Its unfortunate that Biggie was only alive to see one single album be released. He was killed just two weeks before “Life After Death” was released. Piggybacking on our last Biggie blog, here are some the artists that Biggie wanted to work with in his career but never got the chance to because he was killed before they recorded or for one reason or another, they were just not able to make their schedules match. There are a few more, but we may save that for another blog post down the road. So here they are, 15 artists that Biggie wanted to collab with:
- E-40-
Once E-40 and Biggie buried their beef (which was over the negative rating Biggie gave E-40 in a magazine interview) the two were looking to record together for Biggie’s next project, which was “Life After Death”. Biggie was killed before that happened. - Prodigy-
Biggie had originally wanted Prodigy to get on the Havoc-produced “Last Dayz” track from “Life After Death”. Prodigy said no to rapping on the track and Biggie went and got The L.O.X. to perform instead. - Warren G-
Biggie and Warren G were good friends, even during the east coast vs. west coast beef. Biggie had always wanted to record a song with the Compton MC, but would never get the chance before March 9th, 1997. - Large Professor-
Biggie was such a fan of Large Professor and the work that he had done on some Nas’ early material, that Biggie had tried unsuccessfully getting Large Professor to record on both “Ready To Die” and “Life After Death”. We can only wonder if Biggie and Nas’ strained relationship had something to do with not being able to book Large Professor. - Q-Tip-
Biggie was a huge fan of Q-Tip and was trying to get Q-Tip to record on “Life After Death”. Q-Tip was there in the studio during “Life After Death” recording sessions, but never got a chance to jump on a track. - Mariah Carey-
Around 1995 or so, Biggie mentioned in a magazine interview that he wanted to record some tracks that were “positive and emotional” with certain lady R&B singers. One of the people he mentioned wanting to work with: Mariah Carey. - Lady Of Rage-
Biggie’s favorite female MC during that 90s (well at least until before he and Charli started dated) was The Lady Of Rage. Biggie had tried getting together on a track with the Lady Of Rage as early as 1994. - Chemical Brothers-
Yup, this one is in fact true. Puffy had wanted Biggie to collabo with the British Techno group The Chemical Brothers for a remix to a “Life After Death” song. Plans were in place for Biggie to record with them, but Biggie was killed before that happened. - Charli Baltimore-
Before Biggie’s death in 1997, he and Charli were closer than any of the other girls that he was hooking up with. In addition to Charli contributing to the upcoming “Commision” album with Jay-Z, Biggie had planned a solo album to be distributed on Undeas Entertainment, that he would executive produce. Biggie was planning to record and help write for that album. - Jeru The Damaja-
Even though Biggie and Puffy did have a minor beef with Jeru, Biggie and Jeru had been close friends for quite a while. Biggie was always a fan of his work and had planned to record with him and M.O.P. - Dr. Dre-
Even though Dr. Dre has produced for Biggie’s posthumous albums, Dre never did get a chance to record with Biggie. Dre obviously never got the chance because of the Bad Boy/Death Row Records fued, but Biggie was still a fan and was looking for a Dre beat for “Life After Death”. Biggie ran into Suge in 1996 in NYC and told him to tell Dre that he was looking for a beat. Suge told him, “whatever”. - Timabaland-
Biggie and Timbaland had talked about working together on what would be Biggie’s next project after “Life After Death”. Biggie and Timbaland talked about hooking up right before Biggie’s death, so Timbaland didn’t get a chance to contribute to “Life After Death”. Just think how dope Biggie would sound over of a ’97 Timbaland beat?!?! - Dogg Pound-
Although Daz does claim that he himself has recorded with Biggie, Biggie had always wanted to record with Daz and Kurupt. Can you imagine a Biggie and Kurupt exchanging rhymes? - Scarface-
Biggie was a huge fan of Scarface and The Geto Boyz. Although Scarface does appear on the “Biggie Duets” album released in 2005, the two never did get a chance to record in person together. Scarface would have the been the perfect addition to “Life After Death”. Just think of Scarface jumping on “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills” or “Niggas Bleed”. - Raekwon-
Even though Biggie and Wu-Tang did have a beef that lasted two years or so, Biggie was actually a big fan of them, in particular he loved Raekwon’s work. In an interview before the release of “Life After Death”, Biggie was asked who was the one artist that he really wish he could have worked with and his answer: Raekwon The Chef. Just think what a “Verbal Intercourse” track would sound like with Biggie on it.
This is what the “Biggie Duets” album should have looked like. An album full of guest appearances from artists that Biggie wanted to work with but never got the chance to. Thats giving Biggie the tribute he needs. Instead, Puffy made an entire album of re-used Biggie verses with artists who were “hot” at the time. No one even knows if Biggie would have wanted to collaborate with them. This is the version of Duets we should have got.
Picasso Baby 