Ready To Die - Notorious BIG (1994)
Ideated from: a Black History Month reminder that black artists largely built the modern world of music
Biggie was amazing. He had a gift for rhyming and storytelling like the best songwriters in history, and brought so much style and swagger to his tracks that he really didn’t need much else.
The tracks are minimal, but they don’t get in the way of the flow. That flow is harrowing and eyebrow-raising (and occasionally laughably old school and anachronistic). But the delivery is always on point. His line hit like a snare drum, creating polyrhythms with the beats and samples. They also bring you into Biggie’s world, with an internal logic that might seem foreign but you understand immediately. It’s a feat few rappers can accomplish.
