#A life after death biggie how to#

His voice was that of a gentle giant a sumo ballerina who could deashi and pas de bourrГ©e, henka and plie. At my arraignment, note for the plaintiff, 'Your daughter's tied up in a Brooklyn basement.' Face it: not guilty-that's how I stay filthy.вЂќД«ig was a master of flow, sounding unforced and unlabored over a bevy of pristine, hi-fidelity maximalist beats that seemed to always bow to his intent. 1 radio single вЂњHypnotize.вЂќ He continued: вЂњCondo paid for, no car payment. More than anyone one else in rap ever, Big was able to break language and bend syntax to speak about things in ways that were unforeseen yet seemingly unavoidable in hindsight: вЂњAt last, a nigga rappin' 'bout blunts and broads, tits and bras, mГ©nage Г trois, sex in expensive cars, and still leave you on the pavement,вЂќ he rapped on the No. Not only did he have more drawn on, he had more ways to talk about it than anyone else. Big easily had more than one album's worth of material to talk about.

art that spread from the music industry to the public, whispers of motives and allegiances ran from the streets to the urban criminal underworld. It was a struggle between N.Y.'s Bad Boy and L.A.'s Death Row records that surpassed label affiliation to become about coastal loyalty, arguments about commercialism vs. Beginning with the 1994 Quad Studios shooting of Tupac Shakur in New York City, the Notorious B.I.G-along with Combs, Shakur, and Suge Knight-was at the center of a multifaceted rivalry. When pressed by his friends as to the identity of the cuckold, he brushes it off: вЂњOne of them 6' 5вЂќ niggas-I don't know.вЂќДouble albums tend to be overblown, self-indulgent cash grabs, but Life After Death warranted the approach. No names, no states, no boroughs, or other signifiers are mentioned. For his fictional tales, names and locales are doled out like characters in hardboiled pulp fictions: вЂњArizona Ron from Tuscon,вЂќ вЂњGloria from Astoria,вЂќ and вЂњDarkskin JermaineвЂќ who вЂњnearly lost half his brain over two bricks of cocaine, getting his dick sucked by Crackhead Lorraine.вЂќ But, when it comes to the truth, he's shy on specifics. Inside his braggadocio, cars are colored with verve: a вЂњcherry M3вЂќ BMW, a вЂњmarine blue 6 coupeвЂќ Mercedes, a вЂњchampagne RangeвЂќ Rover. вЂњStoryвЂќ highlights BiggieвЂ™s gifts as a raconteur. ItвЂ™s a tour de force-a time-shifting tale that devotes a whole verse to the backstory of a murderous misfit straight from an Elmore Leonard short who substitutes kerosene for gasoline because вЂњfuck it, it's flame-able.вЂќД«ut вЂњI Got a Story to Tell,вЂќ the recount of an after-hours creep with an NBA playerвЂ™s girlfriend that culminates in physical assault and robbery, may be the most absurd tale of the bunch, because it's reportedly true. He decides to call up his friend-a flashy and hard-hearted cutthroat from the Southwest who was once featured on America's Most Wanted-to partake in a heist that involves a female Puerto Rican hotel worker who used to be drug boss, and a Jamaican with long dreadlocks and a taste for Asian women. On вЂњNiggas Bleed,вЂќ Big is a bagman sent to secure a large drug transaction, but his greed has him thinking about a double-cross: вЂњI kill them all, I'll be set for life,вЂќ he imagines. This feat of storytelling is repeated two more times on the first disc of this double album alone. Big's reaction is immediate: вЂњIs he in critical? Retaliation for this one won't be minimal вЂ™cause I'm a criminal way before the rap shit, bust the gat shit-Puff won't even know what happened.вЂќ WeвЂ™re settling into a bloody noir, complete with well-developed minor characters harboring demented pathos and subtle foreshadowing-all this before any hints of a radio single.

#A life after death biggie how to#

It begins sometime within the last recordвЂ™s timeline, with Big вЂњsittin' in the crib dreamin' about Learjets and coupes, the way Salt 'shoops', and how to sell records like Snoop,вЂќ when a fellow small-time drug dealer and jailmate informs him that a mutual friend has been shot for robbing a crack dealer in a most ruthless manner (вЂњpistol whipped his kids and taped up his wifeвЂќ). The proper arrival of this album comes on вЂњSomebody's Gotta Die,вЂќ a pure revenge tale.

But where the first album started with a feeling of hope arising from the muck and mire of urban poverty, Life After Death announces itself in much starker fashion. Ready to Die, BiggieвЂ™s previous album, also began with heart-pulling cinematic flourishes, featuring a decade-spanning montage that played as a mini saga telling the tale of a small-time street thug who was raised in a dysfunctional home and turned into a formidably successful rapper.