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Ready to Die

by The Notorious B.I.G.

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During the Reagan era of "all-for-me" economics, MCs like Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap painted pictures of silky rap gangsterism, inspired by movies like The Mack and Superfly. Out of the post-Reagan rubble came Notorious B.I.G.'s debut, the "Hustler" reality-trip Ready to Die (also the LP debut for beat-thief producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs). Biggie still rhymes about the gold, the Moet, and the ladies, but also reveals the casualties on the road from struggler to hustler to player. "Juicy" sets up Biggie's rags-to-riches story, but then the curtain gets pulled back, with unapologetic, hardcore tracks like "Gimme the Loot" and "Machine Gun Funk." It's a funky album (just try not throwing your hands in the air when you hear "Big Poppa"), and it's a powerful album--possibly even the Mayflower of 1990s East Coast "Hustler" rap. --Todd Levin