Duets: The Final Chapter review

Hip-hop's self-image would never be quite the same without the Notorious B.I.G.

In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records. His all-too-brief odyssey almost immediately took on mythic proportions, especially since his murder followed the shooting of rival 2Pac Shakur by only six months. In death, the man also known as Biggie Smalls became a symbol of the senseless violence that plagued inner-city America in the waning years of the 20th century. Whether or not his death was really the result of a much-publicized feud between the East and West Coast hip-hop scenes, it did mark the point where both sides stepped back from a rivalry that had gone too far. Hip-hop's self-image would never be quite the same, and neither would public perception. Since his passing, the Notorious B.I.G. has lived on through his posthumous releases, Born Again and the highly anticipated album, Duets: The Final Chapter. The 22-track set features songs built around unreleased Biggie music.

Dozens of superstars have come together to perform with legendary rapper

Duets: The Final Chapter features rhymes recorded by the Notorious B.I.G. throughout his career, melded with newly recorded performances by some of contemporary music’s greatest vocalists and MCs. Dozens of superstars have come together to perform with and pay homage to the legendary rapper on this unprecedented, history-making release. In addition, Duets: The Final Chapter incorporates posthumous appearances by 2Pac, Bob Marley, and Big Pun. Hold Ya Head was the first music to be released from Duets: The Final Chapter. The dramatic and poignant track pairs the Notorious B.I.G. with a moving sample from Johnny Was by Bob Marley, another legendary artist who died before his time. Other highlights of the project include Get Your Grind On, which brings together for the first time the Notorious B.I.G., Fat Joe, and Big Pun; and Spit Your Game, which pairs Twista with Bone Thugs N Harmony’s Krayzie Bone, a long-awaited collaboration that hip-hop fans will go wild for. R. Kelly and Charlie Wilson join the Notorious B.I.G. on the soulful groove Mi Casa, and the group KoRn rocks with him on Wake Up Now. B.I.G.’s mom, Voletta Wallace, makes an appearance on the album’s closing track, Love Is Everlasting, with the recital of an original poem about her son Christopher Wallace.

The love for B.I.G was and is real

Biggie was a gifted storyteller with a sense of humor and an eye for detail, and his narratives about the often-violent life of the streets were rarely romanticized; instead, they were told with a gritty, objective realism that won him enormous respect and credibility. The general consensus in the rap community was that when his life was cut short, sadly, Biggie was just getting started. Duets: The Final Chapter marks the first release of new the Notorious B.I.G.’s material in six years. P. Diddy and Notorious B.I.G. are the album’s Executive Producers, while Voletta Wallace is Co-Executive Producer along with Faith Evans, Harve Pierre, and such luminaries as Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, Just Blaze, Scott Storch and Mario Winans. "This composition of sound and different energies has surpassed my wildest imagination," said Bad Boy Entertainment founder and CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs. "The love for B.I.G. was and is real. This movement has been both an emotional and therapeutic experience, one that finds us at the end of the road in terms of original releases for a great man and at the threshold of a sound and a quality which may have fallen by the wayside after losing him."