The Notorious B.I.G. x Apple Music connect for ‘Ready To Die’ 25th Anniversary

In the words of the great NOTORIOUS B.I.G. “Who the fuck is this, pagin’ me at 5:46 in the morning? Crack of dawn and now I’m yawnin’ Wipe the cold out my eye See who’s this pagin’ me and why” – from “WARNING”.

It’s crazy to think it’s been 25 years since Ready To Die was released. Listening to the entire album today, it still sounds fresh, topics are relevant and The NOTORIOUS B.I.G. sounds empowering and in his purest form. Personally, Ready To Die is one of my favorite albums of all time, definitely number 3 on my list… maybe number 2 (don’t @ me bro!).

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Ready To Die – The estate of The Notorious B.I.G. and Apple Music collaborate to commemorate the release of the album and how it changed the trajectory of Hip-Hop forever. If there is one thing you should take from this video, listen to the point that Mister Cee made…

Biggie, single handedly brought the East Coast back. At that time in 1994 you gotta remember Snoop and Dre was kickin’ our ass! But what that Ready To Die album did for East Coast Hip-Hop and New York, kind of like took those reins back and let people know around the world… Hey we’re not done yet!” – Mister Cee

For those of you too young to remember (or weren’t even born) at the time Ready To Die came out the West Coast was the biggest thing in Hip-Hop. BIG brought it back to NY when Ready To Die came out. I was too young to realize it at that time, but Mister Cee is correct. When Snoop and Dr. Dre first came out, they shifted the publics attention to the West Coast. The combination of funk, melody and lyricism from a gangsta’s point of view was fascinating to America. At the time, the East Coast was still creating great music and incredible artists were releasing dope projects, but it seemed like the music wasn’t fully connecting with the masses. Idk I could of just been young and dumb lol, but when BIG dropped Ready To Die I remember feeling the energy shift…