Product Description

The double-CD LIFE AFTER DEATH arrives in stores, ironically and tragically, less than three weeks after the Notorious BIG was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. BiggieSmalls, as he was known, quickly became one of rap's most respected MCs after the 1994 release of his debut album, READY TO DIE. His music sparked the comeback of East Coast hip-hop, while his very being added fire to rap's over-publicisedEast-West rivalry. For some (see "Playa Hater"), Biggie's success was too much to handle, and he became a primary target in hip-hop's continuing feud. Never feeding into that war on wax, BIG chose to remain silent, until LIFE AFTER DEATH became a reality, and the situation spoke for itself.
Although song titles like "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)" eerily mirror the real-life tragedy, the music on LIFE AFTER DEATH serves to bring the Notorious BIG back to life. Asanything that he appeared on, the production (by a superstar conglomerate including Sean "Puffy" Combs and the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA) is top-notch, and his lyrical skills are razor sharp. Biggie was loved for his versatility. On "Notorious Thugs", he switches up his style to rhyme like a member of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Tracks like "Hypnotize" showcase his ability to be hardcore and commercial at the same time. Another talented rapper lost to senseless violence; BIG's winning album streak will, sadly, have to end here.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Life After Death
2. Somebody's Gotta Die
3. Hypnotize
4. Kick in the door
5. "!"@ you tonight
6. Last Day
7. I Love the dough
8. What's Beef?
9. BIG
10. B.I.G. Interlude
11. Mo money mo problems
12. Niggas bleed
13. I got a story to tell

Disc 2:

1. Notorious thugs
2. Miss U
3. Another
4. Going back to Cali
5. Ten crack commandments
6. Playa hater
7. Nasty boy
8. Sky's the limit
9. The World is filled
10. My Downfall
11. Long Kiss goodnight
12. You're nobody ('til somebody kills you)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24824 in Music
• Released on: 2005-10-03
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
The King of Brooklyn, Biggie Smalls, busted through with an instant hip-hop classic on his first album, Ready to Die, but he outdid even his standard on Life After Death, an audible, posthumous autobiography about the life of the former dope dealer. The 2-CD set revels in death, especially on "Niggaz Bleed", "Somebody's Gotta Die", and "You're Nobody ('Til Somebody Kills You)", but it's painfully clear that this chestnut-cheeked, fun-loving father of two wanted to see his kids grow up on "Sky Is the Limit" and "Miss U", both of which point to the future. The album also serves as a testament to Biggie's flexibility: he adopts Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's rapid rhyme flow and Midwestern beats when they guest on "Notorious Thugs", he positively bounces on both "Mo Money Mo Problems" and "Going Back to Cali" (guesting Eazy Mo Bee), and even kicks it Wu-Tang style when RZA shows up for "Long Kiss Goodnight". --Asondra R. Hunter

Customer Reviews

Not that good!
The problem with this album is that it is TOO POLISHED and commercial. Gone is the raw sound of Ready To Die and all we get is a bunch of poppy RnB hits.
With the wxception of Hypnotize the album is full of forgettable songs. The wordplay that Biggie uses is second to none but the production by Puffy is lame.
Yes it is an epic album and it has a lot of tracks but Puffys production doesn't suit Biggies stories.
Listen to Gimme The Loot from ready To Die and that is Biggie at his very best! Nothing comes close on this album.

You may disagree and that's fine but it's just my opinion.

His true legacy.
Most modern music fans will now only remember Notorious BIG because of P Diddy's relentless plundering of his 'friend's' catalogue, and for the many mawkish tributes he's released. It takes an album like the epic (and disturbingly prescient) Life After Death to remind us that BIG was at one point hailed as the greatest rapper in the world.

Never as prolific as his greatest rival, Tupac, Biggie took a leisurely three years to follow up his classic debut Ready To Die. An amibitious double, it covered virtually every base, and, somewhat annoyingly, featured a considerably increased Puff Daddy quotient. Puffy's omnipresence is one of the album's very few annoying points - he appears on the majority of the skits, several of the songs, produces the album and at more than one point on the otherwise magnificent 'Long Kiss Goodnight' he actually TALKS OVER Biggie's rapping.

But Puff's production is what makes the album what it is. An altogether slicker, poppier, but also somewhat darker affair than its predecessor, Life After Death is also in many ways the better album in that it has more classic songs. The deliberately catchy singles 'Hypnotise' and 'Mo' Money, Mo' Problems' benefit from the pop touch Puffy brings to the table, while the stoner haze of the excellent 'The World Is Filled' is probably the album highlight, its effortless groove underpinning Puffy's best moment on the album, or probably anywhere else.

Somewhat heartwarmingly, at a couple of points he subtly alludes to the East Coast/West Coast rivalry without dissing anyone, but on 'Going Back To Cali' he even suggests that there's nothing wrong with the West Coast at all.

On the darker side of things, Biggie's more violent, blackly comic songs are even better, the spiralling, clattering beat of 'Notorious Thugs' scaling ever greater heights with verse after verse of new guest stars; the slow groove of 'What's Beef' addressing paranoia and rap rivalries with wit and grace; and the sprightly acoustic guitar that underpins 'I've Got A Story To Tell' bringing the first disc to a comfortable close.

It's an album that isn't perfect, but its over-reach, its grandeur and its shameless polish make up for the few times when the quality control sags or Puff Daddy shoehorns himself in too much. In truth, this is the second and last Notorious BIG album you need to buy.

Heavily overated.
Not only is it overated due to the ammount of comercial pop tracks on this album 'hipnotize' 'mo money mo problems' (which ruins the album), but the album isnt that lyrically strong as people say it is.

The best tracks without a doubt on this album are 'Somebody's Gotta Die', 'You're nobody ('til somebody kills you)', 'Ten crack commandments'.
BUT, thats about it.
The album gets a bit tire some as the numerous boring beats and the constent lyrics of B.I.G. claiming that 'hes a playa', gets old.
Overall its a decent album for what it is, but it doesnt live up to the past greats of the genre. At the time of its release it didnt really bring anything new to the table lyrically in the ammount of tracks made on the album, but instead stepping directly into the light of commercial hiphop standards that still goes on today.
The album stays in hiphop history due to its sales, but nothing special comes from its foundations.

THREE STARS ***