As much as anything, he was capable of bringing to life the tension of his time in Crooklyn, whether it was with notes about his crack-selling years, his complicated relationship with his mother, or simply the gun talk. Nor was he defined by his ear for the production of DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, and Lord Finesse.

It became clear to me that Biggie wasn’t just an enormous man with an inimitable voice (though there is that voice sorry, but Jamal Woolard, who played Big in 2009’s Notorious, had no chance of matching it dead-on). Still, while those first impressions were of great respect, the album’s fateful scope was what deepened my appreciation for Biggie and for album making, what with the intro track (a timeline featuring his birth, a supposedly unprecedented subway train robbery, and other autobiography), the brutal finale “Suicidal Thoughts”, and, well, everything in between. Michael Madden (MM): Long before I heard Ready to Die in full, I was familiar with a number of stupendous, tremendous Biggie songs, including “Juicy”, “Hypnotize”, and “Big Poppa”.

What say you, guys? Is this album as important to you as it is to me? Because I’d be remiss not to mention how hugely formative it was on my taste in hip-hop and that it was the go-to soundtrack for many blunt cruises in high school. Ready to Die is a portrait of an artist whose creative force was undeniable, who had lived the things he was talking about but hadn’t let them affect his charming persona too much, whose star was burning maybe too bright for his own good. But while Illmatic has enjoyed 20 years of being the consensus greatest rap album of all time, it’s hardly a record you would throw on at a party, and while Ready to Die has its moments of intensity, even songs about the realization that Biggie’s a target for crime and accepting the inevitable fate of death are eminently quotable and impossible not to nod along to. Ready to Die and Illmatic both came out in 1994 and gave New York City the shot in the arm it needed, pushing it right to the forefront of the hip-hop conversation. The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die is as strong a statement as you can make with your first impression, a powerful mix of radio-ready hits and dark, introspective tunes from the New York hardcore master. You recount all the successes that span their entire career, a series of peaks that earned them the title of legend. Pat Levy (PL): When discussing legendary figures, be they in music or sports or any other field, it’s rarely their debut that grabs the headlines.

Notorious big ready to die album art