He had an ability that very few have (Eminem & Nas have it, and Kendrick has shown flashes) of painting incredibly vivid stories with his words, and doing it in a very concise way. Most 90’s hip hop still sounds good today, but Biggie’s lyrics just jump out the speakers still when you hear them. The great thing about Biggie’s music like I said though, is just how well it holds up.
It’s just too bad that Biggie’s pace of work was slow and prevented him from having more material, but again-that’s just the selfish fan in me saying that. Born Again showed just how empty the cupboard was for unreleased Biggie because half the songs contained verses that had been used in previously released songs. Yes, he was in Junior Mafia and featured on a number of songs, and destroyed every track he guested on, but selfishly, us Biggie fans really wish there could have been another studio album that he could have made. With only two real albums, Ready To Die and Life After Death, there’s only a little under three hours of official content that the Notorious B.I.G. Unlike his friend-turned-rival Tupac, Biggie did not have a prolific output of music, and although his legacy has been able to make up for it by having pretty much every song he ever made be on point (besides probably “Another” and “Nasty Boy”), there’s just not enough material. The problem though is, and the main reasoning on why Biggie is seen as overvalued by some, is that it’s become more obvious as the years have passed just how small his catalogue of music is. His music itself is timeless, and hasn’t shown any signs of wear or datedness, and that is due to his talent, lyrical ability, and the production value of his songs. We are five years removed from the movie, seven years removed from the last album put out by Bad Boy ( Greatest Hits), and nearly 15 years out from an album that had relatively new material ( Born Again) Through all these years, Biggie’s popularity hasn’t really diminished, and it’s pretty remarkable at how revered he still is and how emulated he is. And as it stands today, the Notorious B.I.G. I blogged nearly four years ago the influence that Biggie Smalls music has had on me and my life, especially taste in music.