During his life the Notorious B.I.G. was always looking over his shoulder. Whether he was on the streets dealing drugs — which he did before hitting it big — or living life as a successful rapper, Biggie always feared for his safety. This week back in 1995, just when his LP Ready to Die was breaking, and soon after rival rapper Tupac Shakur had sustained gunshot wounds in the lobby of a recording studio, Biggie spoke about what it was like to wake up in his world.

"When I was in the 'hood and I'm hustling and a car pulled up staring, I'd probably grip up on my joint not knowing what's the deal," Biggie said. "But now, being a rapper, a car pulls up, it could be a fan. They could want an autograph. It's kind of shaky but it's cool."

Biggie said that the album title Ready to Die reflected his own reality, especially after Tupac was wounded.

"I mean, that's real. I think about that every day, every day. It's real. That's how real it is. I think somebody's trying to kill me. I be waking up paranoid. I be really scared."

The rapper said that no matter how his career in hip-hop fared, he had no interest in returning to the street scams and dope deals of his youth. "I hopped out of the game because it don't bring nothing but death," he said.

Cocksure Brit pop rockers Oasis began their attempted U.S. invasion seven years ago this week. With their debut album, Definitely Maybe, a hot item in the U.K., the lads hoped to let Americans know what they were missing.

"[Definitely Maybe] is in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' now as the fastest [selling] debut album of all time," guitarist Noel Gallagher claimed. "When you think about it, that means, of all times, that means faster than the Beatles and stuff like that, quite proud of that."

"I'm not surprised by anything. We're the best band," singer Liam Gallagher chimed in.

"I think that America has had enough of people telling them how crap their lives are and I think that when they listen to our records, we just tell them how good their lives could be. But then you get people like Eddie Vedder, who's ... what's the point? Why is he abundantly so pissed off? Why don't you just go work in a car wash? Being famous is great."

Being famous is what up-and-coming actors Liv Tyler and Leonardo DiCaprio were just getting a taste of back in February 1995. Tyler was making the transition from model to actress, and DiCaprio was appearing in the Sharon Stone flick "The Quick and the Dead."

MTV News caught up with Tyler on the set of one of her early films, "Empire Records," where she talked about how she was very much over modeling.

"It's just very external, and it's difficult to have to think about how your appearance is all the time and how much you weigh," Tyler said. "It's much more interesting to be playing a human being as opposed to a mannequin."

DiCaprio, on a movie set in Paris, groused about the French grub.

"I know the French people claim their food is the best in the world but it's not. It's a lot of cheese and a lot of crêpes but Italian food is the best."

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