Maps of Music

Ready to Die (1994)

Where the lyrics of Ready to Die take you, and where it was really made.

The album was the only one its maker released in his lifetime: he was murdered sixteen days before his second album came out in 1997.

Key places

Main recording studio of the album (1994)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The album was mainly recorded at The Hit Factory in New York City during 1993 and 1994, in two stages. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Second recording studio in New York City (1994)

Recording site D&D Studios — D&D Studios in New York City is named alongside The Hit Factory as a place where the album was recorded from 1993 to 1994. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ready to Die: debut studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
• Released September 13, 1994 by Bad Boy Records, distributed by Arista Records
• Productions by Sean Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier and Lord Finesse, among others
• Partly autobiographical story of the rapper's experiences as a young criminal
• Only album released during his lifetime; he was murdered sixteen days before the release of Life After Death in 1997
• Features a guest appearance from Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man

Background

• Biggie signed to Uptown Records in 1992 by A&R Sean "Puffy" Combs
• Recording started in 1993 in New York after many guest appearances on label-mates' singles
• When Combs was fired from Uptown, the album was only partially completed and Biggie's career hung in limbo
• After a brief period dealing drugs in North Carolina, Biggie returned to the studio the following year on Combs' new Bad Boy Records label
• The second stage completed the album with more commercial-sounding tracks, including the singles

Recording

• Recorded in New York City in two stages during 1993 and 1994, mainly at the Hit Factory
• Early sessions produced darker, less radio-friendly tracks such as 'Ready to Die' and 'Gimme the Loot'
• Between the two stages, Biggie moved from writing lyrics in notebooks to freestyling them from memory

Cover

• Cover shows an infant resembling the artist, with an afro, tied to the concept of his life from birth to death
• Listed among the best album covers in hip-hop
• A 2011 New York Daily News report suggested the baby was Keithroy Yearwood; Bad Boy Records could not confirm this

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), known as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City.
• He was raised by his mother, Voletta Wallace, after his father left the family when he was about three.
• He first gained attention through a 1991 demo tape, which was featured in The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" section in 1992.
• In 1993 he became the first artist signed to Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records, which Combs founded after leaving Uptown Records.

Career

• Rooted in East Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time.
• His debut album Ready to Die (1994) brought East Coast hip-hop back to prominence and produced the singles "Juicy", "Big Poppa", and "One More Chance".
• In 1995 he was named Rap Artist of the Year at the Billboard Awards and released Conspiracy with his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.
• He was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, at age 24, six months after Tupac Shakur's murder.
• His posthumous album Life After Death (1997) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced the Hot 100 number-one singles "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems".
• Later posthumous albums include Born Again (1999), Duets: The Final Chapter (2005), and The King & I with Faith Evans (2017).
• He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone: Cheo H. Coker called it "the strongest solo rap debut since Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted."
• The New York Times: Touré wrote that the album offers "perhaps the most balanced and honest portrait of the dealer's life of any in hip-hop"
• Q: praised the natural rapping, clever use of sound effects and concept element, setting it apart from average gangsta bragging
• Steve Huey of AllMusic: praised the rapper's storytelling and said the album's beats were secondary to his delivery

Reappraisal

• The Source included it on its 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time list in 1998 and re-rated it to the maximum five 'mics' in 2002
• Steve Huey of AllMusic gave it five stars, calling it an album that reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age
• Rolling Stone ranked it 22nd on its 2020 revised list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and first on its greatest hip-hop albums list
• Time included it on its 100 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2006
• Pitchfork named it the fourteenth-best album of the 1990s in 2022

Records

• Peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200
• Singles: 'Juicy' peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100; 'Big Poppa' at number six; 'One More Chance' at number two
• Shipped 57,000 units in its first week of release
• Certified six-times platinum in the US in April 2018
• Added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2024

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was the only one its maker released during his lifetime.
• The album features a guest appearance from Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man.
• 'Juicy' was the lead single, released on August 8, 1994, and it features a prominent sample of 'Juicy Fruit' as performed by James Mtume.
• Pete Rock, who was commissioned to remix 'Juicy', alleged that Combs took the idea for the original beat after hearing it from him during a visit.
• A single-disc condensed LP edition was originally available at the time of release.
• In 2006, the album was involved in a federal copyright lawsuit that resulted in a sales ban on the disputed tracks.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact