author Jake Brown reveals Biggie's sensitive side as well as his hard-core media stance it explores his motivations, his loyalties and his roots.

In Ready to Die: The Story of Biggie Smalls - The Notorious B.I.G. He seemed to welcome the challenge, as if he was already resigned to his fate, hence, ready for death, or whatever the world could throw at him. What took hip-hop by storm with the debuts of the Notorious B.I.G. quickly became a household name among hip hop fans and all responsibility would rest on him as he made his way up hip hop aisles to center stage. When his time was up, he had done what he set out to do, and it was historic ! Biggie Smalls' life was lived in the fast lane. Biggie controlled his time, by the very nature of what he achieved in it. He didn't live in or up to the moment, he actually created it.

In The Source magazine’s October 1994 issue, Ready to Die was given a rating of 4½ mics out of five.While many considered Biggie ahead of his time, author Jake Brown clearly cites why it was his time. The record was certified gold by the RIAA two months after its release, and went double platinum in 1995. The album also made Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, landing at #133. “Big Poppa” was nominated for “Best Rap Solo Performance” at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, losing out to LL Cool J’s “Hey Lover”-but it earned a Billboard Music Award later that year. According to several sources, he recorded the latter half by freestyling from memory. Biggie resumed production the following year under the auspices of the newly-founded Bad Boy Records. After Puffy was fired from Uptown Records in 1993, the project was only half finished. Production of the album took place in two waves. The project is Biggie’s only album to be released during his lifetime his sophomore project, Life After Death, dropped just days after his murder in March 1997.

It was also Bad Boy Records' first release, produced by founder Sean “Puffy” Combs. Ready to Die, The Notorious B.I.G.’s debut studio album, was released on September 13, 1994.

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