{"id":287,"date":"2013-08-28T16:35:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T16:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=287"},"modified":"2013-08-28T16:41:08","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T16:41:08","slug":"rs-476-the-notorious-b-i-g-life-after-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/?p=287","title":{"rendered":"RS #476: The Notorious B.I.G.- Life After Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Creepy, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

#476<\/p>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n
Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a01997<\/div>\n
Previously Owned:<\/strong>\u00a0No<\/div>\n
First Time Listen:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes<\/div>\n
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Impressions:\u00a0<\/strong>I’m usually way behind on pop culture trends. I tend to wait until the clamor all dies down and then I will peruse said album, movie, tv show, book, or trend\u00a0without the glow of the excitement and hype that accompanied it in the first place. Then, if I like it, then I’ll drive everyone crazy talking about how great, say, Battlestar Galactica is when everyone else is like “where the fuck have you been?” The Notorious B.I.G’s “Life After Death” falls into this category. Let’s see if its any good… The huge windup in the beginning with”Life After Death” announces this album as an epic\u00a0in scope hip-hop masterpiece. This brand of hip -hop\/pop ruled the radio\u00a0in the late ’90s and continues to be emulated\u00a0this day. Released after B.I.G.’s death, it gives the music an added, poignant (or depressing) layer\u00a0of gravitas that might not be there if he hadn’t died. I mean, look a the title for Cripes sake, and the first song is about\u00a0B.I.G. being dead with Puff Daddy saying “you got to much livin to do”\u00a0and a flatline sound hitting your ears. Heavy. A wide range\u00a0of styles are on display, from the poppy Diana Ross sample driven “Mo Money Mo Problems” to more hardcore hip-hop “Ten Crack Commandments” to the R&B spiked “Sky’s The Limit.”\u00a0Puffy isn’t like the best producer around, but he\u00a0had good pop taste in samples.\u00a0B.I.G. is a great rapper, but\u00a0sometimes his fat, nasal voice kinda wears\u00a0me out, although he’s a great storyteller and has a sense of humor that many of his contemporaries missed out on (like on the slow jam goofoff “#!*@ You Tonight”.) \u00a0This album\u00a0like a novel or autobiography that I could see myself picking up and enjoying but I don’t see myself listening to these songs\u00a0outside of the album. They seem to make more sense as one unit. \u00a0The whole thing is compelling, kinda sad, a little long,…but still a hip-hop masterpiece.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Starred Songs:<\/strong> “Hypnotize,” “Miss\u00a0You,” “Mo Money Mo Problems,” “Sky’s The Limit”<\/div>\n
Sneaky Track:<\/strong> “Somebody’s Gotta Die”<\/div>\n
Should this album be on the\u00a0list?<\/strong> Yes
\nWill you\u00a0listen to this again:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. I could see checking in with it as a whole\u00a0album years from now.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Verdict:<\/strong>\u00a0Sprawling, varied hip-hop masterpiece shows off B.I.G.’s vision, chops, pop sense and death wish.<\/div>\n
Rating:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/div>\n
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#476 The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death\u00a0 Release Date:\u00a01997 Previously Owned:\u00a0No First Time Listen:\u00a0Yes Impressions:\u00a0I’m usually way behind on pop culture trends. I tend to wait until the clamor all dies down and then I will peruse said album, movie, tv show, book, or trend\u00a0without the glow of the excitement and hype that accompanied it … Continue reading RS #476: The Notorious B.I.G.- Life After Death<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,24,10,7,84,9],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rolling-stone-top-500-albums","tag-85","tag-4-stars","tag-first-time-listen","tag-hiphop","tag-notorious-b-i-g","tag-unowned"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/batterymedia.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}