Ready to Die: Where Are They Now?
Catch up with the makers of a masterpiece.
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Ready to Die: Where Are They Now? - Nineteen years ago today (Sept. 13), the Notorious B.I.G. debut album, Ready to Die, hit shelves with timeless songs including "Warning," "Juicy" and "Big Poppa." Hip hop would never be the same. The album's delicate balance between the streets and the mainstream became rap's blueprint going forward, followed to the letter by Jay Z, Nas, Lil Wayne and many others. The hugely influential album launched several careers to new levels — from the performers to the producers. Others didn't fare so well. Here, BET.com takes a look at what happened to the players who helped make Ready to Die a masterpiece. —Alex Gale(Photo: Bad Boy)
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DJ Premier - DJ Premier's patented sample chops helped make "Unbelievable" one of the illest cuts on an album full of them. It's one of the main reasons that Primo is to this day the go-to producer when rappers want a traditional East Coast boom-bap. Most recently he's produced and scratched for DJ Khaled, Game and Mac Miller — not to mention the Cypher at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
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Method Man - Method Man is the only other rapper to spit a verse on Ready to Die, passing the mic back and forth with Big on "The What." He released several solo albums and joint projects with Wu-Tang and Redman in the years since, and built a strong filmography as an actor as well. His last album was Wu-Massacre with Ghostface and Raekwon, and his last film was 2012's Red Tails. He's currently working on a new solo LP and a third installment of Blackout with Redman, and will be starring in Lucky N#mbr. (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
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Diddy - Diddy executive produced Ready to Die and co-produced the hit singles "Juicy," "One More Chance" and "Big Poppa" as well as several skits. Nowadays, it would be hard to not know what Diddy's been up to: still making music (Future's "Magic" remix, French Montana's "Shot Caller" remix, will.i.am and Britney Spears' "Scream & Shout" remix, and much more), running Bad Boy, Ciroc and Sean Jean and making a whole lot of money. (Photo: ERIK PENDZICH / Rex USA, courtesy Everett Collection)
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Lord Finesse - Rapper-producer Lord Finesse concocted the dreamscape-like beat for album closer "Suicidal Thoughts." Later, he produced for Big L and Dr. Dre and ran with the DITC crew. Today, a new generation of fans are discovering his music after Mac Miller and Joey Bada$ rhymed over old beats of his on recent mixtapes. He sued Mac for copyright infringement.(Photo: Courtesy of Lord Finesse/Facebook)
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Poke - Poke — one half of hit-making production duo the Trackmasters — co-produced "Juicy" and "Respect." In the years to follow, him and Trackmasters partner, Tone, became one of the most successful beat-making crews of all time, working with Mariah Carey, Jay Z and 50 Cent and earning over 20 platinum plaques. After disbanding in 2005, the two recently reunited, landing beats for Lil Kim and Wiz Khalifa. (Photo: Ray Tamarra/Getty Images)
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Lord Digga - Digga co-produced "Me & My B---h," "Everyday Struggle" and "One More Chance" as half of the Bass Brotherz beat-making crew. He went on to rap and produce for Masta Ace before releasing several indie solo LPs — 2008's The High Plains Drifter, most recently. (Photo: Digga/Myspace)
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Total - R&B trio Total sung the hook on "Juicy" and the original album version of "One More Chance," their first taste of success. They released their platinum self-titled debut in 1996 and a gold follow-up two years later before disbanding around 2001. Group member Pamela Long is gearing up to release her debut solo album, and she tweeted that Total was recording new material. (Photo: Bad Boy)
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Mister Cee - Brooklyn's DJ Mister Cee helped discover Big and served as associate executive producer on the album. He's gone on to become one of New York's biggest party and radio DJs, holding down the must-listen Throwback at Noon on Hot 97, a post from which he resigned in 2013 amid controversy surrounding his soliciting fellatio from prostitutes and a transvestite blogger. (Photo: GlobalGrind)
Photo By PNP / WENN
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Diana King - Dancehall queen Diana King sang the reggae-inspired hook on "Respect." She later had a successful solo career, highlighted by the single "Shy Guy," which sold 5 million copies worldwide. Her last album was 2011's Agirlnameking, though she made more noise with her announcement this past July that she was a lesbian — she was the first major Jamaican artist to publicly come out. (Photo: Diana King/Facebook)
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