Notorious: Music Inspired By The Motion Picture (Atlantic/Bad Boy) Released 26/01/09

In hip-hop there are a few names idolised that will never be forgotten. They’re the chosen few who have been embraced by the hip-hop community as if they were one of their own family members. Some are dead whilst some are alive. The living includes the likes of Jay-Z, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim. The names that have passed away include Big L, Jam Master Jay, and the late great Tupac Shakur. One other name is Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G. Shot dead in L.A. on March 9, 1997 after exiting a party, the BK emcee was, and still is, regarded as one of the greatest lyricists of all time.

The way he could tell a story was unprecedented. It was as if you were actually there at the time he was telling it. Years in the making, a movie detailing his life was recently released to movie theatres across the pond. Taking more than $22.5 million in its opening weekend, critics all over the U.S. have had nothing but good things to say about the biopic. Accompanying the movie is a soundtrack full of Biggie classics with a twist. Including a few new cuts as well as some unreleased material, the “Notorious” soundtrack is an album with B.I.G. potential.

Including the hits you’d expect, such as ‘Hypnotize’, ‘One More Chance/Stay With Me Remix’, and the DJ Premier produced ‘Kick In The Door’, it’s the inclusion of Biggie’s storytelling gems that make this a master class in ruff, rugged and raw hip-hop. The inclusion of ‘Warning’ is tracklist choice perfection. What better way is there to celebrate the life of a storytelling King than to include his fictional masterpiece? Charles Dickens couldn’t pen anything anywhere near as inventive as this track. Taken from his classic debut, “Ready To Die”, B.I.G.’s tale of deceit with robbery and conspiracy to kill the main sins on lyrical duty is a classic cut with a Scorsese-esque video to go with it. Another carefully thought out track is the aggressive-fest ‘What’s Beef?’. Breaking down the hood definition of what beef is, Biggie spits sharp bars over an eerie violin riff that only he could execute with such pizzazz.