Happy 14th Birthday "Life After Death", does this album ever get old????

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  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    _Menace_ wrote: »
    Sales wise? haahaha Pac was selling 6mill while alive while biggies R2D was touch 2mill.


    and all eyes on my sold 14mill while biggie did 10 mill (due to the fact he died.)

    Get off Pac's ? cause it seems his name is always on your mind


    Look, I know the last time "ALL EYES ON ME" was certified was back in 98' but as of right now, it does not have a Diamond Certification. Only 4 Rap albums got Diamond awards, Hammer, Biggie, Outkast and just this month, Eminem. That's It. Pac does have 2 LP's up to bat and if they re-certify them then yes he will have a Diamond award. But right now this is one thing Biggie does have over Pac. No Tupac Album has a higher certification than "Life After Death" there for no single Tupac Album sold more than Biggie's LP.
  • juelz21
    juelz21 Members Posts: 2,455 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    Look, I know the last time "ALL EYES ON ME" was certified was back in 98' but as of right now, it does not have a Diamond Certification. Only 4 Rap albums got Diamond awards, Hammer, Biggie, Outkast and just this month, Eminem. That's It. Pac does have 2 LP's up to bat and if they re-certify them then yes he will have a Diamond award. But right now this is one thing Biggie does have over Pac. No Tupac Album has a higher certification than "Life After Death" there for no single Tupac Album sold more than Biggie's LP.

    breh according to soundscan all eyez on me has well over 6 million records that ? is well over diamond biggie has nothing over pac.
  • talik23
    talik23 Members Posts: 2,929 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    lmao at ? cant face facts that pac aint at diamond status
  • thecomebacklegend
    thecomebacklegend Members Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    aeom sold more and is the real greatest double cd
  • a_list
    a_list Members Posts: 4,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    Pac-ettes cant handle the truth in here....
  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    aeom sold more and is the real greatest double cd



    The fact that "The Eminem Show" just got the Diamond award lets me know that RIAA does update it's records. So both "All Eyes On Me" and "Greatest Hits" just aren't there yet or they would of been certified by now. Biggie got the Diamond award back in 2000 so who knows where "LAD" is now but the only reason there are no re-certifications is cause DIAMOND is the top certification an LP can get by the RIAA, once you achieve that status it's like that's it.

    There's really no where else for the LP to go. So unless Pac's estate puts in the re-certifications or RIAA decides to give the LP Diamond Status, "LAD" has sold more records than any single Tupac LP. People need to just accept the fact that Biggie's double outsold Pac's. Also people have to understand with the Digital age, both "AEOM" and "LAD" can be downloaded for free. It's doubtful Biggie or Pac is still selling that many units in this era. So those certifications are most likely final at this point. The thing with Eminem was "The Eminem Show" and "Marshal Mathers LP" were both close to 10 Million years ago and "TES" finally got over the ? . I heard "MMLP" is at about 9.5 right now so it's close also.
  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    talik23 wrote: »
    lmao at ? cant face facts that pac aint at diamond status

    It's true that Pac ain't Diamond status yet but he does have 2 LP's that are 9x Platinum, that's nothing to downplay. But I don't understand why dudes can't accept "LAD" is the highest selling Hip Hop Double LP of ALL TIME. Facts are Facts, Biggie got the Double LP crown.
  • thecomebacklegend
    thecomebacklegend Members Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    The fact that "The Eminem Show" just got the Diamond award lets me know that RIAA does update it's records. So both "All Eyes On Me" and "Greatest Hits" just aren't there yet or they would of been certified by now. Biggie got the Diamond award back in 2000 so who knows where "LAD" is now but the only reason there are no re-certifications is cause DIAMOND is the top certification an LP can get by the RIAA, once you achieve that status it's like that's it.

    There's really no where else for the LP to go. So unless Pac's estate puts in the re-certifications or RIAA decides to give the LP Diamond Status, "LAD" has sold more records than any single Tupac LP. People need to just accept the fact that Biggie's double outsold Pac's. Also people have to understand with the Digital age, both "AEOM" and "LAD" can be downloaded for free. It's doubtful Biggie or Pac is still selling that many units in this era. So those certifications are most likely final at this point. The thing with Eminem was "The Eminem Show" and "Marshal Mathers LP" were both close to 10 Million years ago and "TES" finally got over the ? . I heard "MMLP" is at about 9.5 right now so it's close also.

    stop reading after the bold

    will advise everyone else without mental problems 2 do the same
  • juelz21
    juelz21 Members Posts: 2,455 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    It's true that Pac ain't Diamond status yet but he does have 2 LP's that are 9x Platinum, that's nothing to downplay. But I don't understand why dudes can't accept "LAD" is the highest selling Hip Hop Double LP of ALL TIME. Facts are Facts, Biggie got the Double LP crown.

    nah homie facts are facts actually all eyez on me is more then diamomnd according to soundscan.
  • talik23
    talik23 Members Posts: 2,929 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    stop reading after the bold

    will advise everyone else without mental problems 2 do the same

    u still dont wanna face the facts son. the riaa diamond certification got the em show on there. its only 5 hip hop albums on the list and pac aint one of them........lmao at ? mad aeom stuck at 9x plat
  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    stop reading after the bold

    will advise everyone else without mental problems 2 do the same



    Artist
    2 PAC Title
    ALL EYEZ ON ME Certification Date
    06/18/1998 Label
    DEATH ROW/INTERSCOPE
    Award Description
    9.00x MULTI PLATINUM Format
    ALBUM Category
    SOLO Type
    ST



    Artist
    2 PAC Title
    GREATEST HITS Certification Date
    10/16/2000 Label
    INTERSCOPE
    Award Description
    9.00x MULTI PLATINUM Format
    ALBUM Category
    SOLO Type
    ST


    So "All Eyes On Me" was last certified in 98', and "Greatest Hits" in 2000. Yet here we are 13 Years later and 11 Years later and neither album is certified Diamond? Are they probably both Diamond? Sure but there is a possibility they could of been barely 9 Million then and all this time they just haven't gotten that other Million. Other Pac albums have been certified since those years so maybe those album just didn't have the numbers to get RIAA to certify them. Who knows?. Both Biggie and Pac had albums released after their last certifications from "AEOM & LAD" yet Biggie went Diamond and Pac did not. I don't know why that's such a Big deal. Pac sold 75 Million albums Worldwide. He doesn't have a Diamond LP yet, so what, having 2 damn near Diamond LP's says a lot to me especially when one was a Greatest Hits Compilation. But give Big his props, he did it on his 2nd LP and shattered the Sophomore Jinx by dropping another Classic.
  • thecomebacklegend
    thecomebacklegend Members Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    more proof that pac sold most of his albums while he was alive and cause he was making great music while bigge only sold cause he died not his music

    plus u must hav mental problems if u think aeom did not out sell lad by now.aeom had more hits
  • Pervis
    Pervis Members Posts: 338 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2011
    So don't you get suspicious
    I'm Big Dangerous you're just a Little Vicious
    As I leave my competition, respirator style
    Climb the ladder to success escalator style
    ...
  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
    I was just having a conversation with my Friend and he asked me what is the "Greatest Storytelling Album Ever". I told him Slick Rick "The Adventures of Slick Rick" and he said, cool but I also told him clearly "Life After Death" has to be in 2nd Place for the fact that Biggie told 3 Classic Stories on this album. You'd be hard press to find another LP outside of Slick Rick's and Biggie that has more than 3 Classic stories:



    "Somebody's Got To Die" - This amazing story is a suspense Thriller on Wax. The song literally picks up where Biggie's paranoid thriller "Warning" left off as Biggie is sitting in his house as his door bell rings and his boy tells him a friend of his got murdered. The rest of the story goes into great detail planning the revenge they are going to take for that friends death. At the end of the song before the hit, Biggie tells his crew, "? like you do 10 year bids, miss the ? they want and murder innocent kids" as in telling everyone to only hit the mark in question and not hurt innocent people. As the song ends, Biggie and his crew sees their guy (Jason) but he turns around holding his baby daughter. They still shoot and run off. As they are running off, Biggie says "I think I hit the Baby kid". The baby lays on the ground in the rain crying and you hear the baby crying as it takes it's last breath. So in the end Biggie did exactly what he told his crew not to do. Murder an innocent kid. CRAZY. Yes the Baby does die in the end of the story.




    ? Bleed - This is a Crime tale of a Mob Boss who has his top henchmen (Biggie) rob some enemies of his. The Story has 3 parts. In the beginning Biggie is planning out the robbery with the Mobb Boss who's telling him the people he's going to rob are ruthless. The 2nd verse deals with Biggie linking up with "Arizona Ron" and his history of being a Killer. The last Verse is the robbery in a hotel as Biggie describes the whole hotel from the front desk clerk (Gloria) to the people he was robbing (? Priest "Jamaican" to a ? "Asian"). The story ends with Biggie and Arizona Ron escaping but by the time the people they are robbing back up comes to get them, it's too late, they get away and they can't Chase Biggie cause there car gets towed for being parked by a fire hydrant.




    I Got A Story To Tell - This was basically a Romantic Comedy on wax. One of Biggie's jump offs was a Professional NBA Players Wife. So She calls Biggie to come over to the house while she thought he was away playing a game. So Biggie goes over there, smokes some weed and starts hitting it. Then out of no where the player pops up and says, "Honey of Home" while they are chilling there after he just hit it. The Girl starts to panic as her and Biggie are both laying there naked. Biggie leans over to her and tells her if she doesn't do something he will do what he has to do even if that means killing the Player. So she tells him "Honey bring me up something to drink" to buy more time. Then Biggie gets an idea to make it look like he was robbing the girl. He using the pillow case to tie up her arms and mouth. Puts his clothes on and gets his gun. The Basketball player comes up stairs, see his girl tied up and Biggie with a gun, drops the glasses and screams. He starts pulling 1,000's of dollars out the floor and gives it to Biggie. He leaves with the money and ? and tells the story over again to his friends.



    LOL, So Biggie told a Revenge Tale that was Suspense Thriller, A Robbery Crime Tale and a Romantic Affair that goes wrong. His range of Storytelling was just epic. "Ready To Die" also had Epic Storytelling with songs like "Gimmie The Loot, Warning, Everyday Struggle and Me and My ? ".
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    Life After Death is a classic, and of my favorite albums, obligatory bump...
  • NoHateNoFear
    NoHateNoFear Members Posts: 125
    edited July 2011
    Im tired of ? arguing over BIG and Pac... jus agree to disagree. They both were dope artist, so let dem ? rest in peace.


    But LAD was a PHENOMONAL album, and like a previous poster said this is DEFINITELY in the Top 5 GOAT storytelling albums. When da ? BIG rhyme u can visualize everything da ? saying... thats what u call a TRUE EMCEE.
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    http://www.xxlmag.com/magazine/2006/03/the-making-of-life-after-death-many-men/

    Originally appeared in XXL’s April 2003 issue

    Life After Death proved to be a sadly prophetic title for 24-year-old Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace’s second album. Clearly, the Brooklyn rhyme slinger had it all mapped out. B.I.G. would follow up his platinum 1994 debut Ready To Die—a street hustler’s morality tale that ended with the narrator’s gunshot-inflicted suicide—with an expansive musical statement that unapologetically celebrated the successful MC’s newfound love of life and all its rewards. • Recorded over 18 months, in New York, Los Angeles and Trinidad, Life After Death documents the extraordinary and ultimately tragic final chapter in the life of an ascending star. The sessions were interrupted by B.I.G.’s arrest for marijuana and gun possession, a car accident that shattered his left leg and the increasing pressures of fame. And of course, everything was taking place under the shadow of a media frenzy surrounding the interpersonal strife between B.I.G. and California rapper Tupac Shakur. • Released March 25, 1997, less than a month after B.I.G. was tragically gunned down while leaving a Soul Train Awards party in Los Angeles, Life After Death sold a mammoth 690,000 copies its first week, according to SoundScan, debuting at no. 1 on both Billboard’s Pop and R&B charts. Eventually, it went on to surpass the sales mark set by Tupac’s nine-times platinum double album All Eyez On Me, joining Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em as rap’s only diamond-certified discs. • On the sixth anniversary of the notorious MC’s passing, XXL interviewed friends, associates and fellow artists who played a part in the making of his classic opus. Assembled here, their remembrances give a track-by-track glimpse into a creative process that resulted in one of hip-hop’s most enduring artistic achievements. All hail Big Poppa!—KEITH MURPHY Sean “Puffy” Combs CEO of Bad Boy Records and Executive Producer of Life After Death • Steven “Stevie J.” Jordan Former member of the Hitmen, Bad Boy’s in-house production team. • Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie CEO of Crazy Cat Records. Former Hitman. A&R of Life After Death. Voice behind skit character, the Madd Rapper. • Lil’ Cease Longtime friend of The Notorious B.I.G. and member of the Brooklyn-based rap crew Junior M.A.F.I.A. • Lil’ Kim Bed-Stuy-born rapper and first lady of Junior M.A.F.I.A. • Nashiem Myrick Former Hitman. • Jadakiss Member of rap trio The LOX, formally signed to Bad Boy. • D. Roc Childhood friend and longtime confidant of B.I.G. • Havoc One half of the infamous rap group Mobb Deep. • DJ Premier One half of the revered rap duo Gang Starr. • Chucky Thompson Former Hitman. • Krayzie Bone One fourth of groundbreaking Cleveland, Ohio rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. • Layzie Bone One fourth of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. • Carlos Broady Former Hitman. • Carl Thomas Bad Boy R&B singer. • Easy Mo Bee Brooklyn-based rap music producer. • RZA Mastermind behind Staten Island rap conglomerate Wu-Tang Clan. • DMC Legendary MC from Run-DMC. • Kay-Gee Former member of Naughty By Nature, CEO of Divine Mill Records. • Buckwild Bronx-based hip-hop producer. • Schoolly-D Philadelphia gangster rap pioneer. • Clark Kent Mild-mannered hip-hop DJ and producer.

    1 “Life After Death Intro”
    Produced by Sean “Puffy” Combs and Steven “Stevie J.” Jordan
    Stevie J. Me and Puff was in the studio just trying to think how we were gonna actually start the album. D-Dot came up with this cool suggestion while we were in the thinking process, of putting all of Big’s old records together like with his first CD, a lot of skits from there and interludes we didn’t use. And a big orchestral music sound around it just to make it huge. That’s one of the last things we did on the album. We just wanted to listen to the whole album and do what we had to do to make the beginning tight and the ending even tighter.

    2 “Somebody’s Gotta Die”
    Produced by Nashiem Myrick, Carlos Broady and Puffy
    Puffy “Somebody’s Gotta Die” was the first song we recorded. It was just really some ? lyrics. It wasn’t to anybody, it wasn’t a threat, it wasn’t no subliminal underlying message. A lot of times when MCs talk about something and it’s gangsta and it’s violent, you talk about any opposing enemy or foe. But it wasn’t on no East Coast/West Coast thing or meant for anybody. It was just some lyrics. He had lyrics like that before there were so-called beefs, you know. So a lot of things people started to look for and read into just weren’t there, honestly.

    3 “Hypnotize”
    Produced by Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, Ron Lawrence and Puffy
    D-Dot When Biggie first heard the “Hypnotize” beat, he just flipped out. I did the music and picked that sample and Ron Lawrence programmed it. He’s the one that sat on the drum machine and pieced it all together. Then me and Puffy helped Biggie, adding the choruses and whatever we needed to keep it flowing. Puffy doesn’t actually make beats. He doesn’t sit on the drum machine or play any instruments so we went into it saying to ourselves, “Whatever we can do to assist him with his label, if he wants to co-produce a song with us, no problem,” and that’s really how it went with that situation.
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    4 “Kick In The Door”
    Produced by DJ Premier
    DJ Premier Puff didn’t like that record. When I gave him the track he caught me on the elevator and told me, “This is not hot, Preme. I need something more blazin’, like ‘Unbelievable.’” I was like, “That ? right there is hot.” He’s like, “I need a Tunnel banger.” I said, “That’s a Tunnel banger.” He goes, “You ain’t hittin’ it like you used to.” That’s exactly what he said. I thought he was doing it just to ? with me, because that’s when he really started traveling with security. I was like, OK, he just trying to make me feel small. But at the end of the day Puff is my man. Me and him is mad cool despite the fact that he did not like that particular track, and then when we did it I said, “I told you this ? was gonna be hot.” And Puff goes, “I told you I had to hear the lyrics first.” I was like, “Yeah, aight.”
    Puffy I didn’t really like that beat at first. Once I heard Big’s lyrics on it, once I heard him rap, it made me like the beat, it made me understand where he was coming from. Because that’s the kind of relationship we had. You know, if I didn’t like something, he still had the freedom to try it. I would give him my opinion and most of the time he listened, but if he didn’t listen to it, it must have meant he really felt strongly. So this was one of those cases where he felt strongly on a joint.
    Nashiem Myrick Nas said that record was for him, but when Big said, “Son, I’m surprised you run with them/I think they got ? in them, ’cause they nothin’ but ? ,” he was talking about Jeru the Damaja to Premo ’cause Jeru was going at Big and Puff and all them [with the Premier-produced “One Day”].
    Lil’ Cease Big talked about Nas a little bit in that ? . It was the King of New York part, the last verse: “This goes out for those that chose to use disrespectful views on the King of NY.” That’s when Nas had that freestyle out, where he was like, “I’ll take the crown off the so-called King and lock it down.” That’s when Big had the cover of The Source, and it said, “The King of New York.” So Big was just addressing ? , but being indirect, ’cause that’s how he was with it. He wasn’t saying who he was talking about. Big was like, “I’ma address it. I’m not gonna blow it. He’s the only ? that’s gonna know what I’m talking about.” Everybody else wouldn’t have got it, ’cause you had to really listen to the lyrics. You gotta listen to the indirect lyrics, indirect lines. Read between the lines.
    Puffy Part of the song was meant for Nas but it wasn’t no real disrespectful ? , it was more like some subliminal mixtape ? . Nas was doing it. Wu-Tang was sayin’ ? on tapes. We were all sayin’ subliminal ? on tape, but it wasn’t to the point where, when we saw each other, we couldn’t give each other a pound and know that some ? was said. It wasn’t like no deep ? . It was more on some clever ? , you know? Like little clever jabs, so when you hear it, you’re like, “Ooh!” Like if you were the recipient, you would laugh at it, because it wasn’t having you all out on front street. Everybody wasn’t knowin’ about it. And you could damn near get with the person and y’all could talk about it, like, “That ? you said was kinda slick.”

    5 “? ’ You Tonight”
    FEATURING R. KELLY
    Produced by Daron Jones (of 112) and Puffy
    Lil’ Cease We just got locked up again, this is when police ran in the crib and found guns and weed. Next day Puff bailed us out. We went straight out of jail to the studio—no belts, no laces in the shoes, no nothing.
    D. Roc We had just got arrested, so we was like, “We ? up. Gotta go make some money. Time to go to the studio.”
    Lil’ Cease Puff told Big, “I’m up here with R. Kelly. I’m trying to get the ? on the album. Come ? with this ? .” So we went straight there. R. Kelly came into the studio and Big was kicking it, talking, and the next thing you know R. Kelly was in the booth with his shirt off singing the hook to the song. Big didn’t even have his vocals. We just wanted to get this ? ’s voice on this album. The next day Big wrote the verses to it.

    6 Last Day
    FEATURING THE LOX
    Produced by Havoc, co-produced by Puffy and Stevie J.
    Jadakiss When we did “Last Days,” we were still, I wouldn’t say rookies, but we were new to the Bad Boy family. We got the call from Darren [Dean] from Ruff Ryders, our manager back then. He wanted us to go to Daddy’s House. We didn’t even know we was getting on a B.I.G. album, so when he called us to get on it, we was wild happy. We go down there, walk in, and it’s smoky—they used to have it like the Shaolin Temple. Anyway, the beat’s knocking, Junior M.A.F.I.A. was in there, and we was drinking, smoking heavy, living the dream, like, “We about to get on a song with Big!”
    Puff was the overseer, but song-wise, Big could do whatever he wanted. He was like, “We just going to make a hard joint,” ’cause it wasn’t going to be a single. He just told us to do us, and let us rock. We probably took a little longer than usual, ’cause it was Big and we was probably a little nervous. But after we settled down, hit a couple of blunts, we was good.
    I had a verse I wanted to use, something that I had already. I was probably being lazy. I spit it to Big and he was like, “Nah Kiss, I know you can come harder than that. Don’t use that one, make something right now.” I was like, “Damn, Big told me to do it over. I know I got to come with another one.” So I came with the joint I came with, and he was just feeling that ? crazy.
    Big laid his verse last. He out-smoked everybody. ? was on the floor all asleep and slumped over in the booth and he went in at like six, seven in the morning, and laid some crazy ? . We finally left right when they was setting up the mic and all of that. We was tired. We was young ? . All that weed was killing us back then.
    Havoc I got a call from Puff, he asked for a record for Big and he wanted some street ? . The beat that ended up on the album wasn’t the original beat that I had done. I did a beat that Puff liked and the reel had got stolen. So I had a whole new beat. Puff co-produced it with me and then The LOX jumped on it. Puffy added like a string to it and like some weird funny sound. It was almost similar to the original beat, but the original one was way better than that. I wish that could pop up now. I had made the beat from scratch, without putting it on disc and then saving it to disc. I just recorded it straight to reel and somebody hated, and stole the reel.

    7 I Love The Dough
    FEATURING JAY-Z AND ANGELA WINBUSH
    Produced by Easy Mo Bee
    Nashiem Myrick Jigga and Big, them ? was really battling. Both of them don’t write their rhymes down, they just say it in their heads. On the low, they was going at it. Not going at each other in the lyrics, but going at it skill-wise. It was a sight to see. It was like, “Let me see what this ? is going to do in the booth.” You could tell they were testing each other.
    Easy Mo Bee I noticed that Puff was naying a lot of my joints, like, “Nah…” Then I was checking out what they were doing and I was like, OK, so that’s the direction they’re going in. They were taking a more commercial, R&B approach. The beats were tighter and cleaner, usage of more keyboards. I came up to Puff like, “Remember this joint—Rene and Angela, ‘I Love You More?’” Puff was like, “Yo, go hook it up, ? . I don’t want to talk about it, hook it up.” So I went and I hooked it up, drummed it up, ended up playing keyboards on the track and everything. I had no idea what Big was gonna put to it. I didn’t even know he was gonna walk last-minute in the studio and be like, “Yo, Mo, I’m doing this joint with Jigga!” I’m looking up from the equipment, like, “Word? Aight.” Big came in with Jay, and they start cross-pacing. Imagine two people, pacing back and forth, criss-crossing each other, and not looking at each other, doing their writing process in their head, mumbling to themselves, getting their lyrics right and kickin’ it with each other in between. They was taking their time. It was me, D-Dot and I don’t remember the engineer. I remember Puff came in with some fly girl. After a while Big came over to me and was like, ‘Yo, me and Jay, we gonna go out for a little while. We’ll be back.’ That night was the last time I saw Big. I waited and waited for them to come back, and it got so late, I just told D-Dot, like, “I’ma break out.” To this day, I wish I could’ve been there when Big, Jigga and Angela Winbush did them vocals and everything. They had gone and got Angela Winbush. [When I heard] Big, Jay-Z and Angela Winbush, reiterating “I Love You More” to “I Love The Dough,” I fell out. I was like, Oh man, they doing their thing. They went back and got the original girl. I know that was definitely Puff’s idea. They went and got the original artist. Have her sing the hook over, not just sing the hook over but reiterate and change the words up. I was happy with that.
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    8 “What’s Beef?”
    Produced by Nashiem Myrick and Carlos Broady
    Lil’ Cease That was supposed to be the original Bone Thugs beat. Then one day Biggie was sitting there ? with it by himself and he put three verses together and a hook and was like, “I’ma kick this song.” It was easy to put together, but then again, Big made everything look easy. It wasn’t really about nobody in particular. It’s just explaining to ? what real beef is. He was talking about a real beef when your family and your kids ain’t safe. He was putting it down on a real gangsta street level on that song, not just that regular thug-level ? . When you’re going to war with a ? that’s dangerous and you dangerous—that’s the type of situation you gotta worry about. It was a real uppity-up street record.

    9 “B.I.G. Interlude”
    Produced by Biggie and D-Dot
    Samples Schoolly-D’s “PSK (What Does It Mean)”
    Schoolly-D I knew B.I.G. was going to do “PSK” justice. He was one of my favorite rappers. I think as flow goes, the world misses Biggie. The thing is, younger cats were coming up to me after my shows like, “Yeah, you doing Biggie’s song.” I’m like, “What the ? are you talking about?!”

    10 “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems”
    FEATURING PUFFY AND MA$E
    Produced by Stevie J. and Puffy
    Stevie J. Ma$e came to me in the studio one day with this “I’m Comin’ Out” sample. He’s like, “When you gonna use this right here? Either my album, Puff album or Big album?” So we laid the track first but nobody knew who was gonna get it. And then when Big came with the “B-I-G P-O-P-P-A!” What!? That was Big’s joint. Everybody felt that.

    11 “? Bleed”
    Produced by Nashiem Myrick, Carlos Broady, Puffy and Stevie J.
    Nashiem Myrick I think this was done after ’Pac died. I did that in Daddy’s House. This is one of the songs that Big took a while on. After he did the first verse, he waited for a while, and came back and did the rest.
    Carlos Broady Actually, that was a joint that we jacked. I had to play it over. I’m not telling [the name of the record we sampled]. I don’t think that joint was cleared.

    12 “I Got A Story To Tell”
    Produced by Buckwild, co-produced by Chucky Thompson and Puffy
    Buckwild Big picked beats on vibe, and he was looking for beats to fit into the album. Big was the type of dude where there could be 50 people in the room and you think he wouldn’t be listening. You’d play him 50 beats and you’d think he wasn’t paying attention, ’cause he’s sitting there smoking and zoning out. And then at the end, he’d be like, I want number 12, and put number 30 on a tape.
    The song was done, and everyone was telling me the song was incredible. That was all I kept hearing. But we had big problems with the sample. It almost didn’t make the album. Working with Puff, it was a blessing that he had people who could come in and get him around the sample issues. Chucky [Thompson], being an excellent musician, he replayed it and found the exact same sound. Chuck just had to change one or two notes. If I played the original and I played the sample, there’s nothing really different.
    Chucky Thompson Puff played me songs, trying to get me amped. He played me “I Got A Story To Tell,” and I just loved it. But him and Harve said they can’t use it because of a problem with a sample. I knew what was needed. It was the night of the Grammys. So I went straight from the Grammys to Daddy’s House, and I’m in there with a tuxedo just trying to finish up, ’cause they was wrapping the album up. Puff really didn’t understand what I was doing. I think the pressure was on him. He was like, “We’re just going to scrap the song.” I told him to just relax. Just leave the room, go pressure your ass somewhere else. Let me deal with this.
    I liked the original way Buckwild done it. All we had to do was take a piece out, which in the original sample was really just the harp part. I knew if I could get it to the point where it’s unrecognizable, we were good. So I went in, grabbed the guitar and started filling in the pieces. I took the same melodies. I just changed a few of the instruments. I moved it from harp to the guitar, put a little bit of harp in there, but anybody that knows that original record is probably scratching their head, like, “How the hell did he…?”
    D-Dot I could be wrong, but I’ve never heard a rapper rap through a story—rap you a story and then tell you the whole story again without rapping it. In “I Got A Story To Tell” Big tells you the story about how he met this chick. She was wild, he went to the crib not knowing that she’s ? with this basketball guy. The basketball player guy comes home, and in order to get out of there, Big had to pretend he was robbing her. So it looks like she’s getting robbed as opposed to having sex with Big. Then after he finishes the story, the beat plays on and then he goes back and tells you exactly what he rapped about, in case you didn’t catch it, like he’s telling it to his boys. That’s the creative part that I’d never seen anyone do.



    13 “Notorious Thugs”
    FEATURING LAYZIE, KRAYZIE AND BIZZY BONE
    Produced by Stevie J. and Puffy
    Puffy Big understood how important the Midwest and the South were at that time. He loved Bone Thugs. Being that he really liked melodies, he really liked Bone Thugs.
    Krayzie Bone Puff just called up one day while we were out in California, “Come by the studio tonight.” So we went. As soon as we walked in, Big was like, “What y’all eating, drinking and smoking?” It was a shock how down-to-earth he was. ? used to floss in his raps big-time, but when you met him he was a real humble dude. There were a lot of things that he wanted to know about us and about our flows. He just wanted to know how we came about doing our style and how we did our vocals. He was watching us do our parts like, “? , y’all ? are crazy.”
    Layzie Bone I came with a couple ounces of herb, and about 15 minutes into the session, Biggie had it in his hand [laughs]. I’m like, “This ? just gangstered me for my weed!” But I ain’t say nothing because it’s cool. When Biggie did our style, that’s when Bone received respect for our ? . It was like the whole industry never gave us our Ps. But Biggie was telling us that whole night in the studio like, “Y’all just came in and laid it down so fast. Y’all ? are amazing.” He was marveling off of us. And we telling him how much love we had for him.
    D. Roc That dude Layzie was passed out in the truck. Like they ordered a case of Hennessy, drinking it by themselves. He was drunker than everybody and everybody was like, “This ? is gonna ? up our whole night.” When it was his go, I went and tapped on the window. His face was on the glass—slobbing, knocked out. I tapped. He walked straight out the car, into the booth, did his verse in one take and went straight back into the joint and passed out again.
    Stevie J. After Bone Thugs went in there and ripped it, Big took it home for a minute. He was like, “I ain’t laying mine. I got to wait. This style ain’t what I’m used to.”
    Lil’ Cease The Bone Thugs ? , nobody could be in the room [when Big was recording his verse] for that. He really wanted to sit there and master that ? , ’cause he knew he was about to do something different, and whatever came out the studio was gonna be so, so new.
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    14 “Miss U”
    Produced by Kay-Gee
    Kay-Gee I approached them. I had a demo idea. “Missing You” by Diana Ross, that’s what I was working with. It’s replayed, not sampled. I always liked that record and thought one day it would be hot over some hard drums. My man wrote the hook and put it together. He put the words down and we demo-ed it. It was specifically for Biggie. Then I put a call in to Puff. I had to track him down. I sent it to them, and Puff called us and said, “Big loved it! He definitely wants to do that record, but I wanna put 112 on it. Do you have a problem with 112 doing it instead of your man?” It wasn’t a problem.
    Lil’ Cease The song was about O. That was Big’s man, somebody Big used to hang with every day. He got caught up in the hood. He got killed in a store in Brownsville [Brooklyn], not too far from where we was from. He got shot twice in the chest in a store.

    15 “Another”
    FEATURING LIL’ KIM
    Produced by Stevie J. and Puffy
    Stevie J. That song was funny, ’cause they was beefing for real. Kim was talking wild ? . Big was like, “? you, ? .” And she was like, “? you too, ? .” You hear all that spitting? That was real right there. They was really going through some things at the time.
    Lil’ Kim We had a big-ass fight. I had heard about him and some girl. We were talking about what happened, and all of a sudden, next thing you know, I’m going at him like this [punches the air]! And my friend Mo is trying to grab me, and D. Roc got in the middle. But we’re just going at it. And I hit Biggie so hard. And he was on crutches, so I kicked his crutch on the floor!
    I said, “You have to stay because I might need you to help me with my lines.” And he was like, “I’m not helpin’ you. ? . You gonna tell me how you ? ’ feel. I always let out my feelings and you gonna do it too. So I’ll hear it when it’s done.”
    I always wanted him to treat me like a baby. I was real spoiled and I wanted him to be with me 24/7. I wanted him in the studio. At that time, I didn’t like being in the studio with Puff by myself, because he’s a pain in the ass! Biggie knew how I worked, so he would let me do my thing—sit in the back and check on me every half hour or every hour. Puffy comes by every five minutes! “You got something? Lemme hear.” I’m like, “I’m trying to create here. I can’t with you all on my back!”
    A lot of the lyrics were true. I had to go to court for Big when he had that case in Camden, New Jersey. You know, some promoter said Big beat him up, so I had to go to court and testify for him and hold him down. I was really mad as ? ! I had caught Big ? ’ a girl—like in action. And I was sick! And I had just bailed him out of jail that day, too!
    After I did the song, I didn’t see him. I think I maybe saw him one time before he left for LA.

    16 “Going Back To Cali”
    Produced by Easy Mo Bee
    Easy Mo Bee I always wanted to do something with Zapp’s “More Bounce To The Ounce.” I wanted LA’s attention. There was a lot of tension, East Coast/West Coast. My manager at the time was from LA. He was like, “Look, in LA, at the block parties and house parties, when ‘More Bounce’ came on, that was the joint that made everybody go crazy. That was always the LA anthem.” You got this East Coast/West Coast tension ? , and I felt that maybe through music or a beat, anything that gets everybody on one accord, or in harmony…
    I was in the car by myself, listening to the radio. I think I was listening to 98.7 Kiss and I think they threw [“More Bounce”] on as an old joint. I’m riding in the car just zoning, like I never heard it before. I was talking to myself in my head, like, “You ain’t never did anything with that. The reason why you ain’t never used it before is because too many people already used it.” But everybody had basically looped it. Nobody ever chopped the record up as if it was “Funky President.” So I had an idea to make the drums travel the same way that the record normally goes, but have the bass line doing something totally different.
    When they gave me back the finished song, they were like, “Yo, you ain’t hear that ? ? Big destroyed your ? . “When I heard, “I’m going, going/Back, back/To Cali, Cali,” I said, “Awww ? , man! What y’all doing?” I felt like, are we starting trouble here? Because at that time, there’s two different ways you could’ve took, “I’m Going Back To Cali.” You could take it like, “I’m going back there to run ? ,” or you can take it like how he expressed it in the record, for the women and the weed. Basically, if you listen to the record, it’s not negative in any respect. But just the title… I ain’t gonna front, it scared me a little bit. I was like, Yo, is this the healthy thing to do right now?
    Puffy Everybody always feared when we would go to California, and have problems, and we were very conscious of it, but we were trying to make it positive. That was just saying that we was going back to have a good time. He was saying he had love for Cali. Just because he had a problem with one person, he wasn’t gonna start saying he didn’t like all of California.

    17 “Ten ? Commandments”
    Produced by DJ Premier
    Samples Chuck D from “Shut ’Em Down”
    Premier We laid it down, and the ill thing was Snoop was there and so was Daz—and this was during the beef time. They was there chillin’, but it was all love. To make a long story short: on “Ten ? Commandments” Big went in there and did the vocals and the only thing that Big instructed me to do besides what was already laid down was, “Every time I say number one, number two, number three, take that Chuck D scratch and scratch it with me saying the number.” I said, No problem. I did that, it came out to be another hit. I think it’s one of the best records he ever made. As soon as he was done with the vocals he goes, “Premier, I did it. I did it. I’m the greatest!” And that was the last time I ever saw him.
    It was the fact that it was called “Ten ? Commandments.” Chuck’s not into that. He doesn’t want his voice affiliated with anything that involves drug use or drinking alcohol, sex or whatever. So they came after me and Biggie’s estate, saying that basically we violated in the fact that we used him in a song that condoned drug use. I didn’t look at it that way, because, to me, that record was to cats in the street. So, to wrap that up, I told him—this is after the fact that Big had passed already, and [his death] was still fresh—I told Chuck, ’cause I was on tour with him, I was like, “Yo Chuck, why don’t you be easy on that? Because I feel like, why should we have to go through this when Big is dead and he’s not here to defend this lawsuit. You gonna put his mother through it? I don’t think that’s spiritually fair.” He said, “You know what? If it gets out of hand with everything, I’ll dead it.” I said, “OK, fine.” He never deaded it. I found Chuck one day around my neighborhood that I live in now. He happened to tap me on my shoulder, he was with his kids and I got into it with him a little bit. I never spoke to him again and I started kind of having a little hate for him to a certain degree. I felt like he was a hypocrite. I would never sue a dead man, especially Big. I thought that was spiritually wrong, especially for what he stands for. Because I love Chuck D as a lyricist, a performer and a writer and as the head of Public Enemy. I love what he represents, and I felt like that was a foul on the fact that he couldn’t let a man’s death override a lawsuit. I’d rather it be all on my back than have to go sue a dead man’s estate. It put a big dent in the rap game. But I saw Chuck at Jam Master Jay’s wake, and we spoke and we got everything behind us now.
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
    18 “Playa Hater”
    Produced by Puffy and Stevie J.
    Stevie J. “Playa Hater” was done with Ron Grant from the Blue Angel band. The studio was located at 321 west 44th, but the Blue Angel [strip club] was right next door. There was a band that used to play there, a whole bunch of hot brothers, they just was nice. I was like, “Y’all wanna record something with me?” Me and Puff brought ’em right upstairs and we did it like in one take. The crazy thing was Big singing. He wanted to do a whole album of ballads. He wanted to call it Big Ballads.
    Lil’ Cease That was us in the joint. We high and we singing it, and we playing the vocals. And Puff come and changed the whole ? . That was some ? . When we heard it on the album we’re like, “This ? done erased all over our ? .” Puff used to fight for a lot of shine. He wanted to be famous.

    19 “Nasty Boy”
    Produced by Puffy and Stevie J.
    Stevie J. We had an issue with that song. We used the Vanity 6 “Nasty Girl” sample. Me and Puff took a trip to see Prince and he wouldn’t let us use it. That’s why I just got on the live bass and did some funky original-sounding thing on top.

    20 “Sky’s The Limit”
    FEATURING 112
    Produced by Clark Kent
    Clark Kent One day we were in New York so Big could record some vocals on “Who Shot Ya?” Then we went back to meet the bus and I had a tape full of tracks. He was going, “OK, that’s for Junior M.A.F.I.A., that’s for Junior M.A.F.I.A., that’s for Junior M.A.F.I.A….” That’s how he picked all the tracks for Junior M.A.F.I.A. right off that tape. Then he goes, “This is for me.” I was like, “Man, you ain’t doing an album for a year and a half, two years.” He was like, “I don’t care—just hold it. It’s for me.” I had to tell him Akinyele wanted the track, too. He was like, “This is for me.”

    21 “The World Is Filled…”
    FEATURING TOO $HORT, PUFFY AND CARL THOMAS
    Produced by D-Dot and Puffy
    Carl Thomas At the time, I hadn’t officially signed with Bad Boy yet. Puffy and I were still negotiating. “The World Is Filled…” really helped me make up my mind as far as where I wanted to be. I was just really proud of that when it was done. It was something that Big loved, and when he saw me, he let me know it. That was one of the biggest accolades that I could receive…
    Me, being from the Midwest, I used to watch my uncles in the game and different ? characters in the neighborhood. It’s funny, the chorus that I wrote, “The world is filled with pimps and hoes…,” was actually part of a poem that I wrote in study hall in the tenth grade. I was 15 years old.

    22 “My Downfall”
    FEATURING DMC
    Produced by Nashiem Myrick, Carlos Broady and Puffy
    Puffy That was me. That was my anger. I was angry about the whole situation and about everything that was going on in hip-hop surrounding us. There were people against us in my own area, a lot of people adding fuel to the fire. I felt like a lot of it had stemmed from jealousy and there were people really praying and hoping that we would get killed. There were rumors. You know there were rumors about “Big got shot” or “Puff got shot” floating around before anything really happened. People would be looking at us like, Y’all really in some beef, but like really hoping that something would happen. So that’s why the song said “Pray for my downfall.” That joint was blatant, that was like for everybody and everything and was a real emotional song.
    Nashiem Myrick Carlos had that track in Trinidad and the way Big rocked it, the beat sounds crazy because it sounds like a Jamaican beat on it. That’s the way Big flowed on it. He didn’t count the snare or something. The way he purposefully flowed on it sounds like it was on three beats instead of four beats. Stevie, he came in and did the overdubs and that sounded crazy. Puff got some vocalist in. Then I brought DMC in to do the hook, ’cause Big wanted the hook to be “Pray and pray for my downfall.” They wanted to get someone to scratch it. I got Clue to scratch it but it didn’t sound right ’cause the record interfered with it. So I just got DMC himself to come in and do the vocals.
    DMC P. Diddy called me up and asked me to do this part. It was taken from Run-DMC’s “Together Forever”—the part where I said, “MCs have the gall, to pray and pray for my downfall.” At first I thought they wanted me to come there just so they could sample from the original record. But they were like, “Nah D, we want you to do it over.” When that record came out, it was the biggest thing in the world for me. It made me big as a ? . It made me relevant to today’s kids. Everywhere I went, it was like, “Yo, DMC’s on Big’s album.”

    23 “Long Kiss Goodnight”
    Produced by RZA
    Lil’ Cease That was a one-nighter. That was about ’Pac. He had some ? at the beginning of that though, nobody heard it, on the reel. We had to change it. It was a little too much. I can’t remember what Big said about him, but it was terrible. It couldn’t make it. He didn’t want to do it. He had some fire. But he didn’t want to make it too much. He just wanted to address it and to let ? know, “I know what’s going on, and I could get wreck if I want to.” Like, “If I really wanted to get on ya ? , I could.”
    Puffy Naaah. It was just some MC lyrics. I know people wanna have their imagination, but it was just lyrics. You’re hearing it from the horse’s mouth. I would tell the truth. If Biggie was going to do a song about 2Pac, he would have just come out with it and said his name. Their gloves were basically off. 2Pac had did “Hit ’Em Up.”
    RZA Biggie was always pretty cool with me. He liked the Wu-Tang sound. He requested me to be on the album. I didn’t know if everybody in his camp agreed with it, because at one point there was a little bit of tension in the air—with Raekwon’s [Only Built 4] Cuban Linx… album and some of the statements that was made. But we was always cool with each other.
    Biggie wrote the verse after his accident. At first we had Cappadonna doing the hook, talking a lot of ? . In the beginning, you can hear Cappadonna. Then Puff did his thing at the end. I didn’t know it was going to be there but I know how they work. I wasn’t in the studio when they did that. I went in a couple of weeks after he did the verse. They wanted to mix it themselves, but they didn’t even know where to put things at. I had so many sounds in there. They didn’t know what the ? I was thinking about.
    We had about 10 basic musical elements on that track. At the end he’s talking about everybody was ? with them at that time. He could have even been talking about me [laughs], ’cause there was some cuts at Biggie on the Cuban Linx… album.

    24 “You’re Nobody (’Til Somebody Kills You)”
    Produced by Stevie J. and Puffy, co-produced by DJ Enuff
    Background vocals by Faith Evans
    Stevie J. The Rev. Hezekiah Walker comes in while we’re fixing the hook on “You’re Nobody (’Til Somebody Kills You).” I was laughing my ass off. We go to his church, me and Puff.
    That song was Big singing the hook. He was like, “I got this hook… [sings] ‘You’re nobody…’” Big was not there that particular day Faith was there. She was like, “What I gotta sing?” Puff was like, [sings] “You’re nobody ’til somebody kills you.” But it was just how both of them sang on that track together—husband and wife. That was sexy, right?

    http://www.xxlmag.com/magazine/2006/03/the-making-of-life-after-death-many-men/
  • JokerzWyld
    JokerzWyld Members Posts: 5,483 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2011
  • rapmastermind
    rapmastermind Members Posts: 5,574 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Is Life After Death the Greatest Sophomore album of all time"?


    It very may well be for the simple fact Big had so much pressure coming into his 2nd LP compared to a lot of his counterparts. It wasn't just following up a legendary album that was "Ready To Die", it was the whole beef and drama and dealing with the success. He killed 2 disc and created a whole new blueprint for a generation of emcees. Life After Death wasn't perfect, it had it's flaws but that doesn't mean it's not a rap masterpiece cause it is. Big gave each song a distinctive personality and he was damn near flawless on 2 disc. He flow as Godly, his wordplay was amazing, every bar was sick. Lyrically he was ripping those beats apart and not a single guest outshinned him. Hip Hop has seen legendary 2nd LP by great artist. Mobb Deep's "Infamous", Fugees "The Score", Eric B and Rakim's "Paid in Full", Public Enemy "It Takes A Nation" to name a few. But Biggie's 2nd LP didn't just stand the test of time, it changed the face of Hip Hop.

    Sadly Big didn't get to see the release of the album as it came out 3 weeks after his death. So naturally that death did cause even more interest in the album. But there's no way you can hear this album and not see wither Big was dead or alive it was going to blow. There are just way to many bangers on this front to back. It's also has the least about of fillers for a Double LP in Hip Hop, Big kept his callabo's and song count low. Overall I think it is the greatest sophomore album ever. It's impact was massive, it's influence is still being felt and it was the LP that cemented Big's Legendary status for all time. As we approaching the 15th anniversary of it's release, I pay homage to one of the greatest rap albums ever. And Yes Big you are living your life after death. One of mine and i'm sure many people's favorite songs from the album was "Sky's the Limit", how can anyone say Big wasn't deep, that song touches the spirit, real talk. Rest In Paradise Christopher.


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  • RickyRich
    RickyRich Members Posts: 13,062 ✭✭✭✭✭
    he rapped about life that he didt live . atleast pac ? was something that he had related to his or what was going on around his city . foh wit lad is classic album . yall ? styl on this ? ? . no doubt he had a crazy flow but this album is not classic .
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