At first I wasn’t gonna post this when we first got this in our e-mail on Friday. But as the weekend commenced I had this feeling in the back of my head that I really should have. Shit, I may believe that Jay-Z is the “Best Rapper Ever” right now. But for a long LONG time, I would steal on a motherfucker if they said Christoper George Latore Wallace wasn’t the best to ever do it. So, Biggie I’m sorry I didn’t do what I was supposed to and post the original version of Ready To Die on Friday.

1. Ready To Die Amazon

Stream Khemikal - Are You Ready To Die (Free download on ukdnb download page) by Khemikal from desktop or your mobile device. Watch the video for Ready to Die from The Notorious B.I.G.' S Ready to Die for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Watch the video for Ready to Die from The Notorious B.I.G.' S Ready to Die for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Digital download. Amazon MP3 $1.29 iTunes $1.29 Physical media.

I’m sorry that I let my physical urges (and the chance to release them on a sexy caramel toned beauty) get in the way of real Hip-Hop. Even though I’ve wronged you and Hip-Hop, I know that deep inside you would have did the same thing too. So people, if you haven’t already got this, do so and sit back and listen to Ready To Die again for the first time. You hear some samples that wasn’t cleared, some production from Premier and Pete Rock that wasn’t on the original, and hear what Biggie and Bad Boy initially intended.

I still don’t know how this shit is just getting out know.

I've been surprised as to how great this pressing turned out and I'm glad that Ready To Die got the treatment it deserved. Unfortunately it was subjected to sample removal and I'm glad now that the album's legal issues have been sorted.This pressing is the definitive way the album is meant to be heard. I think the packaging is fantastic and it's well worth what you pay for it through Vinyl Me Please. Only criticism is that I wish the LP came as a gatefold. If you look inside the jacket you can see Ready To Die (white text on red background) which would have been so cool as the gatefold images.My advice is to not buy it for over inflated prices on Discogs please. The record shouldn't sell for anything more than $30 USD ($40 AUD) and is currently available as a swap for October's Album of the Month if you haven't got it already.

Don't buy into those who want to profit for their own gain. Music is art and deserves to be heard at a fair price for everyone.Alchemy at UK did a great job mastering this and the depth of the sound is unbelievable. The pressing by GZ Media turned out better than expected given their track record (according to the comments I've read from other pressings of theirs - I don't mean to badmouth them). There are some cracks and pops but I'm unsure if it's just my speakers or dust or dirt in the grooves. I'm planning to give this one a deep clean when I get a chance. I found Juicy to be a little thin and not as dynamic as the other tracks I've heard.

This is slightly disappointing since I believe it is one of his strongest tracks musically and lyrically but I can't complain otherwise.Having a listen to this album on vinyl has given me a whole new appreciation for Biggie's lyrics and his legacy. It's crazy to think that this album is as old as me now and came out less than a month after I was born.Also this is the first rap / hip-hop album in my vinyl collection and I'm glad I started off with this one. If you buy this whether or not you're a huge fan of rap and Biggie or if you're new to Biggie, don't hesitate as it will no doubt become such a unique record in your collection. I was afraid that I made a huge mistake joining a vinyl membership for this album, but like what others said, they delivered a pristine package. 'Machine Gun Funk' and 'Ready to Die' sound exactly as I remember from their old edition, and the overall vinyl quality is excellent. It did caught me by surprise with the pops on certain tracks like 'The What', but upon rehearing them from various formats, the pops didn't come from the records but from the samples within these songs (now that I noticed them, I find them distracting).If VMP won't be criminalized for using the original masters for this repress, I sure hope this leads to a wide release of the de-master, not just in vinyl but in CDs and digital formats as well. It would be a crime that the only way to get the original version of Ready to Die beyond third-party sellers is on a membership basis, and possibly in limited supply.

Everyone deserves a chance to hear Biggie's seminal album as intended.Side note: are the splatters printed on the vinyls? They look way too textured to be just various wax colors mixed into the pressing machine; these LPs almost look like picture discs.UPDATE (9/20/17): Spoke high praise too soon.

Ready To Die Amazon

Upon relistening to Side C, on 'Everyday Struggle', there's a defect during the second chorus: either it's a single skip or, at the best case scenario, a couple of loud pops. Upon inspection, I noticed there's a very minor pimple on where the skip-or-pop occured. Since it's inconsistent, I pray I only get the pops since it only lasts a second and a half. Not grateful that my copy turned out to be less perfect than it is, but as I learned, buying vinyl can be a gamble in material quality.UPDATE 2.0 (9/29/17): Got my replacement copy from VMP, and I'm happy to say this LP has no flaws whatsoever, so I'm back to having that pristine LP set that I wanted. For some reason, VMP sent me the whole album, rather than a single sleeve holding the affected LP, so now I got two complete copies. Not sure what I should do with a spare.