The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

Life After Death was released sixteen days after Christopher Wallace was killed in Los Angeles, which has made it impossible to hear the album as anything other than what it accidentally became. But the record itself is not a eulogy. It is a triumphant, sprawling, endlessly confident double album by a rapper at the absolute peak of his powers, and it is very funny in places.

"Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" are the two enormous singles, both built by the Bad Boy hit machine of Sean Combs, Stevie J and Deric Angelettie, both engineered to dominate radio and both still doing it. Away from those, the album gets stranger and better. "Kick In The Door" and "Ten Crack Commandments" are DJ Premier at his most severe. "Notorious Thugs" has Biggie matching Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's triplet flow bar for bar. "Sky's The Limit" is Clark Kent's warmest production and Biggie's most reflective writing. RZA turns up on "Long Kiss Goodnight."

The guest list runs from Jay-Z and R. Kelly to Too Short and DMC, and Biggie sounds completely at ease against all of them. Herb Powers Jr. mastered. Twenty-eight years on it is still the most quotable rap double album ever made.

This reissue presents the full album across three LPs on Bad Boy and Rhino, with a graphic insert reproducing the original tracklist and credits.