Which leads me to speculate stupidly… who really killed B.I.G.? I’m also struck thinking that somewhere out there on the internet there has to be some intersection between the B.I.G./2Pac conspiracy theorists and the 9/11 truthers via that line “Time to get paid / Blow up like the World Trade”, which even back in ’94 when above-ground rappers were openly fantasizing about raping women and killing cops was in incredibly poor taste. “Phone bill about two G’s flat / No need to worry, my accountant handles that / And my whole crew is lounging / Celebrating every day, no more public housing.” A worthy addition to your ’90s party this summer. But it’s also one with no illusions about the juxtaposition between the privilege of being able to luxuriate by the pool and B.I.G.’s hard origins. The placement of the swimming pool in the video is not accidental this is clearly a summer jam. I never thought this was the best track on Ready to Die and I still don’t, but listening to it again with some distance it’s clear that one of B.I.G.’s strengths was his commercial viability. I’m still on board, even if the rapping itself is a bit, well, soft. The Mtume groove that hooks the entire track, supplied by Trackmasters and Pete Rock, has now gone through the cycle where it has gone out of fashion and come back. The former may make it endure, the latter dates it some. Timothy Gabriele: A relatively optimistic song an era of nihilism and also a tune with a pretty languid flow from artists whose hardcore wares were the backbone of his identity.
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