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 of beat-thief producer Sean "Puffy" Combs). Biggie still rhymes about the gold, the Moet, and the ladies, but he also reveals the casualties on the road from struggler to hustler … mehrto 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 weniger
1 - Intro
2 - Things Done Changed
3 - Gimme The Loot
4 - Machine Gun Funk
5 - Warning… mehr
6 - Ready To Die
7 - One More Chance
8 - #!*º Me (Interlude)
9 - The What
10 - Juicy
11 - Everyday Struggle
12 - Me & My Bitch
13 - Big Poppa
14 - Respect
15 - Friend Of Mine
16 - Unbelievable
17 - Suicidal Thoughts weniger