5 Best Songs From The Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Ready To Die'

Today, Sept. 13, marks the 20th anniversary of Ready To Die, the classic debut album from The Notorious B.I.G. Though the production is top-notch (handled mostly by Puff Daddy, Easy Mo Bee and Bluez Brothers), the album features some of the greatest rapping ever recorded, both in terms of flow and lyricism. In celebration of the anniversary of Ready To Die, here are the album's five best songs (according to this writer, of course).

5. Warning

One thing that too many rappers seem to forget is that rhyming just one word at the end of each line might be able to get you a career, but it's not going to make you a legend. What made Biggie one of the greatest of all time was how intricate and dense his rhymes could get, such as in the second verse of "Warning," where he raps, "They heard about the Rolex's and the Lexus/With the Texas license plate outta state/They heard about the pounds/You got down in Georgetown/Now they heard you got half of Virginia locked down." That's the sort of stuff they teach in poetry courses.

4. Big Poppa

"Big Poppa" is probably Biggie's best-known song, and though it's not nearly as raw as many of the album's other tracks, it makes up for it by being the most fun, and boasting the album's best hook. As good as the song itself is, however, my favorite part is the way the album leads into it. At the end of the previous track "Me and My B***h," Biggie's asked where he's from. He replies, "Brooklyn," and then "Big Poppa" begins immediately. It's perfect.

3. Machine Gun Funk

Much in the way that Jimi Hendrix could twist a wrong note until it sounded right, Biggie could take a phrase that looks awkward on paper and use his masterful flow to make it sound genius. Just listen to these lines in the second verse of "Machine Gun Funk": "Now I pack gats to stop all the snitches/From staying in my business, what is this, relentless/Approach to know if I'm broke or not." He's basically changing the rhyme scheme in the middle of a line, and somehow makes it work beautifully.

2. Gimme The Loot

I'm typically not a big fan of rappers who glorify violence in their lyrics, but I simply can't deny how awesome it is when Biggie raps, "Step into your wake with your blood on my shirt" in "Gimme The Loot," which is the rap equivalent of "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." "This track features the best rapping on all of Ready To Die, in no small part because Biggie pretty much swaps verses with himself totally seamlessly.

1. Juicy

There are only a few hip-hop songs that I would consider to be straight up "beautiful." Wu-Tang's "C.R.E.A.M." is one, as well as Nas' "One Love" and Kanye's "Heard 'Em Say," and I would definitely include Biggie's "Juicy" on that list. Even with its super raw beat (it sounds like it was recorded off of a boom box) and gritty bassline, it's the album's most positive and inspiring song, with what is perhaps the single most beautiful chorus in all of '90s hip-hop.

What are your favorite songs from Ready To Die? What did I miss? Let us know down in the comments section!

Tags

The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie, Biggie Smalls