Onyx feat. Biggie Smalls, Naughty By Nature & 3rd Eye - Flip Dat Sh!t (circa 1993)

[Norrin_Radd]

As dated as @5 Grand "flow" is he sure be hating on old school shit a lot lol

 

[SheerExcellence]

I think he would've just blossomed late a la DMX and Jay. The nigga was disgustingly nice, you couldn't shelf that for too long in the 90s. Besides, Puff only gave him sleek production and maybe some vocal tips. Biggie already had the mindset to evolve creatively... that's why Juicy ended up being what it was conceptually and he told more stories on LAD.

And since we're going there... if Biggie hadn't linked up with Puff, he wouldn't have been convinced by Puff to go to LA during a beef he helped keep alive and Biggie would still be here.

i disagree that “he would’ve just blossomed.” you need a team pushing down the doors for you. jay had dame, dmx had irv gotti…it didn’t just magically happen for em

biggie was still heavy in the streets and puffy had to beg him to focus more on rap and leave that shit alone

if puffy isn’t convinced and believing in his talent, i don’t think biggie just ends up selling millions of records just because he was “nice.” if anything, he was more likely to go to prison for drug dealing and we never hear of him

we can agree to disagree tho
i do agree with you that he shouldn’t have been in la and wouldn’t have if not for puff

 

[Water Ur Seeds]

Theres no doubt Puff made big a commercial (pop) star and took his star to the next level but theres also a huge chance BIG would had been also had become a star in the style of like say WU, Big L or G Rap etc

In fact there are parallels to Big L, Biggie and Mase... Big L, Mase and BIG were raw, grimmy, rappers even with hints of horrorcore in their raps... Puff took BIG and Mase and made them commercial popstars... Big L never got the chance so his legacy, whilst still a legend remains a hardcore, punchline rapper...

Come to think of it Cam was also in the same vein too, until he linked up with 'commercial' Mase 2.0 and later Jay Z...

 

[Water Ur Seeds]

Also lets also not forget BIG was rapping on stage with Pac, Kane and Shyheim in 1993/94 and god knows how many tunes like this one with Onyx and Naughty he cut...

So its lets not act like Puff just randomly found BIG... BIG was already doing his thing, Puff 'just' took him until the next level commercially and made him a pop star...

 

[SheerExcellence]

i never said puff randomly found Big
but Big was not on stages with pac and shyheim before he signed to puff and uptown in july 1992
puff was his entry into that

 

[Water Ur Seeds]

i never said puff randomly found Big
but Big was not on stages with pac and shyheim before he signed to puff and uptown in july 1992
puff was his entry into that

He was was well known around the way though, Im pretty sure he would had become rugged MC... He knew, MOP, Busta, Jay and no dount countless other MCs before Puff...

Like I said theres no doubting Puffy made him star and BIG then ran more with the smooth King Tee style flow rather than the more rugged style...

 

[Lab Baby]

i disagree that “he would’ve just blossomed.” you need a team pushing down the doors for you. jay had dame, dmx had irv gotti…it didn’t just magically happen for em

biggie was still heavy in the streets and puffy had to beg him to focus more on rap and leave that shit alone

if puffy isn’t convinced and believing in his talent, i don’t think biggie just ends up selling millions of records just because he was “nice.” if anything, he was more likely to go to prison for drug dealing and we never hear of him

we can agree to disagree tho
i do agree with you that he shouldn’t have been in la and wouldn’t have if not for puff

Someone would've found him. IIRC he was scouted to be in either Wu or Def Squad. Success under one person isn't guaranteed... word to Knocturnal, Mark Curry, and anyone in Murder Inc not named Ja Rule or Ashanti. As far as being in the streets, that didn't stop niggas in the 90s... especially if they were as dope as Biggie. Ghost was on the run during 36 Chambers, DMX was in and out of jail his whole career/adult life, and the Yayo dance exists because he was trying to hide his face from the feds. Biggie wasn't gonna be a GOAT making demos in his momma's crib, but even in this unrefined form you could tell he was a star.