Heralded among the elite group of potential saviors of East Coast rap in the early ‘90s along with Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan, B.I.G.’s flow revealed not one flaw between his debut as Biggie Smalls back in 1992 and his untimely death in 1997. With mixed emotions of enjoying B.I.G.’s signature lyricism and the expansive arrangement of the double LP, the experience of listening to the album was solemn, as the best moments solidified that we may have just lost the best to ever formulate rhyme schemes. Only two weeks after receiving the news of Christopher Wallace’s death, grief now accompanied the anticipation for the long awaited follow-up to B.I.G.’s classic 1994 debut Ready to Die. Twenty-five years ago, the concepts of hip-hop fact versus fiction intersected like never before with the posthumous release of The Notorious B.I.G.’s sophomore album, eerily titled Life After Death. The lines often blur on whether art imitates real life, or real life imitates art.

Sadly, life beyond the lyrics of hip-hop music is sometimes filled with as much tragedy as the vivid street stories its artists recount about the harshness of life inside our inner cities. Happy 25th Anniversary to The Notorious B.I.G.’s second & final studio album Life After Death, originally released March 25, 1997.

The notorious b.i.g. ready to die zip