Yeeeah Baby

Yeeeah Baby
Studio album by Big Pun
Released	April 4, 2000
Recorded	1999–2000
Genre	Hardcore rap, East Coast hip hop, Latin hip hop
Length	52:08
Label	Terror Squad/Loud Records
Producer	Fat Joe (Executive) Just Blaze Buckwild L.E.S. Sean C DJ Shok Richard "Younglord" Frierson Knobody O.Gee Mahogany Minnesota Guy Boogie KNS The Infinite Arkatechz
Big Pun chronology
Capital Punishment (1998)Capital Punishment1998 Yeeeah Baby (2000) Endangered Species (2001)Endangered Species2001

Yeeeah Baby is the second (and first posthumous) studio album by rapper Big Pun. In the wake of Big Pun's death in February 2000, it was released in April of the same year as planned, peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts selling 179,000 units during the week it was released,^[1] & subsequently was certified Gold.^[2] Fat Joe, Pun's close friend and mentor, is the executive producer of the album.

Struggling with morbid obesity, Pun experienced breathing problems throughout the album’s recording process, slowing down his iconic flow. He died at 28 years of age, just two months before the album’s release.

Background

The album consists of two of Big Pun's biggest hits, the first single "It's So Hard" and the Puerto Rican anthem "100%". In the former song, he exclaims: "It's hard work, baby. I just lost 100 pounds. I'm trying to live. I ain't going nowhere."

In his last magazine interview, conducted by Industry Insider only a week before his death, Pun detailed that his approach on Yeeeah Baby was not as "hardcore" as his previous album Capital Punishment, in an attempt to reach out to an even wider fanbase than his debut album already had.^[3]

Tracks

Terror Squad members and affiliates such as Sunkiss, Tony Sunshine, Prospect, Cuban Link, Remy Ma, and Fat Joe were featured on the album.

The album featured lighthearted songs like "100%" and "It's So Hard". It opens with an introduction "The Creation", likening Big Pun to Frankenstein. The first song "Watch Those" is a rock-oriented rap song with the beat derived from the theme song of Starsky and Hutch. With Tony Sunshine, there were also jokey R&B ballads like "My Dick" and "Laughing at You", an interpretation of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" with lyrics like "It was all a scheme / I used to load the tech with the magazine". The track "Nigga Shit" is a two-minute skit where Pun jokes about indulging in African-American stereotypes. There were also hardcore revenge-fantasy songs with a dark sinister sound like "Off With His Head", "LeatherFace" and "Wrong Ones". "Laughing at You" samples Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)". In the song "My Turn", Big Pun made a jab at a then up-and-coming rapper 50 Cent in response to the remark 50 made about Pun in his song "How to Rob".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Billboard	(Favorable)[5]
Entertainment Weekly	C[6]
NME	(7/10)[7]
Q	[8]
RapReviews	(8.5/10)[9]
Robert Christgau	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
The Source	[8]
Vibe	(Favorable)[12]

Commercial

Yeeeah Baby posted a strong debut on the Billboard 200, the album sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week in stores to take the third slot on the chart. It reached Gold status within three months.

Critical

Yeeeah Baby received favorable reviews from music critics.

• Rolling Stone (4/13/00, p. 128) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – "... [Pun] has gone out with a bang. He attacked standard hip-hop topics with witty, unpredictable elasticity. ... Pun is at his habanero hottest ..."^[11]
• Q (7/00, p. 111) – 3 stars out of 5 – "... Would have established [him] as both a radio-friendly commercial force and rebellious icon ..."
• CMJ (4/24/00, p. 30) – "... Beams the spotlight on the Boricua bomber's unparalleled breath control and hilarious jaw-dropping wordplay."
• Vibe (6/00, p. 214) – "... A triumphant final effort for one of the Boogie Down Bronx's favorite super-lyrical sons....[It] showcases Pun's matured artistic vision and newly mastered flows but never ceases to move bodies and minds ..."
• The Source (5/00, p. 186) – 4 mics out of 5 – "... An even more in-depth peep inside the heart and soul of a man in constant struggle with himself. ... a backstage pass to the all-out jam that was Pun's personality: street-wise, intellectually sharp, sex-crazed – and funny as hell ..."
• NME (4/29/00, p. 35) – 7 out of 10 – "... [A] raucous final musical statement. ... like a library of every cool contemporary hip-hop sound squeezed onto one compact disc. ... One for delinquent work experience boys everywhere."^[7]

Track listing

Album chart positions

Singles chart positions

References