Ready to Die

Notorious B.I.G., The

album cover

"Honeys Play Me Close, Like Butter Play Toast"

The Brooklyn-born rapper and self-styled don Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in 1997 at the height of his popularity, a crime that echoed the graphic rapped accounts of violence that made him an icon. Born Christopher Wallace, B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls, established himself with this chilling debut record, which is the first credible East Coast response to the gangsta rhetoric of N.W.A. and other Los Angeles hardcore rappers. In early cameos, Wallace came off as a jokester, but here he blossomed into the hip-hop epitome of brutal elegance, an imposing figure with a quick temper and great play-byplay skills. Wallace came from the streets, and knew the aspirational script shared by many of his brothers there; like other rappers (Tupac Shakur et al.) he worked it into overblown tales of cruelty toward women, gang-member insecurity, and thug life under the constant threat of death.

But the narratives of Ready to Die, one of the most creative gangsta rap albums of all time, aren't just devoted to the daily realities. There are also dream-sequence fantasies of a life spent enjoying opulence, the spoils of a drug-dealing superhero. Recognizing that they couldn't offer a whole album of nonstop killing sprees, Wallace (and his Svengali, Sean Combs) added upbeat pop-leaning cuts, and more introspective narratives that find Wallace reflecting on cruelty. The best of these, the title track and the closer, "Suicidal Thoughts," both wallow in a foreboding deathly gloom.

Wallace was a deceptively skillful lyricist. Unlike many of his peers, his delivery is the opposite of agitated—at times here he sounds lazy, like he's rapping with a big wad of gum in his mouth. There's a touch of self-awareness in his lines, not to mention a sly wit in the consistently inventive rhymes. He glorifies gangsta values and sounds positively gleeful plotting violence. Yet somehow, in subtle ways, Wallace communicates that no matter how grisly things get, there's a human with a heart behind the Glock. Even if that side appears only briefly, to comment on the condition of a potential victim's underpants.

Genre: Hip-Hop
Released: 1994, Bad Boy
Key Tracks: "Ready to Die," "Things Done Changed," "Big Poppa."
Catalog Choice: Life After Death.
Next Stop: 2Pac: All Eyez on Me
After That: Snoop Dogg: Doggystyle.
Book Pages: 555–556