Ready To Die  by The Notorious B.I.G.

In September 1994, Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie) released his debut album with the prophetic title Ready To Die. It is one of the most complete hip hop albums of all time as Biggie unfolds through his lyrics his teenage and young adult life, which was steeped in crime and drug dealing. The title was prophetic as he was murdered 16 days before the release of his second studio album.

Ready To Die was recorded in New York and released by Bad Boy Records. The production of the sound involves several producers, but the majority belongs to Easy Mo Bee and Puff Daddy, who was also the owner of the record label. The success of Ready To Die and the entire atmosphere surrounding the album was one of the key steps that led to the tension created between the East and West hip hop scenes in the mid-'90s.

The three singles from the album Juicy, Big Poppa, and One More Chance and Notorious B.I.G.'s ability to rap in his distinctive style made him famous overnight and pushed the album's sales to over 5,000,000 copies in just the U.S.