Ready to Die: Difference between revisions
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===Lyrical content=== |
===Lyrical content=== |
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The lyrics on ''Ready to Die'' tend to deal with violence, drug and alcohol consumption, women and other elements of Notorious B.I.G.'s environment. The album contains a loose concept starting out with an intro that details the birth of Biggie, his early childhood, his adolescence and his life at the point of the album's release. Throughout the album, songs deal with everything from homicide narratives ("[[Warning (Notorious B.I.G. song)|Warning]]") to braggadocios [[battle raps]] ("The What," "Unbelievable"). Finally, the album ends with "Suicidal Thoughts," a song where The Notorious B.I.G. cotemplates suicide and then actually commits it. |
The lyrics on ''Ready to Die'' tend to deal with violence, drug and alcohol consumption, women and other elements of Notorious B.I.G.'s environment. The album contains a loose concept starting out with an intro that details the birth of Biggie, his early childhood, his adolescence and his life at the point of the album's release. Throughout the album, songs deal with everything from homicide narratives ("[[Warning (Notorious B.I.G. song)|Warning]]") to braggadocios [[battle raps]] ("The What," "Unbelievable"). Finally, the album ends with "Suicidal Thoughts," a song where The Notorious B.I.G. cotemplates suicide and then actually commits it. |
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===Production=== |
===Production=== |
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Revision as of 18:25, 15 February 2007
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Ready to Die is the debut album by East Coast hip hop artist The Notorious B.I.G., released on September 13, 1994 (see 1994 in music). The album was critical in revitalizing East Coast hip hop after Dr. Dre and Death Row Records seemingly captured hip hop's artist in 1992. The album was very popular, and crossed over into the mainstream, partially as a result to Biggie's slow, easy-to-understand style, though his complex rhymes made the album a critical success as well. The smooth production sound of the hit singles "Juicy" and "Big Poppa" helped the album reach multi-platinum sales as well.
Upon its release, Ready to Die was hailed as a classic by critics, but unlike other East Coast albums released between 1993-1994 such as the Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Nas' Illmatic, such critical success was matched with commercial success. Thus, while it was not the first album of what many critics refer to as the "East Coast renaissance," it was the first album to bring East Coast hip hop back to the mainstream.
The album peaked at #3 and #15 on Billboard's (North America) Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums and the Billboard 200 album charts. It was ranked 30 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". Template:RS500 It has the distinction of being one of the highest ranked rap albums on their list (it's only beaten by Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back at #48 and Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, #120). In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums.
On March 19, 2006, a judge ordered that sales of Ready to Die to be halted because the title track sampled a 1992 song by the Ohio Players, "Singing in the Morning", without permission. [1]. It would not be sold again until November of that year, when Bad Boy released it in a remastered edition with the sample in question and a further Parliament sample removed.
Music
![[icon]](/enwiki/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2007) |
Lyrical content
The lyrics on Ready to Die tend to deal with violence, drug and alcohol consumption, women and other elements of Notorious B.I.G.'s environment. The album contains a loose concept starting out with an intro that details the birth of Biggie, his early childhood, his adolescence and his life at the point of the album's release. Throughout the album, songs deal with everything from homicide narratives ("Warning") to braggadocios battle raps ("The What," "Unbelievable"). Finally, the album ends with "Suicidal Thoughts," a song where The Notorious B.I.G. cotemplates suicide and then actually commits it.
Production
While Puff Daddy is commonly associated with the production of this album, most of the beats were provided by Puff Daddy's Hitmen Productions squad and other producers such as DJ Premier; Combs produced the two interludes on the album and co-produced three songs including the first two singles. The beats are mainly sample-based and tend to sample everything from the percussion of funk songs to the vocals of hip hop songs.
Track listing
All songs were performed by The Notorious B.I.G. The list of samples for each track is only partial.
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Sample(s) used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" | Puff Daddy |
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| 2 | "Things Done Changed" | Darnell Scott |
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| 3 | "Gimme the Loot" | Easy Mo Bee |
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| 4 | "Machine Gun Funk" | Easy Mo Bee |
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| 5 | "Warning" | Easy Mo Bee |
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| 6 | "Ready to Die" | Easy Mo Bee |
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| 7 | "One More Chance" Additional vocals by Total |
The Bluez Brothers, Chucky Thompson & Puff Daddy |
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| 8 | "Fuck Me (Interlude)" | Puff Daddy |
— |
| 9 | "The What" featuring Method Man |
Easy Mo Bee |
— |
| 10 | "Juicy" Additional vocals by Total |
Poke & Puff Daddy |
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| 11 | "Everyday Struggle" | The Bluez Brothers |
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| 12 | "Me & My Bitch" | The Bluez Brothers, Chucky Thompson & Puff Daddy |
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| 13 | "Big Poppa" | Chucky Thompson & Puff Daddy |
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| 14 | "Respect" featuring Diana King |
Poke & Puff Daddy |
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| 15 | "Friend of Mine" | Easy Mo Bee |
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| 16 | "Unbelievable" | DJ Premier |
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| 17 | "Suicidal Thoughts" | Lord Finesse |
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| 18 | "Who Shot Ya?"* | Nashiem Myrick & Puff Daddy |
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| 19 | "Just Playing (Dreams)"* | Rashad Smith |
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* denotes Extended Version Bonus Tracks
Accolades
The information is taken from AcclaimedMusic.net[1] and other website links below.
( * ) designates lists which are unordered.
Singles
| Single information | |
|---|---|
| "Juicy" | |
"Big Poppa"
| |
 |
" One More Chance" |
Chart positions
Album chart positions
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
| Billboard 200 | Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | ||
| 1994 | Ready To Die | #15 | #3 |
Singles chart positions
| Year | Song | Chart positions | ||||
| Billboard Hot 100 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | Hot Rap Singles | Rhythmic Top 40 | Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | ||
| 1994 | "Juicy/Unbelievable" | #27 | #14 | #3 | #36 | #1 |
| 1995 | "One More Chance/Stay With Me" | #2 | #1 | #1 | #7 | #1 |
| 1995 | "Big Poppa/Warning" | #6 | #4 | #1 | #12 | #1 |
References
- ^ "Ready to Die at AcclaimedMusic.net". Retrieved December 21.
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