24 years ago on March 9th 1997 we lost one of the greatest rappers, The Notorious B.I.G. I have always mentioned that Biggie will always be one of my favourite rappers of all time! His flow, delivery and energy is still unforgettable. To have music still affect, inspire and entertain people so long after your death is a real privilege. If you were to ask someone what their favourite Biggie song was, I’m sure they will struggle to narrow it down to only 1!! It’s hard to imagine how much further he could have gone if he was given much more time on this earth!
I haven’t checked out the Biggie documentary that is currently out on Netflix but I will give it a try! This week’s #TuneTuesday is one of the many Biggie hits, “Sky’s the Limit” featuring 112. The song is a great song to describe Biggie. Each verse on the song describes and portrays different parts of Biggie’s life. The intro of the track also contains a clip of Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace.
R.I.P. Biggie!
In other news, March 9th is also Bow Wow’s birthday! Bow Wow was my childhood crush and I am still a huge fan of his previous music! If you haven’t, check out my earlier appreciation post on him:
In honor of Throwback Thursday, today’s theme is dedicated to hits from the Bad Boy franchise! The Label was founded by Diddy in 1993 and is one of the most known African American labels. The label is the home for so many greats including Biggie, Mase, Lil Kim, 112 and many more. During the 90s, it’s safe to say this label dominated many of the charts and even in 2019 are still consistent!! When you think about some of the hits released from Bad Boy, they were pioneers in the rap and hip hop scene. Even till today, their songs are being used as samples . I have left out songs originally by Biggie as I have previously written a post just for him and wanted to focus on some of the other Bad Boy artists.
Here are just a few classic hits from the Baaaaaaaaad Boooooooooyyyyy franchise!
Craig Mack – Flava In Ya Ear Ft. Biggie, LL Cool J, Rampage and Busta Rhymes. (1994)
The original of this song was actually the first song released from the Bad Boy label. The remix is my favourite version. The song contains a sample of “We’ve Only Just Begun” by O’Donel Levy. However, this song was also sampled in the Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule single, “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix),” as well as the song “Don’t Leave Me” from the Backstreet Boys. R.I.P Craig Mack!!
Mase – Lookin’ at Me Ft. Puff Daddy (Diddy) (1998)
‘Lookin at Me’ was the 3rd and final single released from Mase’s debut album ‘Harlem World’. The song was produced and features Diddy (he was known as Puff Daddy at the time). The song is based on the idea that when these men go to the club with their ladies, their “ops” always stare not realising that the woman is just as fierce. It’s funny because I always felt like Mase sounded a lot like Diddy so hearing this song it takes me a while to realise who is rapping in the verse. The infamous first verse contains “Now what the hell is you lookin’ for? Can’t a young man get money anymore?” which has been referenced in so many modern songs including Kanye West’s song ‘Theraflu’. Have a listen below;
Diddy – Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down Ft. Mase (1997)
Can you believe this the first single from Diddy?! The song is possibly one of the most important Bad Boys songs as it signalled the beginning of dominance for this record label. If you’ve heard Drake’s song ‘4PM in Calabasas’, you’ll recognise that Drake uses the Diddy sample in some of the song. He also sings “They look at me like the golden child…Can’t nobody hold me down” (in the same tune as Diddy did). This is further proof that Bad Boy records were the starting point for many of the songs released nowadays. Have a listen to both songs below;
112 – Peaches & Cream Ft. Diddy (2001)
Peaches and Cream!!!! What a classic song! This is one of those songs that can never get old in my opinion. As soon as you hear “From the car to the bar, from the bar to the telly, your neck to your bra, your bra to your belly”, you know what time it is!!!. I prefer the remix with Diddy but the original song is also great! Have a listen to both below;
Original Song
Remix with Diddy
112 -Only You Ft. Biggie & Mase (1996)
I feel like this is one of those songs that most people my have heard and not known who sang it. This was the debut song for group 112 and what a song to burst onto the scene with!! For me, growing up this song was played a lot and I loved the video which was filmed in Times Square. The infamous line “Bad Boy get more money than you can count” still gets me today.
Mase – Feel So Good Ft. Diddy & Kelly Price (1997)
“Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (Yeah), you make me feel so good (Bad boy)”…This song could be argued to be one of the most popular Bad Boy songs! This is Mase’s first single from his debut album Harlem World. Honestly Mase sounds exactly like Diddy, this is another song I had to double check who was rapping. Mase’s style of rapping was so chilled and laid back which is a big difference from some of the rappers today. He had one of the cleanest and smoothest flows I’ve heard from a rapper.
A new EP by Christian ‘King’ Combs has just recently dropped and wow do I love it! It’s also the perfect time for the tape to drop as we get into the summer and nicer weather. I am actually a fan of his music as I feel his sound has a nostalgic 90’s feel, you can definitely hear his dad Diddy in his raps as well as influences from legends like Biggie. Rap in this modern day is constantly changing and takes on a form of what the popular sound is at the time, it is good and refreshing to hear a different sound of rap, which I believe we get with King Combs. In 2018, King Combs released his first official single ‘Love You Better’ which featured Chris Brown and that built up his fan base and name. This EP is a nice refreshing tape that has a lot of future hits. I hope he keeps this up as there is definitely a space in the market for his style of music. Here are 4 of my favourites from the tape;
Heaven Sent
The first track from the album has a freestyle vibe to it and it uses a sample from the classic song “I’ll Be” from Foxy Brown and Jay Z (released in 1996). He mentions the recent passing of his mother Kim Porter, “My mom’s just passed, I aint know what to do” and in one of my favourite lines he says “cut the chatter, money matter like black lives”. The rest of the song has a great flow, clever puns and will certainly have your head boppin’ and the video is carefree and vibrant. This was a good intro track to prepare us for the rest of the tape.
Have a watch and listen below;
Naughty Ft. Jeremih
Hitmaka (aka Yung Berg) has been on fire recently with his production and this song is no different, I’ve also noticed that his beats always usually compliment Jeremih’s voice who is the feature on this track. This song is more of a sensual and seductive track. King Combs raps about all the things he wants to do to show his woman how much he likes her. He raps “You deserve a palace, somewhere on Star Island” while Jeremih sings “I can see you in my future”, both of them balance the serenading together in their respective fields. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks from the project.
On It! Ft. AZChike & TakeJay
This song reminds me of a YG type of song from the beginning. King Combs comes in and spits his verse like a pro. The thing i don’t like about this song is that King Combs feels more like hes featuring on the track which is fine but seeing as it’s his tape, it would have been nice to have heard more from him on this beat. I really love the beat on this song which is why I’ve put this in the list.
Good To Ya Ft. Ty Dolla $ign
King Combs definitely has a great range of features on this EP and this song is a prime example of one. Another song to vibe to. Have a listen below;
