The Notorious Big Juicy for Throwback Thursday

The Notorious Big is considered one of the greatest rappers to ever touch the mic. Unfortunately, on March 9^th of 1997, his life was taken at the age of 24. Almost 30 years later, the Notorious Big is loved more than ever. In September 13^th, 1994, The Notorious Big released his debut album called Ready to Die. Ready to Die peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and was a commercial success. The album has gone on to sell over six million copies. It was significant for revitalizing the East Coast hip-hop scene, amid West Coast hip-hop’s commercial dominance. In 2020, it was ranked 22nd on Rolling Stone’s updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was ranked as the best hip hop album of all time.

In 2024, it was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant”. The Notorious Big released three singles from the iconic Ready to Die album. Juicy was the first single and it’s my featured Throwback Thursday track of the week. Juicy has been called one of, if not the greatest hip hop song ever. The record set the tone for what the Notorious Big was all about. Biggie Smalls released two other tracks from Ready to Die and they were Big Poppa and One More Chance. The platinum selling Big Poppa is another all-time great record and it appeared on his Greatest Hits album. The final single was One More Chance, but he did a remix from the album version. The One More Chance Remix went platinum and it’s another classic record from the album.

Biggie performed the song live at the 1995 Source Awards on August 3, 1995. There was a plethora of appearance in the video for One More Chance. There were a lot of classic albums that made my playlist this week. Straight Outta Cashville, Food & Liquor, a couple of mixtapes and Until the End of Time all were played. Check out the video for Juicy above and the track listing and stream link to Ready to Die below.

Ready to Die Track Listing

1. Intro
2. Things Done Changed
3. Gimme the Loot
4. Machine Gun Funk
5. Warning
6. Ready to Die
7. One More Chance
8. Fuck Me (Interlude)
9. The What ft. Method Man
10. Juicy
11. Everyday Struggle
12. Me & My Bitch
13. Big Poppa
14. Respect
15. Friend of Mine
16. Unbelievable
17. Suicidal Thoughts