“Damn, what happened to the summertime cookouts/ Every time I turn around a n-a getting took out/ Shit, my Momma got cancer in her breast/ Don’t ask me why I’m motherfucking stressed,” raps Biggie in the closing bars. “Things Done Changed,” Ready to Die’s first song, explicitly lends Biggie’s debut this context. The good times of “Rapper’s Delight” and peace-keeping block parties were gone from the late ‘80s onward, we’d become familiar with the trauma of the Reagan era’s survivors. Ready to Die was another example of a cultural sea change in hip-hop. “Only You (Remix)” was also significant for introducing many to Bad Boy labelmate Mase, who’d go on to run this honeyed lane with his own brand of charisma on his 1997 multi-platinum debut, Harlem World. A key example was Atlanta R&B quartet 112’s Top 20 hit “Only You.” The Notorious B.I.G., already with “Can’t You See” under his belt, was still in his mellifluous pocket, slipping in a Tony! Toni! Toné! reference before ceding the floor. One of the biggest innovations of Bad Boy - a label whose ‘90s hits have aged better than songs decades their junior - was how its biggest hits presented R&B and rap as two naturally complementing flavors. The resulting shock raps were too much: The lines “I wouldn’t give a fuck if you’re pregnant” and “Bitches get strangled for their earrings and bangles” were even censored on Ready to Die’s Parental Advisory version.Ģ3. effortlessly giving his two characters definition: The older robber is the kind of guy who sees murder as an inconvenience (“Don’t be a jerk and get smoked over being resistant”), while his helium-voice partner takes joy in crime the same way a child might beg for a Sega Genesis (“Oooooooo, Biggie let me jack her!”). The Ready to Die fan favorite finds B.I.G.
“Gimme the Loot” stands out because it’s one of the more animated examples of Biggie’s signature knack for vivid details.
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