Juicy (The Notorious B.I.G. song)

"Juicy"
Single by The Notorious B.I.G.
from the album Ready to Die
Released	August 9, 1994
Format	CD
Recorded	1993–94
Genre	Conscious hip hop, gangsta rap
Length	5:03
Label	Bad Boy, Arista
Songwriter(s)	Christopher Wallace, Hunter McIntosh, Sean Combs, Pete Rock, Jean-Claude Olivier, Samuel Barnes
Producer(s)	Poke of Trackmasters, Pete Rock
The Notorious B.I.G. singles chronology
"Juicy" (1994) "Big Poppa" (1995)
"Juicy" (1994) "Big Poppa" (1995) Music video “Juicy” on YouTube

"Juicy" is the debut single by American hip hop artist The Notorious B.I.G. and the first single from his 1994 debut album Ready to Die. It was produced by Poke of Trackmasters & Sean "Puffy" Combs. It contains a sample of Mtume's "Juicy Fruit" released in 1982, but is directly sampled from the song's "Fruity Instrumental" mix, and has an alternative chorus sung by girl group Total. The song is considered by Rolling Stone, The Source and About.com as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time.^[1][2][3] The song has sold over 607,000 copies.

Content

The song is a "rags-to-riches chronicle"^[4] detailing his childhood years in poverty, his initial dreams of becoming a rapper and his early musical influences, his time dealing drugs and being involved in crime, and his eventual success in the music business and current lavish lifestyle.

Production controversy

Producer Pete Rock alleged that Puffy stole the idea for the original song's beat after hearing it from him during a visit. Rock explained this in an interview with Wax Poetics:^[5]

I did the original version, didn't get credit for it. They came to my house, heard the beat going on the drum machine, it's the same story. You come downstairs at my crib, you hear music. He heard that shit and the next thing you know it comes out. They had me do a remix, but I tell people, and I will fight it to the end, that I did the original version of that. I'm not mad at anybody, I just want the correct credit.

Rock's remix for "Juicy" uses the same sample as the original.

On the Juan Epstein podcast,^[6] Pete Rock discussed this briefly as well, saying that he has no hard feelings about how "Juicy" came about, but he wishes he'd gotten the proper credit, although he did harbor some ill feelings at one time.

Accolades

• Blender Magazine ranked it #168 on its Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s list in 2005.^[7]
• Bruce Pollock put it on his The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 list in 2005.^[7]
• ego trip ranked it #1 on its Hip Hop's 40 Greatest Singles by Year 1980-98 list in 1999.^[8]
• Pitchfork Media ranked the song at #14 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.^[9]
• Pop ranked it #1 on their Singles of the Year list in 1994.^[7]
• Q ranked "Juicy" the ninth greatest hip hop song of all time.^[10]
• Rolling Stone ranked the song #424 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[11]
• Spex included it on The Best Singles of the Century list in 1999.^[12]
• The Boston Phoenix included it on their The 90 Best Songs of the 90s list in 1999.^[13]
• The Source included it on their The 100 Best Rap Singles of All Time list in 1998.^[14]
• VH1 ranked it #7 on its "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Ever", and #1 on its "40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the 90s".

Albums containing "Juicy"

• Ready to Die – The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 debut album
• Big Phat Ones of Hip Hop, Vol. 1 – 1995 hip hop compilation album released by BOXtunes Records
• New Millennium Hip-Hop Party – 2000 hip hop compilation album released by Rhino Records
• New Millennium Party – 2000 multi-genre compilation album released by Rhino Records
• More Music From 8 Mile – 2002 soundtrack of songs included in 8 Mile
• Night Ripper – 2006 album by mashup artist Girl Talk. The song is featured in the track "Smash Your Head" alongside Elton John's "Tiny Dancer".
• The Greatest Hits – 2007 compilation of The Notorious B.I.G.'s greatest hits.
• Notorious Soundtrack – the soundtrack of Biggie's biopic.
• In Defense of the Genre – 2007 album by alternative rock band Say Anything in the track "No Soul" performed by Anna Waronker.
• the notorious xx – album remixed by wait what and features the song VCR by The XX with Juicy.
• This Is The Remix – EP released by Metal Ring and Butterfly that features a remix of the song's first verse.^[15]

Track listing

12 inch

A-side

1. Juicy (Dirty Mix) (5:05)
2. Unbelievable (3:45) (produced by DJ Premier)
3. Juicy (Remix) (4:42) (produced by Pete Rock)

B-side

1. Juicy (Instrumental) (5:05)
2. Unbelievable (instrumental) (3:45)
3. Juicy (remix instrumental) (4:43)

Official versions

• "Juicy" (album version)
• "Juicy" (instrumental) – 5:05
• "Juicy" (dirty mix) – 5:05
• "Juicy" (remix) – 3:42
• "Juicy" (remix instrumental) – 4:43

Chart positions

Weekly charts

References