Life After Death Explained

Life After Death
Type:studio
Artist:the Notorious B.I.G.
Cover:NotoriousB.I.G.LifeAfterDeath.jpg
Alt:The Notorious B.I.G. (wearing a long black coat and a black bowler hat) is seen standing next to a funeral motorcade. The album's title "Life after death" is painted on the motorcade's trunk. It's license plate bears the name "B.I.G." on it.
Recorded:1995–1997
Studio:
Genre:
Length:
  • 120:39
  • 59:42 (censored version)
Prev Title:Ready to Die
Prev Year:1994
Next Title:Born Again
Next Year:1999

Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., released on March 25, 1997, on Bad Boy Records and Arista Records.[4] A double album, it was released sixteen days after his murder. It features collaborations with guest artists such as 112, Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, Mase, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Too $hort, Angela Winbush, D.M.C. of Run-D.M.C., R. Kelly, the Lox, and Puff Daddy. Life After Death exhibits the Notorious B.I.G. further delving into the mafioso rap subgenre. The album is a sequel to his first album, Ready to Die, and picks up where the last song, "Suicidal Thoughts", ends.

Life After Death sold 690,000 copies in its first week, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It received widespread critical acclaim upon release and was nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for its first single "Hypnotize", and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its second single "Mo Money Mo Problems" at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. The album is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. In 2020, it was ranked at No. 179 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[5] [6]

Background

Two and a half years before the album's release, the Notorious B.I.G., who had married Faith Evans, became East Coast's icon in the East CoastWest Coast rivalry and featured on albums by Michael Jackson and R. Kelly amongst others. The album had numerous planned release dates, but Biggie was involved in a car accident in September 1996 that delayed the finalizing of the album. It was pushed back to 1997.

As he explained on BET's Rap City, Biggie aimed to reach a wider audience with Life After Death, collaborating with a wider variety of artists than on his debut. In addition to Bad Boy labelmates Mase, the LOX and 112, and label owner Puff Daddy, guests include Jay-Z, Angela Winbush, Too Short, Lil Kim, & Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. A record with Bay Area rapper E-40 was not included on the final track listing.

Production was handled by DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Havoc, RZA, Stevie J and other members of Bad Boy's in-house team, the Hitmen. Q-Tip submitted a beat, which Biggie enjoyed; however, the album had already been completed and turned into Bad Boy.[7] The beat was later used for A Tribe Called Quest's song "The Love", from their 1998 album The Love Movement.[7]

Biggie traveled to the West Coast in February 1997 to promote the album, and shoot the video for the lead single, "Hypnotize." Two weeks before its release, on March 9, he was shot four times in a drive-by shooting and later pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Critical reception

Life After Death received widespread acclaim from critics upon release. Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the album as "flaunting affluence with a leisurely swagger, midtempo grooves and calmly arrogant raps".[8] Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone magazine called it a "conscious continuation of Ready to Die", and stated "Life After Death captures crime's undeniable glamour but doesn't stint on the fear, desperation and irretrievable loss that the streets inevitably exact". Cheo Hodari Coker from the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Life After Death reflects both the dark and the heartfelt sides of the rapper's Gemini personality. It's not only a complex testament to who he was in his private life, but also a demonstration of his amazing rhyming ability. In key moments, B.I.G. does a marvelous job of surfing between accessible music fare tailored for the radio, and more challenging material that will be savored by hard-core rap fans who have long admired B.I.G.'s microphone skills. Rarely has a rapper attempted to please so many different audiences and done it so brilliantly". In a five-mic review for The Source, Michael A. Gonzales felt that it would "undoubtedly become a classic to any true hip-hop fan".[9] Although David Browne of Entertainment Weekly was unfavorable of the album's long length, and some of its violent and materialistic content, he commended Notorious B.I.G.'s "bicoastal respect" by working with other hip-hop styles and artists from other regions of the United States.

Retrospect

Since its release, Life After Death has received retrospective acclaim from critics. Rob Sheffield, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), called it "a filler-free two-disc rush of musical bravado" and commented that the Notorious B.I.G.'s voice and lyrics were "deeper" than before. AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier wrote, "It may have taken the Notorious B.I.G. a few years to follow up his milestone debut, Ready to Die, with another album, but when he did return with Life After Death, he did so in a huge way. The ambitious album, intended as somewhat of a sequel to Ready to Die, picked up where its predecessor left off." Birchmeier further said, "Over the course of only two albums, he achieved every success imaginable, perhaps none greater than this unabashedly over-reaching success." Evan McGarvey of Stylus magazine wrote in his review, "Life After Death is a grand exercise in personal mythology, narrative sweep, and truly diverse, universal pop excellence. As a double album it is the very definition of cinematic; it essentially perfected the concept and standard in hip-hop ... Sequenced as an unpacking of sorts, the album's progression from song to song is an essay itself."[10] In 2013, VIBE named Life After Death the greatest Hip-Hop/R&B album since 1993.[11]

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
About.comUnited States100 Greatest Hip Hop Albums200840[12]
Best Rap Albums of 19971[13]
Addicted to NoiseAlbums of the Year19977
BlenderThe 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time200225[14]
Ego TripHip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980–199819991[15]
The FaceUnited KingdomAlbums of the Year199720
FnacFranceThe 1000 Best Albums of All Time2008858
Hip Hop ConnectionUnited KingdomThe 100 Greatest Rap Albums 1995–2005200614[16]
The New NationUnited KingdomTop 100 Albums by Black Artists200560
OOR MoordlijstNetherlandsAlbums of the Year199787
Pure PopMexico18
QUnited Kingdom
Rolling StoneUnited States500 Greatest Albums of All Time2003483[17]
2012476[18]
2020179[19]
100 Best Albums of the '90s201066[20]
The Essential Recordings of the '90s1999[21]
The SourceThe 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time1998[22]
SpexGermanyAlbums of the Year199719
SpinUnited States7[23]
(various writers)50 Years of Great Recordings2006[24]
Vibe51 Essential Albums2004[25]
150 Albums That Define the Vibe Era (1992–2007)2007[26]
Village VoicePazz & Jop199713[27]

Commercial performance

Life After Death was released to a significant amount of critical praise and commercial success. The album sold 690,000 copies in its first week.[28] In 2000, the album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[29] denoting shipment of 10 million copies (the threshold for double albums) and it has been credited as one of the best-selling rap albums of all time. It also made the largest jump to number one on the Billboard 200 chart in history, jumping from number 176 to number one in one week. Also, it spent four weeks at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and topped the Billboard Year-End chart as a Billboard 200 for 1997.[30]

It spent its four consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 from the weeks of April 12 to May 3, 1997, later being bombarded from the top entry by singer Mary J. Blige's third studio album, Share My World, which released on April 22.[31]

Legacy and influence

Although released in the wake of B.I.G.'s fatal shooting, Life After Death signaled a stylistic change in gangsta rap as it crossed to the commercial mainstream. After Life After Death, Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records continued to bring pop and gangsta rap closer together: the references to violence and drug dealing remained, as did the "gangsta" rhetoric, but the previously dark production changed to a cleaner, sample-heavy, more upbeat sound that was fashioned for the pop charts, as seen in the single "Mo Money Mo Problems". The Notorious B.I.G. is often credited with initiating this transition, as he was among the first mainstream rappers to produce albums with a calculated attempt to include both gritty and realistic gangsta narratives as well as radio-friendly productions.

The majority of the album was produced by Steven "Stevie J" Jordan, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Carlos "July Six" Broady, Ron Lawrence, and Nashiem Myrick. However, notable hip-hop producers such as Easy Mo Bee, Havoc from Mobb Deep, DJ Premier and RZA from Wu-Tang Clan contributed beats.

Various artists were specifically influenced by songs on Life After Death. Evidence's "Down in New York City" is essentially "Going Back to Cali" from the perspective of a West Coast hip hop artist. Jay-Z borrows four bars from "The World Is Filled..." in his song "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)", as well as the chorus from his song "Squeeze first" from "Hypnotize", a line in "The Ruler's Back" from "Kick in the Door" and "You're Nobody ('Til Somebody Kills You)" on "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". Ice Cube borrows the chorus from "Kick in the Door" for his song "Child Support". As with B.I.G.'s "I Love the Dough" Monica's 2010 song "Everything to Me" samples "I Love You More" by René & Angela. The official remix includes a verse from B.I.G. that originally appeared on "I Love the Dough". SWV sampled "Ten Crack Commandments" on the opening track "Someone" featuring B.I.G.'s former protege and friend Puff Daddy. The French rapper Rohff named his album "La Vie Avant La Mort" (Life Before Death) (2001) as a tribute to B.I.G, Joey Badass interpolated the lines 'Kick in the Door' on "Super Predator" from All-Amerikkkan Badass (2017).

Track listing

Credits adapted from Life After Death liner notes.[32]

Disc one notes

Disc two notes

Personnel

Performers

Production

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1997)Position
US Billboard 200[34] 8
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[35] 1
Chart (1998)Position
US Billboard 200[36] 112
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[37] 79

Decade-end charts

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gangsta rap revels in Life After Death . . April 11, 1997 . November 26, 2019.
  2. Web site: Sidney Madden. Today in Hip-Hop: The Notorious B.I.G. Drops Life After Death Album. XXL Magazine. March 25, 2015. November 23, 2019.
  3. Web site: MTV News Staff. BIGGIE LP FIRST HARDCORE DIAMOND ALBUM. https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003735/http://www.mtv.com/news/620890/biggie-lp-first-hardcore-diamond-album/. dead. January 7, 2021. MTV News. February 1, 2000. November 23, 2019.
  4. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020.
  5. 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. 2012. Rolling Stone. September 2, 2019.
  6. https://www.vibe.com/gallery/full-clip-q-tip-runs-down-his-music-catalogue-ft-tribe-de-la-soul-nas-biggie-roots/one-love-nas-q-tip/ Full Clip: Q-Tip Runs Down His Music Catalogue Ft. Tribe, De La Soul, Nas, Biggie, The Roots, Dilla & More!
  7. News: Swaggering in Death's Face Till the End . . March 30, 1997 . November 8, 2009 . Pareles . Jon . Jon Pareles.
  8. Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death ... Till Death Do Us Part (Bad Boy/Arista) . . 92 . May 1997 . October 14, 2011 . Gonzales . Michael A. . 79.
  9. McGarvey, Evan (September 11, 2007). "Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death – The Diamond" . Stylus. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  10. The Greatest 50 Albums Since '93. Vibe. April 18, 2013. August 7, 2023.
  11. Web site: The Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of all Time . Rap.about.com . January 6, 2012 . February 28, 2012 . April 17, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150417024027/http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/ss/Top100RapAlbums_7.htm . dead .
  12. Adaso, Henry. "Best Rap Albums of 1997" . about.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  13. I Am A Capitalist! – The 100 Greatest American Albums of All Time. Blender. February 2002. 5. https://web.archive.org/web/20020602181215/http://blender.com/articles/issue5/100_greatest.html. June 2, 2002. Dennis Publishing Ltd. November 10, 2023.
  14. Book: Sacha. Jenkins. Sacha Jenkins. Elliott. Wilson. Elliott Wilson (journalist). Jeff "Chairman". Mao. Gabriel. Alvarez. Brent. Rollins. 1999. Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. Hip Hop's Greatest Albums by Year: 1997. St. Martin's Press. 336. 0-312-24298-0.
  15. . Top Albums 1995–2005. March 2006. 198. Hip-Hop Connection. 45–74.
  16. . The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. New York. 176. December 11, 2003. 937.
  17. Web site: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. December 9, 2023. May 31, 2009.
  18. Web site: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. December 9, 2023. September 22, 2020.
  19. Book: Jann S.. Wenner. Jann Wenner. The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked. 2010. HarperCollins. 978-0-06-177920-6.
  20. . The Essential Recordings of the '90s. Rolling Stone. New York. 77. May 13, 1999. 812.
  21. . 100 Best Albums: The Top Hip-Hop LP's of All Time. The Source. New York. 24–28. January 1998. 100.
  22. . Top 20 Albums of the Year. January 1998. 14. 1. Spin. New York. 86. December 9, 2023.
  23. Book: Albums: 50 Years of Great Recordings . 2006 . Quantum . London . 283 . 31881026M.
  24. . 51 Essential Albums. Vibe. New York. 208. September 2004. 12. 9.
  25. . The 150 Albums That Define the Vibe Era. Vibe. New York. 210. March 2007.
  26. Web site: The 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Robert Christgau. October 20, 2023.
  27. Web site: Check Out How Biggie's Life After Death Was Made. XXL . April 15, 2014.
  28. Web site: RIAA – Gold & Platinum Database . . April 15, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130725044833/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond . July 25, 2013 .
  29. Web site: Information Not Found . https://web.archive.org/web/20061020160846/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Top+R%26B%2FHip-Hop+Albums&g=Year-end+Albums&year=1997 . dead . October 20, 2006 . Billboard.com . February 28, 2012.
  30. Web site: Cabison . Rosalie . 2013-01-02 . Billboard 200™ . 2023-11-18 . Billboard . en-US.
  31. http://www.rapmusicguide.com/item/11184/Notorious_B.I.G._Life_After_Death.html Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death: first Press. CD
  32. 206.
  33. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997. Billboard. December 30, 2020.
  34. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1997. Billboard. January 2, 2013. December 30, 2020.
  35. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1998. Billboard. January 2, 2013. December 30, 2020.
  36. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1998. Billboard. January 2, 2013. December 30, 2020.
  37. Geoff Mayfield . 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s . . December 25, 1999 . October 15, 2010.