Top 10 Rap Songs that Tribute or Mention the Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie's cultural and influential impact on Brooklyn, New York City, and Hip Hop is bigger than any other. Over the years, there have been many, many rap artists who have paid homage to the Brooklyn legend, through their own music and words.The Notorious B.I.G. passed away on March 9th 1997, Los Angeles California.
"Y'all don't know about my Biggie wars
Who you thought Kick in the Door was for?
But that's my heart, y'all still trippin' off the Jigga s***"
These words indicate that Nas earlier had beef with Big, although the song in full, speaks on his beef with Jay-Z and Puff.
Joey Bada$$ dedicates this song to the legacy and legends of the Brooklyn Hip scene, which has obviously been a large influence to him. He specifically pays respect to Jay-Z and of course, Biggie. He even released the song on the 19th anniversary of Biggie's death.
As the song's title explains, the track is lyrically dedicated to Biggie in the form of one verse. It has guest vocals by Faith Evans, (who was married to B.I.G.).
I feel like the list was an important part of the song becoming big it just seems like having a list of his greatest rappers would be something that a lot of people would want to hear plus the fact that he included himself could symbolise the point where he became a hip hop icon in his own right.
"I got a list, here's the order of my list that it's in
It goes Reggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac and Biggie
André from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas, and then me
But in this industry I'm the cause of a lot of envy".
In these famous 'Eminem Show' lines, Biggie is one of nine emcees that Eminem views to be on the highest calibre.
"Anything we do we do it B.I.G
Every move we make is always B.I.G
And the number one rule, think B.I.G
And the best rapper's still B.I.G."
Feat. Rick Ross and Jay-Z, Meek Mill's 'What's Free' pays homage to Biggie through the songs lyrics and its title. The song was Bleek's take on Biggie's 'What's Beef?' (1997).
A Mike Tyson introduces Canibus' hardcore, iconic boxing style diss against LL Cool J. Clearly the song is not directed at Biggie, Canibus does state Biggie's take on beef in rap:
" 'Cause the greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th, God bless his soul, rest in peace, kid it's because if him now at least I know what beef is It's not what I would call this, see this is something different".
"Let's take the dough and stay real jiggy, uh-huh
And sip the Cris' and get pissy-pissy
Flow infinitely like the memory of my n**** Biggie, baby!"
A short but sweet flowing reference to Biggie, who had only passed away (1997) a year before the song's release (1998).
Following Tupac's guest verse, Big L begins his raps with,
"I be that young, pretty, fly, smooth, glorious kid
A Bad Boy, just like The Notorious B.I.G."
