Take Three: The Notorious B.I.G "Ready To Die"

"Get ready to die, tell God I said, "Hi""

Many writers, critics and fans alike are in their steadfast belief about Christopher Wallace's debut. Prolific, gritty, unabashed, and in songs such as "Juicy," "Big Poppa," and "One More Chance," it was an album that still is the gold standard for the Bad Boy sound. Debuts that have since come out focus more and more on the baller and player aspects of that Bad Boy aesthetic, but again, B.I.G. set the standard, and in turn charted his own destiny.

Yet many are still unfamiliar with such an album. I know, I know, you don't like hearing that as much as I do, or even worse; think people might have lived under a rock for the past 16 years (the album was released in 1994). Whatever the case may be, this is a bit of a new segment for TMB called Take Three. Take Three attempts to give three tracks that you, the unsuspecting listener who is unfamiliar, can use to introduce whomever it may be to this artist. Surely, there may be differences. Maybe, my three choices aren't the same as your three choices. But hey, that's all for the fun of music, right? Without further adieu, here are the three tracks.

(ranked in no particular order)

1. Machine Gun Funk
Easy Mo Bee chopped up a simple soul loop and a vocal Lords of the Underground line from "Chief Rocka," and made a tour de force for B.I.G to unleash rhyme styles galore, such as a lot of internal rhyme ("So you wanna be hardcore/With your hat to the back/talkin bout the gats in your raps") , hilarious metaphors ("Making money smoking mics like crack pipes") all with the demeanor of a determined fighter that throws a punch to see if he's still got it. How did he do it you ask? He told you himself; "I add a little funk to the brain."

2. Unbelievable
Some of us saw the XXL story of Ready to Die and how it came to be. To this day, I still don't fuckin' understand what beef P.Diddy has with DJ Premier, and why he hated this tune in particular. To this day, its good that B.I.G pleaded with Diddy to let him put this on as a song, because Premier laced it something fierce; simple arrangement, R. Kelly vocal scratched in from the "12 Play" era, and a reminder afterward in the chorus to let you know, "Biggie Smalls is the illest." All this, without even uttering the B.I.G unleashing some fury in the third verse like a tested battle rapper when he says "Ain't no amateurs here/I damage and tear/Emcees fear me/They too near not to hear me, clearly..."

3. The What (Featuring Method Man)

Simply stated, and in my best nerd compliment possible, if this were a debate, I'd like to be in attendance. Meth & B.I.G. will tell you it was just a meeting of the minds, and little licks of funk guitars and rhodes creep in from time to time to compliment the back and forth between B.I.G & Meth. Many will tell you that one of them stole the show, others will tell you that it was a draw, especially with B.I.G saying "Welcome to my center/honies feel it deep in they placenta" without even letting out a chuckle, whereas Meth states "Assume the position/Stop look and listen/I spit on your grave/then I grab my Charles Dickens." Game, set, match.

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