Notorious B.I.G.: Big Poppa EP (white vinyl) [BAD BOY]

Why you'll love it

This limited 12-inch single on white vinyl pairs two Ready to Die classics, each in club mix, radio edit and instrumental. "Big Poppa" was a top ten Billboard Hot 100 hit and earned Biggie a Grammy nomination.

This edition

• White vinyl
• 12" single
• Limited edition
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Ready to Die put Christopher Wallace at the top of New York rap in 1994, and "Big Poppa" was the single that took him from mixtape hero to the radio. It's smooth where most of the album is grim, a laid-back party record built for slow-rolling cars. Bad Boy put it out as the follow-up single to Juicy in early 1995, and Sean Combs had a hand in shaping it for radio.

Chucky Thompson and Sean Combs built "Big Poppa" around The Isley Brothers' silky Between the Sheets, and Biggie's unhurried, conversational flow does the rest. On the flip, Easy Mo Bee's "Warning" lifts Isaac Hayes' version of Walk On By for a tense, cinematic story of a late-night phone call. The instrumentals are a gift to DJs and anyone who fancies having a go themselves. DJ Mister Cee, an early champion of Biggie's demo tape, gets an associate executive producer credit.

Three decades on, the hook still fills dance floors from Brooklyn to Scarborough. Bring your own Isley Brothers records; the beat already borrowed one.

Also at Kops: more The Notorious B.I.G. on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Bad Boy (cat# RCV1-564738), a reissue of the 1995 EP.