When Christopher Rios passed away on February 7, 2000, he left behind a family and millions of fans; the man known to most of the world as Big Punisher also left behind "Yeeeah Baby," the album he had just completed recording.

The album's release was pushed back in order for Loud Records founder/CEO Steve Rifkind, a good friend of Pun's, to make sure that everything turned out exactly the way the artist would have wanted it by coordinating the finishing touches with the rapper's families, both musical and otherwise.

The disc, which was to be Pun's first since his 1998 debut "Capital Punishment," was released to stores on April 4, with a portion of the proceeds going to Pun's family as well as a charity unnamed as of press time. So loved was Pun that his label put plans in the works for The Christopher Rios Foundation, which would aim to raise funds for charities in the rapper's native New York.

Preceding the disc was the single "It's So Hard," the video for which captured friends and colleagues from the whole of hip-hop -- Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, Xzibit, L.L. Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Jennifer Lopez, and Lil' Kim being just a few among them -- as well as his closest musical kin, Fat Joe and The Terror Squad. Pun's family also appears in the clip, which conveys a mood that's simultaneously solemn and celebratory.

The day after Big Pun passed away, MTV News' Elon Johnson had a chance to sit down with two of the rapper's closest associates and friends, Fat Joe and Steve Rifkind, to talk about the rapper's legacy. You'll find that interview, along with exclusive RealVideo and the full-length clip of "It's So Hard," here in our MTV News Online feature.