Ready to Die: A Thread of 10 Facts

The album was semi-autobiographical. After dropping out of high school Biggie briefly was involved in drug dealing & crime.

After being released from jail Puffy begged Biggie to leave hustling behind. The day he left North Carolina, the operation he was involved with was raided.

Following the same approach as Illmatic, Biggie worked with a team of in demand producers including DJ Premier, Pete Rock (uncredited), Easy Mo Bee, and Lord Finesse.

The album's recording started while Biggie and Puffy were on Uptown Records. When Puffy founded Bad Boy, the album was completed.

Busta Rhymes recalls Biggie handing out copies of Ready to Die from his Brooklyn home.

Busta said he had a line in front of his crib on St. James like he was selling the best coke ever.

Pete Rock is adamant that he produced Juicy. Poke of Trackmasters earned the producer credit & does not recall Pete Rock being involved.

Method Man was the only feature. After they met in 93, they agreed to work together. Method Man was one of few artists who worked with Biggie & 2Pac during their lifetime.

The album shipped 60k in the first week, but climbed the charts and went gold in 2 months. A year later it was certified platinum.

The Source initially gave it a 4.5 mic rating, but revised it to a perfect 5 mic rating in 2002.

In 2006, Bridgeport Music sued Bad Boy over samples on Ready to Die, Machine Gun Funk, and Gimme the Loot. Re-released versions since the lawsuit do not include samples.