The Notorious B.I.G vs Jay-Z
Now I wanted to compare Notorious B.I.G & Jay-Z for a long time. While I was watching the KNICKS game yesterday, I knew that I had a compare and contrast blog to do. As soon as I was thinking about my topic, Brooklyn Finest came on, which was a sign from GOD to do a blog between the two Brooklyn rappers.
Starting it off with the Notorious B.I.G, (aka BIGGIE, FRANK WHITE, B.I.G) his considered to be one of the best rappers of all time. B.I.G stepped into the scene in 1992 on the remix to Mary J. Blige's Real Love. Then he was know for the remix to Dolly Dolly Baby with Supercat, Puff Daddy, and Mary J. Blige. Finally in 1994, he released the classic "Ready To Die" which talked about a guy from Brooklyn and the experiences that he faced. The hits included Juicy, Big Poppa, One More Chance, and Unbelievable. This album made B.I.G the biggest artist of 1995. However, with him being a star a beef with another great rapper Tupac Shakur, the EAST COAST vs WEST COAST beef. In 1996, Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas, which B.I.G was said to have something to do with it. In 1997, "Life After Death" was finished, however he wouldn't be able to see it released because March 9 he was killed in LA, while promoting the album. The album sold 10 million albums and produced 2 number 1 singles. Above all, B.I.G told stories about a dude from Brooklyn trying to make it.
Being from a Brooklyn family, "Ready To Die" & "Life After Death" was always being played in my household. "Ready To Die" in my opinion is the best hip hop album of all time. Even though "Life After Death" is viewed as his best selling album, "Ready To Die" was just raw and real. B.I.G explained that "Life After Death" album was more commerical because he couldn't talk about killing and hustling, he wasn't doing that anymore. Although "Life After Death" was a good album, "Ready To Die" spoke to me more. As I stated before, these albums explained about a Brooklyn dude going from negative to positive, "and it's all good".
During the times of B.I.G, another Brooklyn rapper was getting noticed, Jay-Z. Jay-Z was known for being Big Daddy Kane's hype man and being Jaz-O's protage. Finally, in 1996 Jay-Z was released his first album, which is considered a hip hop classic "Reasonable Doubt". The album included the hits, Can't Knock The Hustle w/Mary J. Blige, the Brooklyn anthem Brooklyn Finest w/The Notorious B.I.G, Dead Presidents, Can I Live, and Ain't No Nigga w/Foxy Brown. After a year of the album's release in 1997, the death of the Notorious B.I.G took a toll on Jay. In addition, Brooklyn was missing that void since B.I.G died, so Jay took the roll. In 1997, he released "In My Lifetime Vol 1", which was very commerical. In 1998, he went back into his Reasonable Doubt days and released "Vol 2. Hard Knock Life", which included the classic, Hard Knock Life, Can I Get A, and Nigga What Nigga Who. From 1999 to 2009, he released albums that Jay-Z a powerhouse in the hip hop world. When Jay-Z accepted the role after B.I.G died, he has really stood by his word. Like Jay-Z says "What More Can I Say", in my opinion he doesn't have too.
I didn't start listening to Jay-Z until I became a teenager. This around the time when "The Blueprint" was released. However, I knew Jay's songs like Hard Knock Life, Can I Get A, and Can't Knock The Hustle. But I just didn't get into his music until "The Blueprint". To me, that album is a classic because of songs like The Takeover, Ain't No Love(Heart of The City), Song Cry, and U Don't Know. Then, I started to listen to albums like "Reasonable Doubt" and "Volume 1-3". As result, I started liking his music. My mother and father like Jay-Z, but they were more B.I.G fans, that's why he wasn't really play in my household.
SIMLIARITIES
- Both are from Brooklyn, New York
- Both were hustlers
- First albums are considered classic
- Both married R&B singers
- Both had their own record label
DIFFERENCES
- Jay-Z was a hype man for Big Daddy Kane, B.I.G wasn't a hype for anyone.
- Jay-Z had to create his own record label to get into the rap game, B.I.G was signed to Bad Boy Records, then he branched out.
- In the beginning Jay-Z was knew to be rhyming fast, but then he changed his style up. B.I.G kept his style the same
- Both artists like the KNICKS until Jay-Z went a brought the NETS. B.I.G stayed LOYAL to the KNICKS unlike Jay.
- 2 albums made B.I.G one of the best rappers of all time & it took Jay-Z about 5 albums.
To me B.I.G was a better storyteller. He took you through the hood with his rhymes. Not taking anything from Jay-Z, I just think B.I.G didn't change for anybody. I think Jay-Z rode B.I.G death to become popular. However, Jay-Z is a great rapper one of the best. But if B.I.G was still living, I feel that Jay-Z would have been like Fabolous is today. I feel that "Ready To Die" is the best hip hop album of all time. My favorite Jay-Z has to be "The Blueprint" because that was the album that made me fall in love with his music. Even though "Reasonable Doubt" is considered a classic, "The Blueprint" spoke to me more. I feel that if B.I.G was still out today I think he wouldn't have changed for the coporate world, but Jay-Z did. Like B.I.G said, when you get into this industry everyone wants to go commerical because that's where the money is. But you don't change who you are, in my opinion I think Jay-Z did. Above all, I like both of this rapper because they represented Brooklyn to the fulliest, but B.I.G to me was the better rapper.
SONGS THEY DID TOGETHER
Brooklyn's Finest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_DLD7OMUns
I Love The Dough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6HLi4oCebc&feature=related
5 FAVORITE B.I.G JOINTS
Everyday Struggle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogvlB2SP4k
Ten Crack Commandments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyWTJWrH1aI&feature=related
Who Shot Ya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJC2ax18oQM
Warning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6HC4SpqyCo
Suicidal Thoughts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GygEAcFFMVs
5 FAVORITE JAY-Z JOINTS
Takeover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnGnevKxJE
Moment of Charity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92dYzBGBHk
Ain't No Love(Heart Of The City)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QePjIIBI-sI
Can't Knock The Hustle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORQOYpLaA9U
Can I Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC7MJ8l73SQ&feature=related
WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE OF THE TWO??
It's hard to pick one because i love the both of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog junior, had tooo represent BK quick fast. i respect that. but i also wud give it tooo B.I.G cuz i think hiz album waz better and his flow waz better.
ReplyDelete@Everydayitrains...I understand it's hard
ReplyDelete@Shottz homie I kno u gonna rep BK...haha
@Nik of course my best friends gotta know some Biggie mandatory...lol
Hi buddy it's @MaryJane4life71 I really don't care for rap but I do love old school rap and I love Jay-Z he tells the truth in his lyrics and I never really listened to biggie I mean I heard like the classics but not all of his songs. And I love me some 2pac omg now he is a storyteller to me and I love Bone thugs and harmony. I love old school rappers u know.
ReplyDeleteI've changed my mind, i pick B.I.G. lol
ReplyDeleteYou know I gotta throw my two point five cents in this....
ReplyDeleteContrary to popular believe, and there is evidence to support this, Big did switch his style up just not to the degree and severity as Jay-Z. Check out Big's last interviews and even some of Pac's interviews after they became friends, Pac told him him basically if you want continued success, your gonna have to switch it up on em. Big did it with flavor and did it in a way that still defined "Notorius BIG" and who he is as a person; hence tracks like "juicy" & "sky's the limit"
How artists make an album is that they create a whole bunch of songs, and only a selected few make it. Lets say for "Ready to Die" Big had created maybe 25 jams...and "juicy" or "fuck you tonight" or "hypnotize" was one of em? It wouldnt have made the cut. I say all this to say this...Life after Death was in fact a different Big but we love it and he pulled it off well.
Nas, and I'm the biggest Nas critic out there, tried to the same thing with "Nastradamus" but failed miserably and following that album reverted back to the "Illmatic" days with "Stillmatic" and blew our minds with it (check out "ether", "rewind", "2nd childhood". Even Jay-Z initial success with Vol.1 wasn't like that (originally) and hence the turnout of classic Vol.2. And judging how he drop an album basically every year, he was indeed prolly working on Vol 2 right --> right --> right after Vol 1 dropped and used that intial turnout of Vol 1. as motivation. A common skill that works for many artists, typically the bigger named ones (i.e. Eminem, T.I, Busta Rhymes, 50 cent...)
My Fav of the 2? Big.
Fav album from Big: Ready to die*
Fav album from Jay: Reasonable Doubt/Blueprint 3
* = Do not get this misunderstood. My personal fav, but i think Life after Death was the "best" album and I do not judge this off sales. I create music too and as someone who does, to listen to Life After Death, Dude had every emotion, both ends of the spectrum...basically it was a "complete" album. Best album of all time handz down.
With Jay and Reasonable doubt.....he escaped that fast rhymetic wordplay he did before and kinda made his own style off of catz like Kane, Big & Nas. Whoever said bitin cant get you anywhere...smh. He made it his own. And had many good albums after this first one. My standout albums of Jay besides Reasonable Doubt are Vol 2, Blueprint 1 & 3, and The Black album.
In closing, Big is/was the better rapper, more skill, more originality, me depth (depth didnt come till later for Jay) while Jay is/was more the savvy one, had the bigger vision. Both artist's hustle was on par to each other, and carried their city and borough and gave it a firm stance through the 90s (Remember Bronx[80s] and Queens[early-mid 90s] had the Hip-Hop scene stamped).
-Shellz
Thanks for comment Shellz...lol
ReplyDeleteAlthought I respect Jay for the wordsmith he is, I'm riding with Big also....I think when I first heard Big it was on 'The Box' in SuperCats video.....and I thought to myself.....this dude is 'sick'.....I didn't know who he was, but I hoped to see him around in the future..... Then his cd dropped....and I heard 'WARNING' took my breath away.....I think each rapper has their own right of passage in the Hip Hop game. But Big was the best Storyteller.
ReplyDeleteDo I believe Jay would have been as big as he is now.....Yes & No.....the Hip Hop game is MOODY sometimes.....Do you think Big couldve kept that crown? With so many changes in music from the early 90s to now....
Real Hip Hop, I feel is a dyin breed...... (Good Blog) I could go on & on , on ths one. :)
Good comment babes....def agree!!!
ReplyDelete