Album Review:
Life After Death
- Release Date: 1997
- Genre: Rap
- Label: Bad Boy
- Artist: The Notorious B.I.G.
- Flags: Contains explicit content
- Rating:
- Styles: Hip-Hop, East Coast Rap, Gangsta Rap
- Track Picks: "#! *@ You Tonight," "Hypnotize," "Mo Money Mo Problems"
- Similar Albums: Greatest Hits [Death Row], Greatest Hits [Clean], The Collection, Vol. 1, Bad Boy's Greatest Hits, Make It Reign [Clean], Fearless,
The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits , Def Jam's Greatest Hits, Def Jam's Greatest Hits: Hardcore,Collections: Bootlegs & G-Sides , No Way Out [Clean], Many Facez
Review
It may have taken the Notorious B.I.G. a few years to follow up his milestone debut, Ready to Die (1994), with another album, but when he did return with Life After Death in 1997, he did so in a huge way. The ambitious album, intended as somewhat of a sequel to Ready to Die, picking up where its predecessor left off, sprawled across the span of two discs, each filled with music, 24 songs in all. You'd expect any album this sprawling to include some lackluster filler. That's not really the case with Life After Death, however. Like 2Pac's All Eyez on Me from a year before, an obvious influence, Biggie's album made extensive use of various producers -- DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Clark Kent, RZA, and more of New York's finest -- resulting in a diverse, eclectic array of songs. Plus, Biggie similarly brought in various guest rappers -- Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, Bone Thugs, Too $hort, L.O.X., Mase -- a few vocalists -- R. Kelly, Angela Winbush, 112 -- and, of course, Puff Daddy, who is much more omnipresent here than on Ready to Die, where he mostly remained on the sidelines. It's perhaps Puffy himself to thank for this album's biggest hits: "Mo Money Mo Problems," "Hypnotize," "Sky's the Limit," three songs that definitely owe much to his pop touch. There's still plenty of the gangsta tales on Life After Death that won Biggie so much admiration on the streets, but it's the pop-laced songs that stand out as highlights. In hindsight, Biggie couldn't have ended his career with a more fitting album than Life After Death. Over the course of only two albums, he achieved every success imaginable, perhaps none greater than this unabashedly over-reaching success. Ready to Die is a milestone album, for sure, but it's nowhere near as extravagant or epic as Life After Death. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | iTunes | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Life After Death Intro | The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G. | (1:40) | |
| Somebody's Gotta Die | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, Nasheim Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:26) |
| Hypnotize | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Andy Armer, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Ron Lawrence, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie | The Notorious B.I.G. | (3:49) |
| Kick in the Door | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Chris E. Martin | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:46) |
| #! *@ You Tonight | The Notorious B.I.G., R. Kelly, Sean "Puffy" Combs, D. Jones | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:45) | |
| Last Day | The Notorious B.I.G., Dorothy Stiles, Kejuan Muchita | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:18) | |
| I Love the Dough | The Notorious B.I.G., Sean Carter, Angela Winbush, R. Moore | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:12) | |
| What's Beef? | The Notorious B.I.G., Nasheim Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:15) | |
| B.I.G. Interlude | The Notorious B.I.G., Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie | The Notorious B.I.G. | (:48) | |
| Mo Money Mo Problems | Nile Rodgers, The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan, B.H. Edwards | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:17) | |
| Niggas Bleed | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan, Nasheim Myrick | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:51) |
| I Got a Story to Tell | |
The Notorious B.I.G. | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:42) |
CD 2
| Track Title | iTunes | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Notorious Thugs | |
Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan, Al Henderson, Brian "Bizzy" McCane, Christopher Wallace, S. Howse | The Notorious B.I.G. | (6:07) |
| Miss U | Lionel Richie, The Notorious B.I.G., Kaygee Gist | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:59) | |
| Another | The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, K. Jones, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:15) | |
| Going Back to Cali | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Roger Troutman | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:07) |
| Ten Crack Commandments | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Chris E. Martin | The Notorious B.I.G. | (3:24) |
| Playa Hater | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G. | (3:57) |
| Nasty Boy | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:33) |
| Sky's the Limit | Hubert Eaves III, The Notorious B.I.G., Clark Kent | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:29) | |
| The World Is Filled... | The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, T. Shaw, K. Walker | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:54) | |
| My Downfall | The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, Nasheim Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:26) | |
| Long Kiss Goodnight | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Robert Diggs | The Notorious B.I.G. | (5:18) |
| You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You) | |
The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puffy" Combs, Gary "Gazza" Johnson, S. Jordan, B. Preston | The Notorious B.I.G. | (4:53) |
