Black History Music Pt. 4
In celebration of Black History Month, the Ear Candy Update intends to celebrate landmark recordings by black artists that have shaped the collective consciousness, mentality, and sense of cool the world over. Next, The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ready to Die."
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump but now they blast, right?"
As he was reminiscing about days gone by and the changes inherent in the world, Christopher Wallace changed hip hop and the topography of rap music as a whole. He also sold a metric fuck ton of records, proving rap was no passing fad, as much as conservative white America hoped it would be.
First of all, this record thumps from start to finish. Biggie moves seamlessly through the 16 tracks (we're not counting the intro) with wit, charisma, and personality. Through dark, downshifts in seedy alleys and unrelenting doom around every corner, self-confessional tracks that break the heart, and genuine comedy, Biggie piles rhymes on top of rhymes with a unique vulnerability unmatched except, maybe, possibly by Tupac, and we'll get to him in the coming days.
Even the cover art shocked - a young child, barely past infancy, sporting an afro and proclaiming he's ready for his life to end. Biggie packed it all in here. This album paid homage to the Boom Bap era, ushered in the revitalized East Coast for the Gangsta era, and brought storytelling back to the forefront. The samples come from a grand tradition of head-nodding - The Ohio Players, Big Daddy Kane, Willie Hutch, James Brown, the Isley Brothers, Mtume, Isaac Hayes, Miles Davis, and The Jackson Five - so even the old heads could feel it.
The Notorious B.I.G. was so deeply in tune with his own reality his code of ethics (skewed as it may have been) prevented him from anything but merciless honesty. The impact was beyond massive. All the white, conservative Americans who were already afraid had teenagers dancing and nodding their heads to "Ready to Die" through their headphones and CD players. Thanks to MTV and censored radio, the album spread through America with the speed of a late-night bullet. The 21-year-old kid called it: things done changed.
The Notorious B.I.G. was so deeply in tune with his own reality his code of ethics (skewed as it may have been) prevented him from anything but merciless honesty. The impact was beyond massive. All the white, conservative Americans who were already afraid had teenagers dancing and nodding their heads to "Ready to Die" through their headphones and CD players. Thanks to MTV and censored radio, the album spread through America with the speed of a late-night bullet. The 21-year-old kid called it: things done changed.
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