The notorious big ready to die12/7/2022 ![]() “We wanted to make a movie on wax about this kid from Brooklyn who had nothin’ to lose - and he was ready to die,” said Combs, Bad Boy Records’ CEO, in A&E’s 2017 documentary Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. On “ Everyday Struggle,” the album took aim at politicians as Biggie Smalls rapped that he was “ Seeing body after body and our Mayor Giuliani/ Ain’t trying to see no Black man turn to John Gotti.” 13, 1994 - the same day President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.Īt its core, Ready to Die is a product of crack-era New York City and the stop-and-frisk policies that helped make Black kids into criminals because of their skin tone and the environment they were raised in. America was enraged by the explosion of violence, but what about the hopelessness, lack of opportunity and resources, and the anger that fueled that crime? Ready to Die showed life on the other side of the fence. The bill was supposed to crack down on juvenile “ superpredators.” In the years since, it has been widely blamed for contributing to mass incarceration, although its actual impact was mixed. Biggie Smalls saw it up close as violent crime increased dramatically in the 1980s and early ’90s, and at least in his time selling crack, was partially responsible for some of it. ![]() Families were forever fractured because of a wicked elixir of drugs, police brutality, gun violence and a society that seemingly cared more about punishment than addressing the issues that produced the carnage. Men, women and children lost their lives in record numbers. Make no mistake, there was violence in America’s inner cities. Or, as it’s more notoriously known, the “Crime Bill.” 13, 1994 - the same day President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Via coincidence or karma, Ready to Die hit shelves on Sept. But those cuts never overshadowed the pain, paranoia and anger that Biggie Smalls brought to his first album. The album included crossover singles such as “ Big Poppa” and “ One More Chance” that solidified Biggie Smalls as the unorthodox sex symbol Sean “Puffy” Combs had envisioned from the moment he dropped a freestyle in his Uptown Records office in 1991. The grim reality for Biggie Smalls is that while he found massive success (and controversy) in his lifetime, the only project he was able to see live, grow and influence pop culture was his 1994 debut Ready to Die. ![]() is the only one linked to one of the most consequential pieces of congressional legislation in recent history – the 1994 Crime Bill. Though lacking the gaudy catalog of his fellow honorees, B.I.G. Hall of Fame career will officially be certified on Saturday when Christopher George Latore Wallace, known the world over as The Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode and T.Rex.
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