Mick Boogie & Terry Urban present Unbelievable:The Notorious Edition

I just got back from peeping Notorious and I’m feeling mid 90s ish. A while back Mick dropped a dope Big Mixtape called Unbelievable that had this same classic cover and Biggie fans rejoiced. The blends and reproduction used for old Biggie verses were off the meat rack. In time for the new Notorious movie, Mick and Terry Urban have decided to revisit that idea and released Unbelievable: The Notorious Edition. A collection of classic Big verses over well known instrumentals, new production and featuring MCs like The Game, Redman, Jadakiss and AZ.

The danger in this move is that recycling Big’s verses over and over and over for the past few years have become tiring. So if you plan on continuing that cycle, then you have better come with some original ideas and concepts. Unfortunately like the meat section in my hood’s supermarket, there was nothing new or fresh on this mixtape.

Some of the blends and mixes sounded cool and almost new. Throwing his “Last Days” verse over Onyx’s “Last Days” beat on “Last Dayz” (What’d you expect it to be called?) could fuel an adrenaline like Viagra. And using Ghost’s “Ragu” track to pair The Clipse with Big was definitely head knocking music. And pairing Gravy (Dude who portray’s Big in Notorious) with Biggie on “Ready To Die” had disaster written all over it, but turned out to be a pretty good collaboration.

But for the most part a lot of the blends weren’t up to par if not for the flow not matching the beat – which is what Big was known for – then for the sound quality of the verse chosen. Some verses like the one used on “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” sounded as if they were recorded on tape and dubbed a few times over. It just didn’t sound right, especially knowing that those verses are on CD and sound crystal clear. Sometimes the verses sounded slowed down so they could ride the beat better like on “Escape From NY.” Not a good move.

Now I may not be Big’s number 1 fan, but I think I’m somewhere in the Top 10 and I’m telling you, it's time to let the man rest in peace. If dudes wanna quote his rhymes or even sample his voice to make a hot record, cool. But it’s time to stop remixing his classic work to make it sound relevant to today’s sound. That’s not necessary. His sound and music were way ahead of its time. If anything, today’s rappers should try to catch up to what he did.-The Infamous O

Hottest Joint: “Blow”

Weakest Joint: “Escape From NY”