Happy 20th Anniversary to The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death, originally released March 25, 1997. Sadly, life beyond the lyrics of hip-hop music is sometimes filled with as much tragedy as the vivid street stories its artists recount about the harshness of life inside our inner cities. The lines often blur on whether art imitates real life, or real life imitates art. Twenty years ago, the concepts of hip-hop fact versus fiction intersected like never before with the posthumous release of the Notorious B.I.G’s sophomore album, eerily titled Life After Death. Only two weeks after receiving the news of Christopher Wallace’s death, grief now accompanied the anticipation for the long awaited follow-up to B.I.G.’s classic 1994 debut Ready to Die.

With mixed emotions of enjoying B.I.G.’s signature lyricism and the expansive arrangement of the double LP, the experience of listening to the album was solemn, as the best moments solidified that we may have just lost the best to ever formulate rhyme schemes. Heralded among the elite group of potential saviors of East Coast rap in the early ‘90s along with and the Wu-Tang Clan, B.I.G.’s flow revealed not one flaw between his debut as Biggie Smalls back in 1992 and his untimely death in 1997. Download naruto lawas sub indonesia. From proclaiming that he “was a terror since the public school era” over the Easy Mo Bee produced “Party & Bullshit” which opened the Who’s the Man soundtrack in 1993, he showed that his lyrical ability had already developed as an instrument capable of captivating audiences’ imaginations.

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His husky baritone transported you into his childhood classrooms and into the streets of Brooklyn for vivid episodes of his early mischief and delinquency. Having sharpened his teeth alongside some of the ravenous rap dogs in the pits of the New York underground rhyme scene, Biggie made it obvious by the summer of 1994 on the star-studded remix of label mate Craig Mack’s hit “Flava in Your Ear” that he had every intention of securing the role of Bad Boy’s top shotta with well delivered punch lines like “you mad ‘cause my style you’re admiring, don’t be mad UPS is hiring.” By the time Ready to Die hit, B.I.G. Seemed to effortlessly connect with audiences by being relatable (“It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! Magazine”), inspirational (“I made the change from a common thief / to up close and personal with Robin Leach”), or charming (“However, living better now / Coogi sweater now / Drop top BM’s, I’m the man girlfriend”). Cocky enough to frequently reference his optical disadvantages, his lyrical ability alone helped his transition from Biggie Smalls to the Notorious B.I.G. To Big Poppa in his ascension to the top of the Billboard charts.

Even with an impressive succession of hit singles to accompany his acclaimed debut album, he reined undefeated in collaborations during a period that spanned arguably the most competitive period for true lyricism. Sparring with Wu-Tang swordsman Method Man on Ready to Die’s “The What,” Biggie declared, “Niggas, know they soft like a Twinkie filling / playing the villain, prepare for this rap killing.” Meth and B.I.G. Created a memorable moment for the culture with the back-and-forth cadence of their contrasting rhyme styles. Almost a year later, he summoned his own star power to introduce his Bed-Stuy neighbors and mentees with the line “I’m surrounded by criminals / heavy rollers, even them sheisty individuals” on Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s debut single “Player’s Anthem.” B.I.G. Traded Mafioso bars with Borough-mate on Reasonable Doubt’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” at D&D studios, dropping gems like, “Who shot ya? Mob ties like Sinatra / Peruvians want to do me in, I ain’t paid them yet / Tryin’ to push 700’s they ain’t made them yet.” Forced to delay his follow-up long player’s originally slated release date of Halloween 1996, B.I.G.