The Daily 90s Breakdown: Notorious B.I.G. - Kick In The Door
(Note: I’ll go back to writing long posts when the Yankees go back to winning games so that my PBR hangovers are worthwhile.)
What can be said about Biggie Smalls that hasn’t already been said? Brooklyn’s finest. One of the greatest hip hop lyricists to ever live. And, well, second best rapper ever.
Whaaaa?
Sorry folks, not even my NYC homerism can’t get past the fact that NYC-born, West Coast representin’ 2Pac is the greatest rapper who ever lived. And Jay-Z, as good as he is, plays constant catch-up to those two.
Just like in the rock discussion yesterday, hip hop and rap had already been established prior to the 1990s, but were reinvented and revolutionized through the course of the decade. Here’s just a short list of what hadn’t existed before the 1990s:
- Biggie Smalls
- 2Pac
- Jay-Z
- Dr. Dre (as a solo act)
- Snoop Dogg
- Eminem
- Death Row Records
- Bad Boy Records
- Busta Rhymes
- Big Pun
- Bone Thugs n’ Harmony
- Outkast
- A Tribe Called Quest
- The Black Eyed Peas
I’m tired of filling out this list. You get the idea. Rap exploded in the 90s. R&B exploded in the 90s. The whole East Coast / West Coast feud happened in the 90s. Gangsta rap arrived in the 90s. We finally found some good white rappers in the 90s. We found a lot more great female rappers in the 90s. (I mean, before the 90s it was Salt, Pepa, and Queen Latifah) There is no doubt that the seeds for hip hop’s future growth were planted in the 80s, but it was in the 90s when hip hop florished.
Sadly, and maybe this is just my opinion, things haven’t been the same this decade. Thank god for Jay-Z and Eminem, but the rest? Ick. (And yes, I’m baiting all of you) With that in mind, I cherish the gifts we’ve had from the 1990s even more.
BTW, and as I just demonstrated the other night, I can walk into any party and spruce it up by plugging in my iPod and queuing up Biggie’s “Ready To Die” album. Seriously. I chose “Kick In The Door” because I think it’s fun yet brutal (and because, really, when’s the last time you’ve heard a good intro track? Loved hearing the Mad Rapper and all the other great intro tracks that were popular back in the late 90’s but seem to be lost in this age of record-less music consumption). But if I had to pick favorites, it would be a tough decision between “Who Shot Ya” and “Gimme Tha Loot”.
