The Best Rap Album of all Time (5th in a series)

There is always going to be discussion about what the best album is of all time. There's lots of great contenders. Illmatic by Nas, The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z, Doggystyle and The Chronic by Dr Dre and Snoop, and Paid in full by Eric B and Rakim are all common contenders. However, while all these albums are good, the album that is closest to perfect is the Notorious B.I.G.'s debut Ready to Die.
Ready to Die, for an album consistently considered to be a classic staple of any NY's fan, is overlooked. The biggest reason is that it came out in '93 and unlike all of the practitioners mentioned above, Biggie can't perform songs from the 1st album because he died 15 years ago. The second problem is that not only is Ready to Die not considered the best album period, it also is arguably not Biggie's best album, since Life After Death is also a classic. I'm of the belief that as far as rap music goes this is as good as it gets. It's not a perfect album, but it's as close as it gets. Any upcoming rapper needs to listen to "Ready to Die".
The benefit of a rapper's first album is that they've had their entire life to work on it. The experiences from 5- 25 can all be used. In Ready to Die, Biggie tells a story, that begins literally from birth. In the intro, you hear biggie being born (hilarious skit voiced by Diddy). The second song, in stark contrast is titled things done changed. It serves as a thesis statement for the rest of the album. Biggie is going to tell the story of his life in this changed world. He talks about how is he affected by it and how does he effect change upon it.
The 3rd person narrative switches immediately to 1st person in "Gimme Da Loot". "My man brought a tec and a nine to the crib, turn himself in he had to do a bid, a one to 3 he'll be home the end of 93, it's time to get this paper g, you wit me?" And we are with him, carried through Machine Gun Funk and the dark brooding "Warning".

"Hold on I hear somebody coming"

Warning is a turning point in the album all of a sudden, the success he has turns on him. To be fair the song which begins with hearing that people are out to kill Biggie ends with a skit where you hear Biggie off his attackers. Then the title track plays followed by the great song One More Chance
Then for the first (and only time) you hear a guest on the album with the appearance of Method Man in "The What". While meth is a skilled rapper in his own right, he's not on the level of Mr. Smalls. This is followed by everyone's favorite song Juicy. Juicy is a retrospective song discussing Biggie's childhood. Where things done change talks about his neighborhood in the 3rd person, Juicy is all about Biggie's life and current success
However, in Everyday struggle, it becomes immediately apparent that everything isn't rosy for him. The success has create BIG problems from fellow dealers, rappers, and even the mayor of NY. His concerns about his new daughter have also become huge. Then in the song "Me & My Bitch", the person that he loves, trusts and sticks by gets killed by people looking for him . Then in big poppa, he has a song that sounds different in the context of the song Me and My Bitch coming before him.

"You got a gun up in your waist/Please don't shoot up the place/'Cuz I see some ladies tonight that could be having my baby, baby"

Out of context, it seems random and even a throwaway statement. In context of the previous song, he's deadly serious. He's thinking about the future with his present lifestyle getting in the way.
Respect and Friend of Mine get into similar themes of looking back and distance from relationships. Then unbelievable plays, and it it's the last positive highlight of the album.

"When I die, fuck it I wanna go to hell, cuz I'm a piece of shit it ain't hard to fuckin tell"

The last song is dark. The song Suicidal Thoughts is morbid in its consideration of past acts and present lifestyle decisions. He says he wishes his mom had aborted him. He talks about the way he mistreated her an other people. Then the song ends with the bang of a self-inflicted gunshot.
The album tells the story of a man. A rise, a peak, a fall. The songs are all meaningful in their order and they all feel like they matter, in telling a part of the story. The songs are also excellent and hold up on their own. This is the mark of a great album.