Sickapedia: 2021

Monday, November 1, 2021

The Essentials: The Best of Biggie

MR. CEE PRESENTS: THE BEST OF BIGGIE MIXTAPE

BY
DJ Mr. Cee

01 Freestyle Live At Mister Cee's Crib
02 One More Chance (R&B Mix)
03 Real Love (Remix) - Mary J. Blige feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
04 Buddy X (Remix) - Neneh Cherry feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
05 Party And Bullshit
06 A Buncha Niggas (Original) - Heavy D. feat. Guru, 3rd Eye, The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes and Rob-O
07 Dolly My Baby (Remix) - Super Cat feat. 3rd Eye, Puff Daddy, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige
08 Jam Session - Heavy D. feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
09 The What - The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Method Man
10 For My Niggaz (Remix) - Red Hot Lover Tone, B.I.G., Organized Konfusion, M.O.P.
11 Let’s Get It On - Heavy D. feat. Grand Puba, Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.
12 I’m Just Playin
13 Cunt Renaissance - Crustified Dibbs feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
14 Da B Side - Da Brat feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
15 All Men Are Dogs - Bandit, Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard, Snagglepuss, Positive K, Raggedy Man, Grandaddy I.U., The Notorious B.I.G. and Grand Puba
16 Who's The Man - Doctor Dre', Ed Lover, King Just, Todd 1 and The Notorious B.I.G.
17 Madison Square Garden Freestyle - Big Daddy Kane, Big Scoob, Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G. and Shyheim
18 Live At The Palladium - Funkmaster Flex feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
19 Who Shot Ya?
20 Can’t You See - Total feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
21 Real Niggaz (All Verses)
22 Players Anthem (Original & Remix) - Junior M.A.F.I.A. feat. The Notorious B.I.G.
23 One More Chance (Hip Hop Mix)
24 Think Big - Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard, The Notorious B.I.G. and Lord Tariq
25 The Points - The Notorious B.I.G., Coolio, Redman Ill Al Skratch, Big Mike, Busta Rhymes, Buckshot Shorty and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
26 Flava In Ya Ear (Remix) - Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Rampage, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes
27 Warning
28 Machine Gun Funk

Impact

In 1995 DJ Mister Cee (best known for being Big Daddy Kane's dj) released The Best of Biggie, a mixtape available only on cassette featuring the then-relatively new Notorious B.I.G. The tape included a wide variety of official single's, remixes, unreleased material, features for other artists, freestyles and live performances (including two tracks that also featured Big's then friend and future nemesis Tupac Shakur). The compilation was somewhat of a novelty as it pre-dated what would become the standard mixtape format for mc's popularized by various rappers in the years since - one primary artist freestyling over beats associated with other performers as well as original material. While not a true "Greatest Hits" compilation as Biggie was so new to the music industry at the time that he lacked enough charting material to compile such an album, Best of Biggie nonetheless contained many of the appearances that led hip hop afficionados to agree that he should be included in any conversation regarding the premier lyricists of the art.

The Best of Biggie was omnipresent in 1995. It seemed everyone had a copy - if not an original, then a dub or a dub of a dub. While Biggie's release predated online file-sharing, it's been speculated that it's circulation rivaled that of Big's sole official album release at the time, Ready to Die.

Originally published: 3/7/12 at 8:37 PM