Life After Death (1997)

Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G., released on March 25, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. A double album, it was released sixteen days after his murder. It features collaborations with guest artists such as 112, Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, Mase, R. Kelly, The Lox, Angela Winbush, Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Too Short, and Puff Daddy. Life After Death exhibits the Notorious B.I.G. further delving into the mafioso rap subgenre. The album is a sequel to his first album, Ready to Die, and picks up where the last song, "Suicidal Thoughts", ends.

Life After Death sold 690,000 copies in its first week, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It received widespread critical acclaim upon release and was nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for its first single "Hypnotize", and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its second single "Mo Money Mo Problems" at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. The album is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. In 2020, it was ranked at No. 179 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Background

Two and a half years before the album's release, the Notorious B.I.G., who had married Faith Evans, became East Coast's icon in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry and featured on albums by Michael Jackson and R. Kelly amongst others. The album had numerous planned release dates, but Biggie was involved in a car accident in September 1996 that delayed the finalizing of the album. It was pushed back to 1997.

As he explained on BET's Rap City, Biggie aimed to reach a wider audience with Life After Death, collaborating with a wider variety of artists than on his debut. In addition to Bad Boy labelmates Mase, the LOX and 112, and label owner Puff Daddy, guests include Jay-Z, Angela Winbush, Too Short, Lil Kim, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. A record with Bay Area rapper E-40 was not included on the final track listing.

"Most artists, you can tell they're working by the movement of their pen, but Big didn't have a pen and paper. So if a person walked in, they'd think there wasn't any work being done. There'd be conversations going on, the music would be blaring, there'd be smoke in the air, drinks all over the place, girls running around. You would think that a party was going on, but meanwhile Big was sitting in his little corner, just nodding." – Deric 'D-Dot' Angelettie

Production was handled by DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Havoc, Buckwild, RZA, Clark Kent and members of Bad Boy's in-house production team, the Hitmen. Q-Tip submitted a beat, which Biggie enjoyed; however, the album had already been completed and turned into Bad Boy. The beat was later used for A Tribe Called Quest's song "The Love", from their 1998 album The Love Movement.

In 1995, during production on Life After Death, Notorious B.I.G. contacted in-house Bad Boy producer Rashad Smith to create two tracks built around the samples of Al B. Sure's "Nite and Day" and Grace Jones' 1983 song "My Jamaican Guy". Smith completed the productions and B.I.G. approved of the tracks; however, the album's budget had not yet been approved by Arista Records, and Smith did not receive payment as expected. Around this time, Chris Lighty, a Def Jam executive overseeing LL Cool J's sixth studio album, Mr. Smith, called Smith to his office to hear some of his beats. During the session, the tracks intended for B.I.G. were played, and Lighty immediately requested them for LL Cool J, offering double the original price. Smith agreed, and the beats became "Loungin" and "Doin' It" for Mr. Smith. This decision caused a falling out between B.I.G. and Smith, leaving him off of Life After Death.

Biggie traveled to the West Coast in February 1997 to promote the album, and shoot the video for the lead single, "Hypnotize." Two weeks before its release, on March 9, he was shot four times in a drive-by shooting and later pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.