Photo: Bad Boy Records
It's been nearly 30 years since The Notorious B.I.G. officially broke on the rap scene with his revered debut album.
On September 13, 1994, Biggie Smalls delivered his first studio album Ready To Die via Bad Boy Records/Arista Records. The album was led by its first single "Juicy" followed by other hits like "Big Poppa" and "One More Chance." The Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn native recruited an army of producers to cook up the album like Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, Lord Finesse and Sean "Diddy" Combs (formerly known as "Puffy"). The album went on to become one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.
At the time, Biggie's first album sold 57,000 copies in its first week, but its popularity continued to skyrocket. Within two month of its release, Ready To Die hit gold status. A year later, the LP was certified platinum. As of 2018, the album had gone 6x platinum. Several songs from the LP also went on to become massive chart-topping hits. "Big Poppa" even helped Biggie land his first-ever Grammy nomination for "Best Rap Solo Performance."
Unfortunately, Ready To Die would also become the only album The Notorious B.I.G. released while he was alive. The rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed just two weeks before he released his second LP Life After Death.
Not only did he find plenty of success with the album while he was with us, but Biggie also went on to inspire generations of rap artists even after his death. JAY-Z, Nas, J. Cole and more lyricists have cited Biggie's influence in their own music. There are also numerous other references to songs and lyrics from Ready To Die that continue to pop up in other artist's music today.
Revisit The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready To Die album below.