(AllHipHop News) Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace’s Ready To Die was released on September 13, 1994. This Friday will be the 25th anniversary of that classic body of work reshaping the Hip Hop landscape.
Amazon Music commemorated the landmark Bad Boy Records album with The Birth of Biggie: 25 Years of Ready to Die. The 8-minute film includes rarely heard interview audio of Biggie from Notorious screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker.
“Waking up every morning, putting drugs in my pocket, not thinking about the police, not thinking about the stick-up man, not thinking about competition. Just doing it, every day, risking my life. So that meant that I was ready to die anyway,” explained B.I.G. about the name of his debut studio LP.
The Birth of Biggie features commentary from Wallace biographer Coker, Ready to Die producer Easy Mo Bee, and Ready to Die associate executive producer DJ Mister Cee. Rob Stone, former SVP of Promotions for Arista/Bad Boy, also makes an appearance.
Archival photos from Stone, Colin Hawkins, and Chi Modu can be seen in the documentary as well. In addition, a companion long-form audio version of The Birth of Biggie is available for streaming on Amazon Music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsna1nIZzB4
“I made the record for New York, but I want the world to hear it. I want to be that one n*gga that come in, represent, and bow down like, ‘Thank you’ll,’ Thank the crowd for having me for this long. I love y’all for that,” said Biggie.
Ready To Die established The Notorious B.I.G. as one of the top rap acts of the 1990s. It earned a 4.5 review from The Source in 1994 and was upgraded to the coveted Five Mics rating eight years later. Ready To Die has been certified 6x-Platinum by the RIAA.
The project is routinely named among the most exceptional music releases ever, including landing at #134 on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” list. “One More Chance/Stay with Me (Remix)” was the highest-debuting single of all time when it was released (#5) before peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 chart.