The hits made them stars, but the deep cuts made us fans! See if you know any of these "B-Side Bangers" by The Notorious B.I.G.
With every passing year since 1997, hip-hop as a whole has never quite come to grips with the premature loss of rap king The Notorious B.I.G., also known to many simply as Biggie.
As we come to a day where many will be remembering his great gift of lyricism, there will never be a birthday that goes by where we don’t wonder how much greater the game would be right now with Christopher Wallace still around.
RELATED: B.I.G. Forever – 25 Deep Cuts To Honor Biggie On The Anniversary Of His Death
With just two studio albums to his name, one he unfortunately died just two weeks prior to its release, you’d be surprised at how much he was able to record paired with the expertise he brought to each and every session. Guest features, mixtape drops and even live performances all were good enough to be released as singles; thankfully, it resulted in a vault of deep cuts to balance out the chart-topping singles and greatest hits we all know and love.
As we join rap fans today in celebrating Biggie’s would-be 54th birthday (May 21), take a bigger look into his catalog by checking out a roundup of his best deep cuts. Even though his time here was brief, this list stands as a testament that he had so much more to give.
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*Contains a sample from “Still Can’t Stop the Reign (Album Version)” by Shaquille O’Neal.
*Contains sample from “My Downfall” off Life After Death (1997).
*Contains samples from “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)” off Life After Death (1997) and “Come On” off Born Again (1999).
*Contains a sample from “Stop The Brakes” (1994). It’s believed that 2Pac recorded his verse just hours before the infamous 1994 shooting at Quad Studios.
*Contains sample from “Niggas Bleed” and “Somebody’s Gotta Die” off Life After Death (1997).
*Includes previously unreleased verse.
*Contains a sample of “Dead Wrong” from Born Again (1999).
*Contains sample from the original version of “The What” off Ready To Die (1994).
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