Today (March 9) marks 19 years since The Notorious B.I.G.‘s untimely death, but the celebrated MC continues to live on through his music. You can hear his influence on nearly every other rapper in the game. And Biggie not only left a mark on fans and fellow hip-hip artists, but also on the Billboard charts. In addition to the chart love earned by his two studio albums (Ready to Die and Life After Death), he also helped launch the careers of other artists including 112, Total, Lil Kim and Junior M.A.F.I.A.
As we remember his sad passing, Billboard is celebrating his life’s work by counting down Biggie’s top 15 singles based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. Songs are ranked using an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the fewest.
15. “Stop The GunFight”
Trapp featuring 2pac, Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 77 (1997)
When lacing an album with messages that bring awareness to a community’s violence, Trapp decided to borrow 2pac and Biggie’s verses from their collaborative song recorded four years prior. Although it’s weird that a violence-awareness song features both rappers rhyming about drugs and bullets, the track charted on the Hot 100. “Stop the Gunfight” is one of two songs on the similarly titled album that features both rappers.
14. “Runnin’ (From Tha Police)”
2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Dramacydal, & Stretch
Hot 100 Peak Position: 81 (1997)
Before the highly-publicized west coast v. east coast rivalry, both rappers recorded this rare studio collaboration (see above). Unfortunately, due to the negative criticism surrounding gangsta rap that followed through their feud, the collaboration was shelved until a year later. You can find this track on the compilation album, One Million Strong.
13. “Nasty Girl”
The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge, & Avery Storm
Hot 100 Peak Position: 44 (2006)
Biggie’s most recent Hot 100 hit comes from his posthumous remix/studio album, Duets: The Final Chapter. Producer Jazze Pha put a spin on Biggie’s bars from the “Life After Death” track “Nasty Boy,” and recruited an all star cast including Jagged Edge, Diddy, Avery Storm and Nelly.
12. “Going Back to Cali”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 26 (1998)
B.I.G. didn’t let his infamous rap feud with Pac and Suge Knight stop him from showing love to the west coast. Diddy shouts out the fine things in the west: “weather, women and the weed.”
11. “Juicy/Unbelievable”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 27 (1994)
The world got its first taste of Biggie on the Mtume “Juicy Fruit” sample, “Juicy.” On the first single from his debut album Ready to Die, featuring Total, Biggie walks us through his life from his days dealing drugs to finally becoming the rapper he dreamt of becoming. “Now I’m in the limelight/ Cause I rhyme tight,” Biggie raps.
10. “Get Money”
Junior M.A.F.I.A. featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 17 (1996)
Biggie was a key factor in introducing his childhood friends, Junior M.A.F.I.A., to the hip-hop scene and rolling out the red carpet for one of hip-hop’s notable female rappers, Lil Kim. “Get Money,” kicked off by Biggie, is the trio’s biggest hit to date.
9. “Runnin’ (Dying To Live)”
Tupac Featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 19 (2003)
Leave it to Eminem to revive a collaboration with once-friends, 2Pac and Biggie. “Runnin’ (Dying to Live)” contains a high-pitched chorus of Edgar Winter’s “Dying to Live” and snippets from interviews with both rappers on which they speak on each other and the infamous West Coast vs. East Coast rivalry.
8. “Victory”
Puff Daddy & The Family featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes
Hot 100 Peak Position: 19 (1998)
Diddy complemented Biggie’s final verse ever recorded with a theatrical music video. The nearly eight-minute-long video pays homage to the film The Running Man. Director Marcus Nispel blends images of Biggie’s “One More Chance” with Diddy running through the streets of 3002 A.D. Reports say the production cost ran up to $2.7 million — a total that’s acceptable only for a legend.
7. “Can’t You See”
Total featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 13 (1995)
A year after making their debut on his first single, “Juicy,” Biggie returned the favor and appeared on Total’s debut single, “Can’t You See.” The trio kept it in the Bad Boy family by recruiting Diddy to lay down the soundscapes. Total saw chart success with its first single, same as Biggie.
6. “Only You”
112 Featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 13 (1996)
Call it the Biggie touch. A year after Total’s “Can’t You See,” featuring the rapper, hit No. 13 on the Hot 100, 112’s “Only You” reached the same rank with the help of Biggie, as well. B.I.G.’s name resonated beyond the hip-hop world with yet another R&B feature.
5. “Big Poppa/Warning”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 6 (1995)
Not a year into his career, Biggie earned a Grammy nomination and Billboard Music Award for his second single, “Big Poppa.” One of Biggie’s classics samples “Between the Sheets” by the Isley Brothers.
4. “One More Chance/Stay With Me”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2 (1995)
B.I.G. showed the Grammys who really lost when he earned his first Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1 and Hot 100 No. 2 with “One More Chance/Stay With Me.” At the time, the song tied Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson’s “Scream” for the highest Hot 100 debut of all time, when it entered at No. 5.
3. “Hypnotize”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 for three weeks (1997)
Though both of his albums were classics, it was Biggie’s sophomore album, Life After Death, that earned him his first Hot 100 No. 1 and yet another Grammy nomination. Biggie put us on to the good life way before Jay and ‘Ye’s luxury rhymes.
2. “Been Around the World”
Puff Daddy & The Family (featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Ma$e)
Hot 100 Peak Position: 2 (1998)
Diddy makes sure to commemorate his late friend every chance he gets. The majority of Diddy’s 1997 studio album, No Way Out, focused on Biggie and his death. The album’s first single nabbed the No. 2 slot on the Hot 100 as well as No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. And who can forget Diddy and Ma$e’s infamous shiny suits in the music video — and what later became known as the beginning of Diddy and J. Lo’s relationship.
1. “Mo Money Mo Problems”
The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy, Ma$e and Kelly Price
Hot 100 Peak Position: 1 for two weeks (1997)
Bad Boy shined bright in the jiggy era, especially with this late 90s hip-hop anthem. When Biggie’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” hit No. 1, it bumped his own tribute song out of the top slot. “I’ll Be Missing You” fell 1-2 that week, after spending 11 straight weeks at No. 1. Who better to move “I’ll Be Missing You” out of the No. 1 slot than B.I.G. himself, right? [Billboard]
