Ready to Die in Bloomington, MN

The album that reinvented
East Coast rap
for the
gangsta
age,
Ready to Die
made
the Notorious B.I.G.
a star, and vaulted
Sean "Puffy" Combs
'
Bad Boy
label into the spotlight as well. Today it's recognized as one of the greatest
hardcore rap
albums ever recorded, and that's mostly due to
Biggie
's skill as a storyteller. His raps are easy to understand, but his skills are hardly lacking -- he has a loose, easy flow and a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession. He's blessed with a flair for the dramatic, and slips in and out of different contradictory characters with ease. Yet, no matter how much he heightens things for effect, it's always easy to see elements of
in his narrators and of his own experience in the details; everything is firmly rooted in reality, but plays like scenes from a movie. A sense of doom pervades his most involved stories: fierce bandits (
"Gimme the Loot"
), a hustler's beloved girlfriend (
"Me & My Bitch"
), and robbers out for
's newfound riches (
"Warning"
) all die in hails of gunfire. The album is also sprinkled with reflections on the soul-draining bleakness of the streets --
"Things Done Changed,"
"Ready to Die,"
and
"Everyday Struggle"
are powerfully affecting in their confusion and despair. Not everything is so dark, though;
Combs
' production collaborations result in some upbeat, commercial moments, and typically cop from recognizable hits:
the Jackson 5
's
"I Want You Back"
on the graphic sex rap
"One More Chance,"
Mtume
"Juicy Fruit"
on the rags-to-riches chronicle
"Juicy,"
the Isley Brothers
"Between the Sheets"
on the overweight-lover anthem
"Big Poppa."
Producer
Easy Mo Bee
's deliberate beats do get a little samey, but it hardly matters: this is
's show, and by the time
"Suicidal Thoughts"
closes the album on a heartbreaking note, it's clear why he was so revered even prior to his death. ~ Steve Huey