"Notorious Thugs" is a song by American rapper

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

featuring American hip hop group

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

from the former's second studio album ''

Life After Death ''Life After Death'' is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on March 25, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. A double album, it was released sixteen days after his murder. ...

'' (1997). It was produced by

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

and

Stevie J Steven Aaron Jordan (born November 2, 1973) Note: Live HHS link goes to error page, but copy-pasting the URL works. is an American DJ, record producer, and television personality. As part of the Bad Boy Records production team the Hitmen, Jorda ...

. The song contains a sample of "More Than Love" by

Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...

Background

The Notorious B.I.G. wanted to collaborate with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on the song and tried to contact them, but they initially ignored him and did not want his offer because of Biggie's

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

with fellow rapper

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

. Biggie then asked rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

to help connect him with the group. Joe convinced Bone Thugs-n-Harmony by suggesting the advantages of such collaboration and was eventually able to fulfill Biggie's request, with the group's manager Steve Lobel setting up the collaboration. Biggie studied Bone Thugs' signature flow before recording his verse at home. According to Lobel, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony finished their contribution to the song in less than one and a half hour.

Composition

The song features a keyboard sample in the production and rapid-fire rapping, with verses from The Notorious B.I.G.,

Bizzy Bone Bryon Anthony McCane II (born September 12, 1976),Whitburn, Joel (2008) ''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006'', Record Research, , p. 97 better known by his stage name Bizzy Bone, is an American rapper, singer and the youngest member o ...

Krayzie Bone Anthony Henderson (born June 17, 1973), better known as Krayzie Bone, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip-hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Career Solo After finding success with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Krayzie Bone recorded his so ...

and

Layzie Bone Steven Howse (born September 23, 1974), known professionally as Layzie Bone, is an American rapper known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also gone by the names L-Burna, Lil Lay, and The #1 Assassin. He is ...

. B.I.G. refers to 2Pac with the line "so-called beef with you-know-who", calling their feud "bullshit", while Bone Thugs-N-Harmony also disses

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...

Critical reception

Cheo Hodari Coker Cheo Hodari Coker is an American former music journalist turned television writer and producer known for such television series as ''Luke Cage (TV series), Luke Cage'', ''NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''Southland (TV series), Southland'' and ''Ray Donovan ...

of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised Biggie's performance, writing he "uses Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapid-fire rhyme patterns so effectively that he could have become the group's sixth member." Michael A. Gonzales ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'' commented that Biggie "holds his own" with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and "That ambitious track alone reveals Smalls' diversity as an MC and his desire to be viewed as the greatest in his field."

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Bone Thugs-n-Harmony 1997 songs The Notorious B.I.G. songs Bone Thugs-n-Harmony songs Song recordings produced by Sean Combs Song recordings produced by Stevie J Songs written by the Notorious B.I.G. Songs written by Bizzy Bone Songs written by Krayzie Bone Songs written by Layzie Bone Songs written by Sean Combs Songs written by Stevie J Diss tracks