Alright, first up is this joint off of Tracey Lee’s debut 1997 album, Many Facez which featured a couple verses from the Notorious B.I.G. Coincidentally The Buchanans flipped the same sample six years later for Jay-Z on What More Can I Say off The Black Album.
Keep Your Hands High – Tracey Lee Feat. Biggie Smalls
Next up is a personal favorite of mine which got much play on the old boombox, taken from Funkmaster Flex’s 60 Minutes of Funk Volume 2. This one if you’ve never heard it is a must-have, featuring The Lox & Biggie over RZA‘s classic C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) instrumental.
Biggie & Lox Freestyle Funk Flex
Big was the shit on R & B jams too which is evident on this Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat heater for the Bad Boys Soundtrack in 95. B-I-G glides effortlessly over that polished So So Def production like no other, plus the classic Gap Band sample ties it together oh so smoothly.
Da B-Side – Da Brat & Jermaine Dupri Feat. Notorious B.I.G.
What happened between 2pac and Biggie was truly a shakesperian-like tragedy, one time friends turned enemies over petty disputes and miscommunication. Two icons that propelled each other to heights unseen in Hip-Hop before and probably will never be seen again. Listening to the original version of Runnin (not Eminem’s 2003 remix) makes me wonder what a Pac/Big reunion would’ve sounded like in 2010. “Nothing sadder in life than wasted talent”
Runnin – 2pac Feat. Biggie Smalls & The Outlawz
In case you missed it, Notorious B.I.G. 2009 tribute
Filed under: Classics Don't Sleep | Tagged: 2pac, 60 Minutes of Funk, bad boy, Bad Boys Soundtrack, Bedford Stuyvesant, Big Poppa, Biggie Smalls, Brooklyn, C.R.E.A.M., Cash Rules, Christopher Wallace, Da B Side, da brat, Eminem, frank white, Funkmaster Flex, Jay-Z, jermaine dupri, Keep your Hands High, Many Facez, Notorious B.I.G., Outlawz, puff daddy, Runnin, Rza, So So Def, The Black Album, The Buchanans, The Lox, Tracey Lee, What More Can I Say, WTC, Wu-Tang | 4 Comments »