‘Born Again’: A Track-By-Track Guide To Biggie’s First Posthumous Album

Notorious B.I.G. (featuring Lil’ Kim And Puff Daddy)

Cleverly lifting the vocal hook and groovy Nile Rodgers-produced bassline from Duran Duran’s 1986 hit, Notorious, Notorious B.I.G. is a funkified ode to the New York City rapper’s larger-than-life reputation. While reflecting upon being nursed back to health in hospital following a car crash in late 1996, Biggie fantasises about going from sponge baths to relaxing on a tropical beach, plotting his own glorious comeback (“Chillin, sitting on about half a million/With all my ni___s, all my guns, all my women/Next two years, I should see about a billion”). With Lil’ Kim and Puff Daddy joining him for the ride, the song oozes opulence and excess, its lyrics reminding us that Biggie’s words are a wealth of riches all unto themselves (“All the time, Big Poppa kick the raw rhymes/Raw flows, and that’s how it goes”).

Dead Wrong (featuring Eminem)

Originally recorded and produced by Easy Mo Bee back in 1993, Dead Wrong had been heavily bootlegged by Biggie fans until the fast-rising Eminem was invited to officially remix the song for Born Again. Uncompromisingly dark and visceral, it’s a highly graphic slice of horrorcore in which Biggie nihilistically chronicles disturbing tales of murder and paedophilia on the New York City streets. Responding with slasher-villain relish, Slim Shady peppers his verse with bloodthirsty nods to cannibalism and bestiality over gothic boom-bap beats. “What Biggie was saying was so up my alley, and the beat was just so crazy,” Eminem recalled in his autobiography, The Way I Am. “When I get one of those beats, and I get on a subject I know about, it’s just nonstop.”

Hope You Ni__as Sleep (featuring Hot Boys and Big Tymers)

Excised from Eminem’s Dead Wrong remix, the original song’s second Biggie verse is stitched on to Hope You Ni__as Sleep, a Hot Boys collaboration more electrifying than a lightning bolt coursing through Frankenstein’s monster. Mounting a lyrical jailbreak over wild and frenzied beats, Biggie comes across like a plus-sized ninja chopping through shoulder blades (“I got styles like karate/Jujitsu, when I hit you then I split you/Like a cantaloupe”). Not only does the song feature the rappers BG, Birdman, Juvenile and Turk, but a young Lil Wayne also pops up for a spot of “Desert Eagle bursting”, making Hope You Ni__as Sleep a gritty ensemble piece as vicious as it is relentless.

Dangerous MC’s (featuring Mark Curry, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes)

Helmed by the legendary producer J Dilla, Dangerous MC’s initially went by the name The Ugliest, and was recorded in 1996 for Busta Rhymes’ debut album, The Coming. Originally left on the cutting-room floor due to the disses Biggie threw 2Pac’s way (“Actor needs chiropractor for cracked jaw”), the song became a star-studded postmortem on Born Again. With Snoop Dogg bringing some West Coast remediation and Busta unspooling his madcap hype work, Dangerous MC’s is more than a brash post-rivalry coda, allowing Biggie to trade verses with mavericks from both sides of the coastal divide.

Biggie (featuring Junior M.A.F.I.A.)

Opening with a spoken-word tribute from Biggie’s cousin (“The best that ever lived, the best that ever did it”), Biggie finds Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s Lil’ Cease, Larceny and Trife teaming up to invoke their mentor’s presence. Like the soundtrack to a midnight seance, the song’s haunting beat honours Biggie’s legacy as his protégés memorialise him with a lyrical nod to the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata (“I’d rather die on my feet, than live on my knees”).

Ni__as

Featuring a teeth-grinding bass hook and grimy boom-bap beats, Ni__as is the perfect vessel for a street-hardened Biggie to once again remind fans of his storytelling prowess. These revelatory verses recalled the candour Biggie displayed on his 1994 debut album, Ready To Die, as he documents the tough reality of life in Brooklyn, Uptown, the Bronx and Queensbridge. Playing witness to hood-wearing weed-smokers and Glock-carrying pimps, the song is a vivid and cinematic exposé of street life in all its ugliness, proving why Biggie was a master of social observation, capable of transforming lived experience into raw, unfiltered poetry.

Big Booty Hoes (featuring Too $Hort)

A funk-filled blast of bawdiness from producer Daven “Prestige” Vanderpool, Big Booty Hoes is a down’n’dirty collaboration between The Notorious B.I.G. and West Coast rap legend Too $hort. Fully embracing the party lifestyle, the song opens the door to a world of unbridled hedonism and a veritable banquet of sexual exploits. Nothing is off the table here, as Biggie and Too $hort write a whole new chapter of the Kama Sutra, detailing a range of carnal indulgences that would make a wallflower blush.

Would You Die For Me (featuring Lil’ Kim and Puff Daddy)

Love outlives us all, and the sound of the late Notorious B.I.G. posthumously reuniting with his ex-girlfriend Lil’ Kim on Would You Die For Me is truly poignant. With unflinching honesty, Biggie attempts to reconcile his multiple infidelities with a desire to find loyalty with someone he can “keep it real with”. In response, Kim explains why she was the only one for him (“See, I don’t care ’bout them other broads/B.I.G. kept it real with me, and that’s that”). By remaining devoted and dismissing her would-be rivals, Would You Die For Me found Kim setting the record straight once and for all.

Come On (featuring Sadat X)

Back in 1993, prior to the release of Ready To Die, Biggie recorded Come On with producer Lord Finesse. Never properly released, the song was finally treated to a remix for Born Again, offering up a gritty portrayal of street life in which Biggie and Sadat X, from Brand Nubian, act as yin and yang to each other. A rallying cry inspiring resilience in those struggling in hostile environments, Come On is a masterful square-off that lays pent-up aggression over a murky boom-bap beat that hits harder than a sledgehammer at a piñata party.

Rap Phenomenon (featuring Redman and Method Man)

Safe in the hands of legendary Gang Starr producer DJ Premier, Biggie teams up with Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man and New Jersey rapper Redman on Rap Phenomenon. Simmering with East Coast underground flair, the song is a blood-boiling whirlwind of intense verbiage spiked with hyper-poetic wordplay. An unrivalled highlight from Born Again, Rap Phenomenon is, let’s be clear, phenomenal.

Let Me Get Down (featuring G-Dep, Craig Mack and Missy Elliott)

Boasting the gutsiest of grooves, Let Me Get Down finds Biggie barking over a nagging Barry White bass hook like a red-eyed hound. After sinking his teeth into rhymes that make mincemeat of comic-book villainy (“My rappin’ tactics are drastic/Stretchin’ motherfuckers like Mr Fantastic”), Biggie lets loose guest performers G-Dep, Craig Mack and Missy Elliott, each one wilding out and going for the jugular. Pawing away with undeniable swagger, Let Me Get Down is a no-nonsense masterclass of characterful wordplay.

Tonight (featuring Mobb Deep and Joe Hooker)

Recontextualising Biggie’s verse from the Life After Death album track Long Kiss Goodnight, Tonight is hotter than a reptile house full of serpentine menace. Over pulsing horns, Biggie spits venom about vengefulness, and Mobb Deep rappers Havoc and Prodigy keep the poison swirling with tales of chrome rims and blood on the dashboard. A phantasmagorial glimpse beneath the hood of reputational enforcement, Tonight is all about power dynamics and maintaining street cred – a fly-on-the-wall tell-all that buzzes like a mafioso’s memoir.

If I Should Die Before I Wake (featuring Black Rob, Ice Cube and Beanie Sigel)

An outtake from Ready To Die, If I Should Die Before I Wake is here beefed up with appearances from Black Rob, Beanie Sigel and N.W.A co-founder Ice Cube, in the hopes of smoothing East Coast-West Coast relations in the wake of Biggie’s death. Chillingly, Biggie’s verse appears to predict his demise (“How many shots does it take to make my heart stop/And my body start to shake?”), before the rapper invokes the Lord to provide him with salvation. With each guest confronting the risks of their lifestyles, it’s Ice Cube’s words that provide atonement, anointing Biggie as “the king of New York” and making a bid to unite hip-hop’s warring factions with a touching dedication (“So this is dedicated to the memory of/The Notorious One, the glorious one”).

Who Shot Ya?

Central to one of the biggest rap beefs of all time, Who Shot Ya? looms large in Biggie’s legend. Released as a single in February 1995, the song was a hard-hitting and confrontational warning to Biggie’s rivals, full of poetic yet menacing threats (“I make your skin chafe, rashes on the masses/Bumps and bruises, blunts and Land Cruisers”). Though it was recorded long before 2Pac was shot and robbed at Quad Studios, in New York, Who Shot Ya? was taken as an affront to the severely injured rapper, prompting a similarly vicious riposte in the shape of Hit ’Em Up. To this day, Who Shot Ya? is seen as hip-hop’s answer to the “shot heard around the world”, despite it not being intended as such. That said, it remains a powerful demonstration of fearless bravado, asserting Biggie’s supremacy in a way that would become a cornerstone of his legacy.

Can I Get Witcha (featuring Lil’ Cease)

Showcasing a more playful side of Biggie, Can I Get Witcha finds him trading verses with his cousin Lil’ Cease about their romantic conquests. From engaging in the art of flirting to plain old gettin’ freaky, the song is decidedly more uptempo than many of Born Again’s darker digressions, vibing along with a lascivious charm that is both light-hearted and appealing.

I Really Want To Show You (featuring K-Ci & Jo-Jo and Nas)

This remix of Everyday Struggle – originally released on Ready To Die – features the same verses but gives the beat a complete makeover. Now set to a light funk groove with a more radio-friendly chorus from R&B duo K-Ci & Jo-Jo, the song’s real revelation is the appearance of Bigge’s fellow New York rapper Nas, who brings a touch of Illmatic to demonstrate why he and Biggie are the Big Apple’s finest. Imbuing the song’s message of overcoming hardship with new rhymes about wannabe drug kingpins and the perils they face, Nas’ unforgettable guest spot makes it clear how important The Notorious B.I.G. was in rewriting all the rules (“My ni__as die for the cause, .45 on the drawer/City laws made by Big Nas and Biggie Smalls”).

Ms Wallace (Outro)

Born Again’s last words are left to Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, who pays tribute to her son Cristopher in a speech that brings a very human sense of closure to the album. The LOX’s We’ll Always Love Big Poppa softly plays in the background as Voletta works through her grief, recounting Biggie’s early influences and how his paranoia about “player hating” led to his death. In the end, she acknowledges how sharing his gift with the world was in Biggie’s nature. “If I could sum up Christopher in one word,” she says, “the word would be ‘generous’.” All that is left for us, the listener, to do, is to be thankful.

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