Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie's 'Everyday Struggle' A Highlight For Lil' Cease

19 Mar 2012 18:56:53 EDT

'I was too young to understand everything in it, but I understood everything in it,' Cease tells MTV News of 1994 track.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

The Notorious B.I.G. had plenty of hit singles, like "Big Poppa" and "Hypnotize," but more often than not, his album cuts were just as memorable. He may have only given fans two albums before he died on March 9, 1997, but Biggie crafted a catalog that is still celebrated 15 years after his death. Songs like "Gimme the Loot" and "Ten Crack Commandments" resonated with fans without music videos or radio play.

Till this day, one of Lil' Cease's favorite B.I.G. songs is "Everyday Struggle," from Big's 1994 debut, Ready to Die. "I'm sure I was about 13,14," Cease said, recalling his age when his friend first tracked the record. "I was too young to understand everything in it, but I understood everything in it."

On "Everyday Struggle," the Notorious B.I.G. rapped with a hustler's remorse. Rather than brag about his crack sales, like rappers often do, Big painted a picture of the downside of the street life. He rhymed about his mother's disappointment with his lifestyle, the murder of his close friend "Two Techs" and horrific dope-fiend binges.

"I don't wanna live no mo'/ Sometimes I hear death knockin' at my front door/ I'm living every day like a hustle, another drug to juggle/ Another day, another struggle," he rapped on the hook.

"Just that right there was our story. I was out there 11, 12 years old trying to do that, trying to hustle, trying to get out there and make money," Cease said.

Lil' Cease estimates that Biggie was 19 years old when he recorded "Everyday Struggle"; to be able to paint such a vivid picture at such a young age was a rarity. "Just the music, the beat, the production and then the way Big was rhymin' — me knowing Big was only 19 years old when he was writin' all that stuff," he said. "I watched Puffy listen to it, I watched [Hot 97 DJ] Mister Cee and [former Source magazine editor] Matty C and 'em listen to it. They was lookin' at Big like he was a robot.

"It just made me feel proud because I was actually a part of that," Cease said.

Join MTV News as we celebrate the Notorious B.I.G.'s life on the 15th anniversary of his death. From now through Sunday, we'll be rolling out exclusive and commemorative content from Biggie's closest friends, collaborators and biggest fans. To join the conversation on Twitter, hit @MTVRapFix using the hashtag #biggie15.

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Notorious B.I.G. 'Locked' Lil' Kim In A Room To Prevent Jodeci Collabo

15 Mar 2012 19:11:49 EDT

'Big was very protective of me, like overprotective,' Lil Kim tells 'RapFix Live.'
By Rob Markman

In the 1990s, there was no R&B band quite like Jodeci. While Boyz II Men, with their clean-cut image, were cut from a more traditional R&B cloth, K-Ci, JoJo, Dalvin and DeVante were the bad boys of the genre. No wonder they fit in so well with rappers, collaborating with the likes of Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Redman. They almost cooked up a collaboration with Lil' Kim as well, but the Notorious B.I.G. put a stop to that.

"Big was very protective of me, like overprotective," Lil' Kim said when she appeared on the March 7 episode of "RapFix Live."

In the early '90s, Jodeci got their start at Uptown Records, where their talent was cultivated by a then-unknown Sean "Puffy" Combs — whom fans now simply call Diddy. Under the young executive's watch, the quartet released their multiplatinum 1991 debut Forever My Lady, but somewhere down the line the relationship soured.

Kim recalled one incident where she and Diddy's Bad Boy crew had a run-in with Jodeci in a hotel. "Me and Keisha from Total were in the hallway talking to Dalvin and, I think, JoJo," she remembered. "Puffy and Big were looking for us, and when they found us, Big just started draggin' me by my coat and Puff was like, 'We don't eff with them. What are y'all doin' talkin' to them?' "

Despite the incident, Jodeci later wanted to include Lil' Kim on a remix of their 1995 single "Luv U 4 Life" and offered her a lot of money to do it, but Big, who was both Kim's musical mentor and lover, vetoed the feature. "At that time, it was the beginning of my career; I hadn't seen that much money for one record," Kim recalled.

"So Big comes to where I was stayin' and he's like, 'You ain't goin' nowhere, I'm gonna go out there to see what's goin' on,' " Kim remembered of Biggie's interference while laughing. "He locks me in the room; he was like, 'Oh you ain't gonna go do no song with them.' "

Join MTV News as we celebrate the Notorious B.I.G's life on the 15th anniversary of his death. From now through March 25, we will be rolling out exclusive and commemorative content from Biggie's closest friends, collaborators and his biggest fans. To join the conversation on Twitter, hit @MTVRapFix using the hashtag #biggie15.

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Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Story To Tell' Shows He Could 'Do It All'

15 Mar 2012 15:05:29 EDT

'Big's charisma, his sense of humor is what used to catch me,' Lil' Cease tells MTV News of late rapper's prowess on the mic.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

The ability to tell a story is one of the most revered skills a rapper can possess. Slick Rick, Ice Cube, Nas and Ghostface are all heralded as master storytellers. The Notorious B.I.G. is also considered among rap's greats, thanks to his vivid collection of story raps like "Warning," "Somebody's Gotta Die" and Lil' Cease's favorite, "I Got a Story to Tell."

"My favorite record — and I still think I get the same feeling today as when he recorded it — is 'I Got a Story to Tell,' " Cease told MTV News' Sway Calloway.

The Buckwild-produced "I Got a Story to Tell" is bare-bones as far as rap tracks go. With its drum track reminiscent of MC Lyte's "Paper Thin" and its sparse acoustic guitar strokes, the song's beat is the perfect background for Big to weave his complex robbery tale. In addition to its detailed imagery, the late rapper injected a healthy dose of humor into the track; that, for Cease, is the song's greatest quality. "Me and Big used to listen to records all the time, and when I heard 'Story to Tell,' just the story line ... Big's charisma, his sense of humor is what used to catch me about him," he said. "He could take you off and on, light switch. It could be so hard and in a minute you'll be crying, laughing in tears, like, hold up, you gotta rewind that back."

On the song, Big warns against having one-night stands with women who may be married or have boyfriends. He opens by painting a club scene.

When the party is over, Biggie ends up riding home with a woman he's just met. It turns out, however, that the temptress lives with her man, an unnamed NBA basketball player. When the two are in the throes of passion, her 6'5" boyfriend comes home early, and B.I.G. is forced to tie the woman up and fake a robbery. At the end of the almost five-minute-long record, Biggie retells the story in prose.

"He didn't want anybody in that room to be confused with what he was saying, so he would explain to the room," DJ Clark Kent said of Biggie's in-studio routine.

"To be great, you have to be able to do it all, and he was just sitting there laying down the format to let you know, 'I can do it all. I can rhyme, I can do the metaphors, I can do the punch lines, I can do the stories, I can make you think, I can make you dance, I can make you chant,' " Cease said. "He made sure he balanced himself and made himself that well-rounded rapper, and 'Story to Tell' just [has] one of those feelings of being great."

Join MTV News as we celebrate the Notorious B.I.G.'s life on the 15th anniversary of his death. From now through March 25, we will be rolling out exclusive and commemorative content from Biggie's closest friends, collaborators and his biggest fans. To join the conversation on Twitter, hit @MTVRapFix using the hashtag #biggie15.

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Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Unbelievable' Was 'Perfect' Mix Of R&B, Hip-Hop

14 Mar 2012 14:38:57 EDT

'The rhymes were out of this world,' DJ Clark Kent says of the 1994 track that he says ranks among Biggie's best.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Back when record singles would carry both an A and B side, the Notorious B.I.G. took that opportunity to show off the range of his rap talent. With 1994's "Juicy," the first single off of his classic debut Ready to Die, the Brooklyn lyricist also offered another track — maybe not as catchy, but equally as captivating. If you ask B.I.G.'s friend and producer DJ Clark Kent, that track is among Biggie's greatest songs.

Produced by the highly regarded DJ Premier, "Unbelievable" mixed a thumping track and raw lyrics with an unlikely R&B sample for some head-nodding results. Back in 1994, there was still a stigma attached to mixing R&B with hard-core hip-hop, and even DJ Premier once admitted that he thought it would be a bad idea to use R. Kelly's vocals from "Your Body's Calling" for the underground song's hook. Premier initially argued that the sample wouldn't match beat he'd chopped up from the Honey Drippers' 1973 classic "Impeach the President." But in the end, it all blended perfectly.

"The record, it's so hard, the rhymes were so hard and the beat was so hard," DJ Clark Kent told Sway. "And he took R. Kelly's singing and made it a hook. How do you take something that pretty, put it on a beat that hard and then rhyme crazy and it comes out that perfect?"

To honor the late Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered 15 years ago on March 9, his protégé Lil' Cease and DJ Clark Kent, who produced classics like Jay-Z and Biggie's "Brooklyn's Finest" as well as Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Player's Anthem," sat down with MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway to talk about their all-time favorite B.I.G. tracks.

From the song's opening bars, Big planted his King of New York flag, spitting, "Live from Bedford-Stuyvesant, the livest one, representing BK to the fullest."

Later in song, Big would cleverly take a jab at rapper Kwamé's short-lived polka-dot fashion craze, ponder the age-old boxers-versus-briefs debate and proclaim himself as "the illest."

"The rhymes were out of this world, and I think the records that I love the most from Big are the records with the best rhymes, and those rhymes were just out of this world," Clark said.

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Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Just Playing' Showed His 'Greatness'

13 Mar 2012 14:36:09 EDT

Sway, Lil' Cease and DJ Clark Kent discuss the impact of the 1993 record, which pokes fun at Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

It's not just any artist who can take aim at 20 of R&B's biggest hitmakers before even dropping his first album, but that's exactly what the Notorious B.I.G. did when he dropped his promotional single "Just Playing (Dreams)" in 1993.

"As I sit back, relax, steam a blunt, sip a Beck's/ Think about the sexy singers that I want to sex," B.I.G. spit on the record before labeling Mariah Carey as "kinda scary." While Big's rhymes were delivered in jest, the risky record could've spelled doom for a rapper with less talent and potential, but 15 years after his death and almost 20 years after he recorded it, "Just Playing" remains one of his greatest tracks. " 'Dreams' was almost like a shocking record," said MTV News correspondent Sway, who sat down with Biggie's longtime friends Lil' Cease and producer DJ Clark Kent to discuss their favorite songs out of the Notorious One's catalog.

"That was his greatness, he was going to make you listen to every rhyme by saying something that crazy," said DJ Clark Kent, who produced classic records like Jay-Z and Biggie's "Brooklyn's Finest." "That's what he was about; he was the best, the best rapper ever."

Initially, the lyrics to "Just Playing (Dreams)" appeared on Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?" remix, but Big would later reuse the verse for his own promo single. Lil' Cease, the Notorious B.I.G.'s protégé, was there for most of Big's recording sessions and remembers being amused after he tracked the vocals for the unforgettable track. "I laughed more than anything, because it was funny to me," Cease recalled. "I was surprised he was saying those things on the record, but I understood where he was coming from. I've been around Big, so that was the sense of humor side of him."

For the most part, Cease said that the singers targeted, like Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan, didn't take offense to the record. Atlanta '90s R&B quartet Xscape, however, didn't appreciate the lyric where Big referred to them as "those ugly-ass Xscape bitches." While the line was a bit harsh, eventually they were able to smooth things out. "We saw them in Atlanta and Big explained to them that it was all in fun," Cease said.

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Notorious B.I.G. 15 Years Later

12 Mar 2012 14:06:40 EDT

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Diddy Chooses His Favorite Track From B.I.G.'s Life After Death

12 Mar 2012 12:41:58 EDT

'People are buying that album every day. It's a classic album,' Diddy tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman

The Notorious B.I.G. had high hopes for his second LP, Life After Death. "I want people to buy [my new] album and just straight up say, 'Yo, he's the best. He's the best ever. He's the best that ever did it,' " Biggie said in a 1997 Source magazine interview before he was murdered on March 9, 1997. Big never got to see the public's reaction to his 24-track, double-disc masterpiece — it was released on March 25, 16 days after his death.

Fifteen years and 10 million copies later, there is no denying the power of LAD. Biggie mixed inescapable singles like "Hypnotize," "Mo Money, Mo Problems" and "Sky's the Limit" with dark and brooding underground classics like "Ten Crack Commandments" and the DJ Premier-produced "Kick in the Door." Everyone has their favorites, even the Notorious B.I.G.'s friend and Bad Boy CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs.

"Aww man, Life After Death? It would probably have to be ...," Diddy responded when Sway asked him to pick his #1 LAD track while the two were on the set of a Miami video shoot in January. " 'My Downfall,' 'My Downfall' is my favorite joint."

The Hitmen-produced track is a gut-wrenching display of Brooklyn bravado. "My Downfall" is prefaced by a skit in which Biggie receives death threats over the phone, exemplifying the type of resentment that Big's success brought out in his detractors. With rap legend DMC on the song's hook and Diddy adding fiery ad libs, B.I.G. eerily pondered his own death. "Dying ain't the sh--, but it's pleasant," he rapped as if he were foretelling his own fate. It was a theme that was revisited quite a few times on the classic rap LP, particularly on the album-closing "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)."

For the album's 15-year anniversary, Diddy said he is planning to release a remastered version of Life After Death, but beyond that, not much else. "We basically gonna let it rock, we have promoted it, promoted his legacy through movies, documentaries, albums, remixed albums, new albums and now it's time for the fans to have it," he said. "On the 15th anniversary, we'll definitely make sure that there is a remastered copy out there, but besides that we're not gonna do anything extra to extra push it. People are buying that album every day. It's a classic album and they're gonna keep on buying it."

A representative from Bad Boy Records told MTV News that at press time there was no Life After Death remastered LP on the label's release schedule.

What is your favorite song from the Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death? Tell us in the comments!

Join MTV News as we celebrate the Notorious B.I.G's life on the 15th anniversary of his death. From March 9 through March 25, we will be rolling out exclusive and commemorative content from Biggie's closest friends, collaborators and his biggest fans. To join the conversation on Twitter, hit @MTVRapFix using the hashtag #biggie15.

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Notorious B.I.G. Would Have Worked With Kanye West, Lil' Kim Says

09 Mar 2012 12:04:11 EST

'He would've liked his determination,' Kim tells Sway on 'RapFix Live.'
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Few people knew the Notorious B.I.G. like Lil' Kim. The two shared a friendship, a working relationship and a romance, but when the Queen Bee sat down with Sway on Wednesday's "RapFix Live," she simply described herself as Biggie's "biggest fan."

"I was his biggest fan, rockin' with him. And I was shorty, I was his pride and joy. Sometimes he would say to me, 'I feel like you're my baby, like I birthed you,' " Kim said, laughing.

With a bond that intimate, there are few people more qualified than Kim to speculate on whom the Brooklyn Don might have collaborated with had he not died on that fateful March night. It's a question that fans have pondered for the past 15 years. "I think Kayne — I think he would've liked his determination because one thing I know about Kanye is when he wants something he will get on your nerves," Kim speculated.

Though Frank White enlisted Mobb Deep's Havoc to produce "Last Day," he never had a proper collaboration with the Queens duo. Kim thinks he would have liked that. "I know he was a big Mobb Deep fan. He liked Wu-Tang's music, I'll tell you, he liked their music despite all the craziness," she said, alluding to the feud that existed between Big and members of the Clan.

Still, Kim maintains that Biggie's favorite was Hov. "He and Jay-Z just had this adorable friendship — it was the cutest," she said. "They were so competitive with each other, but it was such a friendly competitiveness, and I loved it because that's how it's supposed to be when you like somebody."

Lil' Kim says that she feels blessed to be connected to the late rap great. "Sometimes I still don't believe I was part of that era," she admitted.

As their interview drew to a close, Sway posed a poignant final question: If there were anything you could say to Big right now, what would it be?

"I would say he did a good job, he did a good job. He should be proud of himself. He should be very proud," Kim replied. "He did some good things when he was here, I hope he looks at me and he's proud. He should be proud of the kids he made and how they turned out. He should just be proud of his work ... that he left here on earth."

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Notorious B.I.G.'s Life Celebrated On 15th Anniversary Of His Death

09 Mar 2012 06:53:08 EST

Hip-hop icon was fatally gunned down 15 years ago today at age 24.
By Rob Markman

March 9, 1997: There was absolutely nothing that could have prepared hip-hop fans for the tragic event that took place on that grim day. Then again, there was not much warning when the Notorious B.I.G. entered the hip-hop world either. Sure, there were key cameos on records with Mary J. Blige and reggae star Super Cat, but when all was said and done and B.I.G. was gunned down 15 years ago today, it became clear that rap had lost one of the great ones — perhaps the greatest one of all time.

In the beginning, Biggie Smalls wasn't even the most prominent star on his label. That position was occupied by rapper Craig Mack, whose 1994 hit single "Flava in Ya Ear" initially set the mark of Sean "Diddy" Combs' newly minted Bad Boy Records. B.I.G. was a respected lyricist, a raw rapper who at first seemed unlikely to make a mark on radio. In fact, one of his earliest singles, "Just Playing (Dreams)," poked fun at some of music's biggest hitmakers like Mariah Carey and Patti LaBelle. Then, on September 13, 1994, things done changed.

On his debut album, Ready to Die, Biggie would find an exceptional balance between the unapologetic street rhymes for which he was heralded and a newfound sense of the type of pop sensibility that radio programmers love. On "Gimme the Loot," he threatened to rob a pregnant woman for her jewelry and then managed to sweet-talk the ladies on "Big Poppa." On his "One More Chance" remix, Big described himself as "black and ugly as ever," and though he didn't possess the physique of an LL Cool J, Biggie's charm made him an unlikely sex symbol.

Ready to Die would go on to be certified platinum four times over by the RIAA, but between the bootleg copies and albums sold in largely unaccounted for mom-and-pop shops, its impact was much greater. Rappers like Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem readily admit the influence that Big's opus had on their own art.

Before dropping his second album, Biggie would branch out and start his own label with partner Lance "Un" Rivera and release an album from his group Junior M.A.F.I.A. in 1995. His sexy protégé Lil' Kim would go on to be a star in her own right.

B.I.G. had graduated. Once a street poet, the Notorious One transformed himself into a rap don. He "went from ashy to classy," he would later rap. But as B.I.G.'s celebrity grew, so did the resentment of his rival rappers. Biggie would become entangled in a lyrical tit-for-tat with onetime friend Tupac Shakur and his Cali crew over at Death Row Records. It was dubbed an East Coast/ West Coast beef. Rumors would then surface that it was the Biggie and 'Pac beef that led to the shooting and eventual death of Shakur in September 1996. Although those rumors continue to persist in certain circles, there is no evidence that Tupac's feud with Biggie led to his death.

With the hip-hop community picking up the pieces after 'Pac's death, B.I.G. continued to prepare his sophomore LP, Life After Death. On the double-disc CD (24 tracks in total), the Brooklyn don would exhibit even more musical growth. The underground spitter who at first never seemed to have a chance at radio was easily making hits with the best of them. L.A.D.'s first single, "Hypnotize," hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Big's sophomore album would go on to be certified diamond by the RIAA, selling more than 10 million copies.

Sadly, the Notorious B.I.G. didn't get to see how the world truly embraced his final album. On March 9, 1997, Christopher Wallace, the Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down at age 24 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles after leaving a Soul Train Awards afterparty at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Life After Death was released in stores 16 days later, on March 25, 1997. His murder remains unsolved.

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Red Cafe Brings Bad Boy Swag To 'RapFix Live'

18 Oct 2011 18:16:20 EDT

'Fly Together' artist will appear on 'RapFix Live' Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
By Rob Markman

Bad Boy Records has a rich tradition. Since its inception in the early 1990s, label CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs has introduced some of hip-hop's most influential artists. Of course, there was the Notorious B.I.G., the Lox, Ma$e and Black Rob. Now, Diddy is looking to launch the next generation of Bad Boy spitters like MGK and Wednesday's "RapFix Live" guest, Red Café.

The Brooklyn spitter began his career as a part of the group Da Franchise but later branched off with his solo career. Making his mark on New York's mixtape market, Red earned quite a few record deals but was never able to release his proper debut album, despite churning out a ton of notable singles like 2005's "Bling Blaow," 2008's "Paper Touchin' " and 2010's "I'm Ill."

Watch the last episode of "RapFix Live" with Irv Gotti and Method Man.

Now that he is signed to Bad Boy and Akon's Konvict Muzik in a joint venture, Café is set to release his The Shakedown album in 2012. His current single, "Fly Together," featuring Rick Ross and Ryan Leslie, is an ode to independent ladies that has begun to make waves on New York radio.

"Me and Ryan Leslie put this record together in New York," he said. "I was just excited to work with Ryan. I think Ryan is a genius. We did two days in the studio. The first day we was just vibing, just to like, just try to connect and get each other's vibe. And the second day we went in there and we created this record, and immediately I heard Ross' voice on there — I'm just a fan of what Ross do — and I reached out to him and played him the joint, and he loved it."

Catch Red Café on "RapFix Live" on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com!

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