Supreme soloists are considered to be of the highest order when it comes to the art of rhyme, and arguably the greatest of them all is being celebrated today — despite having recorded his last song more than twenty years ago. The Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered on March 9, 1997, in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California, still remains as New York’s undisputed king of rap.
With casual fans and hip-hop junkies alike showing reverence to the pride of Bed Stuy, Biggie Smalls receives praise from all walks of life. Throughout the culture’s history, few figures have become as synonymous with hip-hop as Big Poppa, who took the rap world by storm in the mid ’90s — building a legacy that remains iron-clad to this day. Other rappers may have gone on to reach greater commercial success, but few rappers are as beloved or as formidable on the mic as hip-hop’s Frank White. In our eyes, he is still one of the top lyricists of all time. Biggie transcended rap and infiltrated pop culture without sacrificing his integrity as an artist.
READ: The Notorious C.O.O.G.I.: Biggie’s History With The COOGI Brand
Possessing a skill-set that still makes the most accomplished of rappers envious, The Notorious B.I.G. would regularly leave listeners spellbound with his nimble flow and intricate rhyme schemes, but one aspect of Biggie’s artistry that many overlook is his penchant for name-dropping. Dating back to the release of his debut single and first guest appearances, Brooklyn’s own would give nods to various figures, including fellow entertainers, accountants, lawyers, close friends, and even family members — giving listeners a glimpse into his world. Many of these instances would be marked as some of the rapper’s most unforgettable bars, immortalizing the names within them.
READ: Notorious B.I.G.’s 15 Biggest Billboard Hits
To celebrate the life of a legend whose life was taken away too soon, we’ve compiled 50 of the greatest name-drops The Notorious B.I.G. littered throughout his raps during his relatively brief career.
READ: Live Big: 10 Life Lessons We Learned From Notorious B.I.G
1. “Party and Bullshit”
“Hugs from the honeys, pounds from the roughnecks/Seen my man [Lil] Fame that I knew from the projects/Said he had beef, asked me if I had my piece/Sure do, two .22’s in my shoes”
2. “Budweiser Superfest Freestyle”
“I got seven Mack-11’s, about eight 38’s/Nine 9’s, ten MAC-10’s, the shit never ends/You can’t touch my riches/Even if you had MC Hammer and them 357 bitches”
3. “Only You”
“Room 112 where the players dwell/And stash more cash than Bert Padell, inhale/Inhale make you feel godd like Tony Toni Tone (feels good)/Dig up in your middle like Monie (yes)”
4. “I Love The Dough”
“We hit makers with acres/Roll shakers in Vegas, you can’t break us/Lost chips on Lakers, gassed off Shaq/Country house, tennis courts on horseback”
5. “What’s Beef”
“Don’t they know my nigga Gutter fuckin’ kidnap kids/Fuck ’em in the ass, throw ’em over the bridge/That’s how it is, my shit is laid out/Fuck that “beef” shit, that shit is played out”
6. “What’s Beef”
“Man, listen, straight torture/Look what that slick shit bought ya/A first class ticket to Lucifer, real name Christopher/Watch me set it off like Vivica/Here lies your demise, close your eyes”
7. “Somebody’s Gotta Die”
“I’m sittin’ in the crib dreamin’ about Learjets and coupes/The way Salt shoops and how they sell records like Snoop – (oops!)I’m interrupted by a doorbell/3:52 – Who the hell is this?”
8. “Long Kiss Goodnight”
“I make yo’ mouthpiece obese like Della Reese/When I release, you lose teeth like Lil’ Cease/Nigga please, blood floods your dungarees/And that’s just the half of my warpath”
9. “Machine Gun Funk”
“This ain’t Christopher Williams, still some/MC’s got to feel one
Caps, I got to peel some/To let niggas know that if you fuck with big-and-heavy/I get up in that ass like a wedgie”
10. “Warning”
“Remember them niggas from the hill up in Brownsville/That you rolled dice with, smoked blunts and got nice with?/Yeah my nigga Fame up in Prospect/Nah them my niggas nah love wouldn’t disrespect”
11. “One More Chance”
“I got the pack of Rough Riders in the back of the Pathfinder/You know the epilogue by James Todd Smith/I get swift with the lyrical gift/Hit you with a dick, make your kidney shift”
12. “One More Chance”
“You see, all I do is separate the game from the truth/Big bang boots from the Bronx to Bolivia/Getting physical like Olivia Newt/Tricks suck my clique dick all day with no trivia”
13. “The What”
“Excuse me, flows just grow through me/Like trees to branches, cliffs to avalanches/It’s the praying mantis, deep like the mind of Farrakhan/A motherfucking rap phenomenon, plus”
14. “Juicy”
“It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! magazine/Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine/Hangin’ pictures on my wall/Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl“
15. “Juicy”
“Born sinner, the opposite of a winner/Remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner/Peace to Ron G, Brucey B, Kid Capri/Funkmaster Flex, Lovebug Starski (Wassup?)”
16. “Juicy”
“I made the change from a common thief/To up close and personal with Robin Leach/And I’m far from cheap, I smoke skunk with my peeps all day/Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way”
17. “Big Poppa”
“Now check it: I got more mack than Craig, and in the bed/Believe me, sweetie, I got enough to feed the needy/No need to be greedy, I got mad friends with Benzes/C-notes by the layers, true fuckin’ players”
18. “Unbelievable”
“And those that rushes my clutches get put on crutches/Get smoked like dutches from the master/Hate to blast you but I have to, you see I smoke a lot/Your life is played out like Kwame and them fucking polka dots/Who rock the spot, Biggie/You know how the weed go, unbelievable”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y7yQwQtSN7M
19. “Who Shot Ya?”
“I feel for you, like Chaka Khan I’m the don/Pussy when I want, Rolex on the arm/You’ll die slow but calm/Recognize my face, so there won’t be no mistake/So you know where to tell Jake, lame nigga”Brave nigga, turned front page nigga”
20. “Bullshit and Party”
“Can’t we just all get along?/So I can put hickies on her chest like Little Shawn/Get her pissy drunk off of Dom Pérignon/And it’s on, and I’m gone”
21. “Just Playin'(Dreams)”
“As I sit back relax, steam a blunt, sip a Becks/Think about the sexy singers that I wanna sex/I’d probably go to jail for fucking Patti LaBelle/Ooh Regina Belle, she’d probably do me swell/Jasmine Guy was fly, Mariah Carey’s kinda scary/Wait a minute, what about my honey Mary?/Them jeans they fitting like a glove/I had a crush on you since Real Love”
22. “Get Money”
“You wanna sip Mo’ on my living room flo’/Play Nintendo with Cease and Nino/Pick up my phone say “Poppa not home”/Sex all night, mad head in the morn'”
23. “I Love The Dough”
“Ain’t shit changed, except the number after the dot on the Range/Way niggas look at me now, kinda strangeI hate y’all too/Rather be in Carribean sands with Rachel/It’s unreal, out the blue Frank White got sex appeal/Bitches used to go, “ill!”
24. “Long Kiss Goodnight”
“Short-change niggas, snort ‘caine niggas/Extortion came quicker, bought the Range nigga/Ya still tickle me, I used to be as strong as Ripple be/Til Lil’ Cease crippled me/Now I play hard, like my girl’s nipples be”
25. “Victory”
“Excellence is my presence, never tense/Never hesitant, leave a nigga bent real quick/Real sick, raw nights, I perform like Mike/Anyone — Tyson, Jordan, Jackson/Action, pack guns, ridiculous/And I’m, quick to bust, if my ends you touch”
26. “Dead Wrong”
“Who’s the one you call Mr. Macho?/The head honcho, swift fist, like Camacho/I got so much style I should be down with the Stylistics/”Make up to break up” Niggas need to wake up/Smell the Indonesia, beat you to a seizure/Then fuck your moms, hit the skins to amnesia”
27. “Dead Wrong”
“I guess I was a combination of House of Pain and Bobby Brown/I was humping around and jumping around/Jacked her, then I asked her, “Who’s the man?”/She said, “B-I-G”, then I’d bust in her E-Y-E”
28. “Players Anthem”
“Just the way players play, all day everyday/I don’t know what else to say/I’ve been robbin niggas since Run and them was singin ‘Here We Go’/Snatchin ropes at the Roxie homeboy”
29. “Realms of Junior M.A.F.I.A.”
“Dippin’ with money L in the green beamer/Sippin’ Zima’s, on our way to see Katrina/She said she need a “Freak Like Me,” like Adina/Fucked her by mistake she had a twin named Regina”
30. “All About The Benjamins (Remix)”
“Left my East Coast girl the Bentley to twirl/My West Coast shorty, push the chrome 740/Rocking Redman and Naughty, oh, where my kitty cat/Half a brick of yay in the bra where her titties at”
31. “Flava In Ya Ear” (Remix)”
“More Guns than Roses, foes is shaking in their boots/Invisible bully like The Gooch/Disappear, vamoose, you’re wack to me/Take them rhymes back to the factory”
32. “Who’s the Man”
“Cause he kept on beggin’ for shit/Now B.I.G. keep on wreckin’ the shit/And the chronic (cough) got a nigga (cough) rockin’ shit/Castratin’ like that Bobbitt bitch”
33. “4 My Peeps”
“Introducing the black bastard from Bedrock/Guaranteed to make your head rock, tote Glocks/Drop cops that mistake me for Rodney/Strictly head shots, I knock the twist out your dreadlocks”
34. “Keep Your Hands High”
“Me and my nigga Lance, took Kim and Cease advance/Bought ten bricks, four pounds of weed plants/From Branson, now we lamp in, twelve room mansions/Bitches get naked off Get Money, Playas Anthem”
35. “Keep Your Hands High”
“Talkin’ blasphemy, blastin’ me/Your family rest in coffins often/Frankwizza, far from soft or fragilla/Play hard like Reggie Miller, rapper slash dope dealer/Slash guerilla, slash illest turned illa”
36. “Gimme The Loot”
“I’m slamming niggas like Shaquille, shit is real/When it’s time to eat a meal, I rob and steal/Cause mom dukes ain’t giving me shit/So for the bread and butter I leave niggas in the gutter”
37. “Gettin’ Money (Get Money Remix)”
“I display, Hot 97 rhyme-ready/Cocked Mac-11, line steady/Like Tevin Campbell I’m Ready/To do what I do, continuously to get money”
38. “Brooklyn’s Finest”
“Who shot ya? Mob ties like Sinatra/Peruvians tried to do me in, I ain’t paid them yet/Tryin to push 700’s, they ain’t made them yet/Rolex and bracelets is frostbit; rings too/Niggas ’round the way call me Igloo – Stick who?”
39. “Brooklyn’s Finest”
“Me and Gutter had 2 spots/The 2-for-5 dollar hits, the blue tops/Gotta go, Coolio mean it’s getting “Too Hot”/If Fay’ had twins, she’d probably have two Pacs/Get it? … Tu-pac’s”
40. “A Buncha Niggas”
“I bring drama like ya, spit on my momma/Cannibalistic, like that nigga Jeffrey Dahmer/I’ma head peeler, girl stealer/Coffin sealer, ex-drug dealer”
41. “Bust A Nut”
“Me eat you, I beat you, then greet you to the door/Bitch, cause I don’t love you no more/Which one of these hoes in the lobby wanna slob me/You know me, I like my dick brown like Bobby”
42. “I Love The Dough”
“Don’t forget the vinyl, take girls break spinals/Biggie be Richie like Lionel, shit/You seen the Jesús, dipped to H classes/Ice project off lights, shit flashes”
43. “Sky’s The Limit”
“Start stacking, dabbled in crack, gun packing/Nickname Medina make the seniors tote my niñas/From gym class to English pass off a global/The only nigga with a mobile, can’t you see like Total”
44. “Nasty Boy”
“Ladies, my Mercedes/Hold fo’ in the back, two if you’re fat/Keep a gat cause cats try to test me/They just fans like DeNiro/Wesley”
45. “Miss U”
“Got the coke cooked up, a crackhead Kevin/In ’88, when Kane ruled with “Half Steppin'”/A .38, a lot of mouth was our only weapon/We was kings till the D’s crept in; and now I’m missing ’em”
46. “Going Back to Cali”
“Cali got gunplay, models on the runway/Scream Biggie Biggie gimme One More Chance/I be whipping on the freeway, the NYC way/On the celly-celly with my homeboy Lance“
47. “I Love The Dough”
“Cases catch more than outfielders/Half these rapping cats ain’t seen war/Couldn’t score if they had point game, they lame/Speak my name, I make ’em dash like Dame”
48. “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)”
“Silly cat, wore suede in the rain/Swear he put the G in game, had the Gucci frame/Before Dana Dane, thought he ran with Kane/I can’t recall his name”
49. “My Downfall”
“Apologies in order, to T’Yanna my daughter/If it was up to me you would be with me/Sorta like Daddy Dearest, my vision be the clearest/Silencers so you can’t hear it”
50. “Freestyle #13”
“When I was born, I know I make the world darker/The age of fifteen, tote gats, quick to spark ya/Like Bob Barker, if the price is right/Lay your ass down for spite, anybody aight?