when I noticed Puff Daddy's annoying voice and echo effect, it just ruined the album for me. -- Great album

One of the best rap albums of all time (in my humble opinion). Tupac def. deserves respect for thought-provoking lyrics, but Biggie will always be number one in my book because he has charisma in his raps and I think that counts for alot in the public eye.

If you like these, I would check out the new Duets album that provide more Biggie covers.. but naturally there is nothing like the real thing! -- biggie at his best