Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready To Die debuted in 1994 on this day. Hip-hop just started moving to the forefront of pop-culture after the success of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, and Nas’ Illmatic. It was the perfect time for Biggie to release his cleverly worded story of life as a dope dealer in Bed Stuy. He had many radio-hit singles like, “Big Poppa”, “Warning”, and “Suicidal Thoughts,” to counterbalance the realness of what he was going to deliver next. Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. was 22 years old and about to become one of the nation’s largest icons.
(Video) Hot 97 Remembers Biggie’s ‘Ready To Die’ On 20th Anniversary
This is really dope, the history of how “Ready to Die, from the making of it, the feeling on the streets, and what it meant to hip hop over all!!
(Video) Dope! Lil Cease Visits Biggie’s Old Block 20 Years After ‘Ready To Die’
On September 13th, 1994, Biggie Smalls released one of the greatest rap albums in the world. To pay homage to Ready To Die, Lil’ Cease hit up Biggie’s old stomping grounds in Brooklyn on St. James Place and Fulton. He reminisced on all the old memories he and Big shared. Peep the video below. It’s all good, baby, baby!
(Video) Mike D Of The Beastie Boys Talk 90s Tupac & Biggie Beef
During their In Conversation With segment, Vanity Fair sits down Beastie Boys founder, Mike D and talk about what’s probably known as the most famous hip-hop beef, which happened between Tupac and Biggie Smalls. “…it escalated so fast,”Mike D says. “You had Biggie who was a seminal rapper. He was so talented.” Then there was Tupac. “Yeah, he was ‘Thug Life’ and everything, but he was more of an artistic kid,” he adds. “He [Tupac] was so determined to be authentic that it ultimately killed him.” Truth. Hit the jump for this and more from Mike D – Beastie Boy.
(Video) Tupac’s Murder To Be Analyzed In National Geographic Documentary Series
The National Geographic Channel has featured the notorious murder of Tupac in their upcoming 3 part, 6 hour long series titled ‘The 90’s: The Last great Decade?’. They will be interviewing Arsenio Hall, Gobi Rahimi the director behind Pac’s “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” clip and Outlawz affiliate, Malcolm Greenridge. Check out a clip of the series airing July 6th- 8th 9 p.m., below!
(Video) Unreleased Footage of Voletta Wallace Explaining Beef With Lil’ Kim!
VladTV recently posted an unreleased video of a Voletta Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.’s) in an interview with SOHH reflecting on the rift between herself and the Queen Bee Lil’ Kim. It is no secret that the mother of Biggie is not fond of Lil Kim, and she did not hold back her disgust in this interview. Check out what she said and the full interview after the jump.
