Life After Death - Notorious B.I.G

Today marks the 16th year anniversary of Biggie’s murder. Released March25th, 1997, Life After Death came out a few days after Notorious B.I.Gs tragic demise. This was his 2nd and final studio recorded album and definitely one of my favourite hip-hop records. I remember spending close to $50 dollars for this 2-disc album. (Although I no longer have the receipt to prove this statement, my brother can certainly validate my claims, especially since he encouraged the purchase). Despite the cost, the CD was worth every penny to me and here are the reasons as to why. Biggie’s lyrical creativity is an art form that needs to be praised. This raconteur’s use of multi-syllabic rhyming schemes, whether it was for the purpose of glorifying life’s pleasures or simply to depict grim tales about street life, always kept his listeners entertained. Listening to his songs multiple times only meant discovering new elements to his music, which contributed to the addictive nature of his songs.Somebody’s Gotta Die exemplifies Biggie’s artistic temperament. In this song, Biggie writes a tale based around the concept of retaliation with an underlying theme of deception. Although the sensitive would assume this was a “typical 90s rap song about gangs”, only by delving deeper into Biggie’s psyche can you truly appreciate what he created with this storyline. He quickly managed to outline the protagonist, antagonist and the motives behind their actions, and he managed to do this through character development so the listener could better empathize with them. The script writing nuances embedded within the lyrics were well accentuated by the melody and the introduction of instruments and sound effects used to identify the points of drama in the song.