The Notorious B.I.G.: Ready To Die : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Crooklyn's notorious B.I.G. walks along the razor's edge, gat in hand, a self-described menace to society (and sexual dynamo), yet haunted by his own propensity for heartless violence and self-destruction. "When I die, fuck it, I want to go to hell/'Cause I'm a piece of shit/It ain't hard to fuckin' tell," he says on "Suicidal Thoughts" before splattering his brains all over the wall, claiming that a heaven filled with "goody-goodies" has no place for an evil muthafucka like himself. The sound of the gunshot and the drop of the telephone receiver after he pulls the trigger are at once bone chilling and completely irresponsible, yet you can't help being affected by it. Ready to Die is filled with moments like this.

Like any good director (or rapper for that manner), B.I.G. maintains a consistent level of tension by juxtaposing emotional highs and lows. One minute he sits on the curb reminiscing about more innocent times when parents had more control over their kids and there weren't so many guns ("Things Done Changed"); the next, rapping against himself as part of a Laurel and Hardy-like stickup duo, he's the one doing dirt, boasting of a boosting career that dates back to the days of slavery ("Gimme the Loot"). A few songs later he makes something of himself in the rap game ("Juicy") but soon after, in "Everyday Struggle," barks of his frustration with the fast life, the lack of people he can trust and how he hears "death knockin' at [his] front door." With his prodigious, often booming voice overwhelming the track, he sweeps his verbal camera high and low, painting a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene. He raps in clear, sparse terms, allowing the lyrics to hit the first time you hear them.

Not that every moment finds B.I.G. brooding. Songs like "Machine Gun Funk," "The What" and "Respect" show off B.I.G.'s funkability. When inspired, he serves up freestyle metaphor and stylistic flexibility tailor-made for the dance floor or Jeep system. "The What," his potent duet with the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man, is especially impressive, the latter's legato stylings and charming swagger the perfect counterpoint for B.I.G.'s more straight-up delivery. "One More Chance," one of the bawdiest sex raps since Kool G Rap's classic "Talk Like Sex," proves hilarious simply because of B.I.G.'s Dolemitelike vulgarity. Overall the production, split mostly between Easy Mo Bee and Sean "Puffy" Combs, is heavy bottomed and slick, but B.I.G.'s rhymes are the showstoppers. The tracks only enhance them, whether it's the live bass driving a menacing undercurrent beneath the surface of "Everyday Struggle" or Mo Bee's alluring use of bluesy guitar and wah-wah feedback in "Ready to Die," "Me and My Bitch" and "Machine Gun Funk" to push the rapper to new heights.

Ready to Die is the strongest solo rap debut since Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted. From the breathtakingly visual moments of his birth to his Cobainesque end in "Suicidal Thoughts," B.I.G. proves a captivating listen. It's difficult to get him out of your head once you sample what he has to offer.