The Notorious B.I.G — Life After Death

25 years after the release of Biggie’s double album, it still remains in high regards in terms of its sound and lyricism. Showcasing why Biggie is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

With only two albums Biggie’s impact is outstanding and his ability to follow up his debut album, “Ready to Die”, proves how great of an artist the Brooklyn native was. As a double album “Life After Death” provides you different sounds and moods, it can be a rollercoaster of emotions from dark vivid story telling on “Somebody’s Got to Die” to cheerful triumphant anthems such as “Sky’s the Limit”. “Life After Death” not only provides street tales, but also the harsh reality that comes with success as a rapper. It represents Biggie’s transition of leaving the streets behind to now becoming a successful rapper, from the black hoodie and black Timbs to the Versace and DKNY.

Disc one and arguably the better disc when comparing the two, starts off brilliantly with “Somebody’s Got to Die” a dark tale centred around revenge that culminates with a shocking ending. The song is a huge example as to why Biggie’s storytelling is one of the best. As his storytelling was impeccable, Biggie was also talented in making great singles and this is where Biggie was most iconic. Similar to iconic records of “Juicy” and “Big Poppa” that “Ready to Die” possessed, “Life After Death” isn’t short of iconic singles either. The first two singles “Hypnotize” and “Mo Money Mo Problems” are Biggie’s two only number one records and it started Bad Boy’s run of chart topping success in 1997. They are two iconic and legendary Hip-Hop singles that still get played to this day, to which you also have to give credit to Diddy’s brilliance and his influence on Biggie’s commercial success.

Delivering a double album is a difficult feat and many have failed, however whilst others failed “Life After Death” is an example of how to do it well. Though there are some questionable choices in terms of sequencing that can throw you off as a listener. As said before, “Life After Death” is a rollercoaster of emotions, one second you’re enjoying yourself to the up-beat tempo of “I Love the Dough” and the next thing you know you’re brought back down with Biggie telling you what real beef is on “What’s Beef?". Each track is great on it’s own, however when put next to each other it can really be overwhelming at times. The worst example of it is on Disc two, between track two “Miss U” featuring 112 and track three “Another” featuring Lil Kim. “Miss U” is a slow and sombre track that touches on the people Biggie lost during his life, but as soon as the song finishes all of sudden you hear Biggie and Lil Kim cursing each other out during the start of “Another”. It completely catches you off guard and the transition between the two songs just doesn’t make sense.

Though not as good as the first disc, as mentioned prior, disc two still deserves its respect. Similar to the first disc the second starts of extremely well, as Biggie trades verses and flows with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony; both acts bringing the best out of each other as it’s both Biggie’s and Bone Thug’s best verses ever recorded. The exceptional lyricism continues throughout the second half of the LP, with tracks such as “Ten Crack Commandments” and “Long Kiss Goodnight”. Though it must be mentioned that “Playa Hater” which lies between both tracks is the worst track off the album, as it’s a four minute song where Biggie sings terribly. It’s clearly made for comical reasons, however similar to the “Jealous Guy” off of Mase’s “Harlem World” it’s a waste of space on the album and isn’t that funny. Disc two and the album itself finishes off with “You’re Nobody (Till Somebody Kills You)”, 25 years later it’s still eerie and difficult to listen to since we know what occurred to Biggie right before this album dropped, however it cannot be ignored how great the song is with its fantastic production from Stevie J and the obvious impeccable lyricism and flow from Biggie.

In conclusion, aside from the small critiques “Life After Death” is still one of the best sophomore albums in rap history and the fact that Biggie pulled it off with a double album is even more impressive. It does unfortunately leave you wondering and asking yourself what if, however two albums was enough to put Biggie among the greats and after 25 years it’s difficult to find a top 5 list without his name in it. R.I.P. Christopher Wallace.