Live Death

Live in L/A (Death & Raw)

Live in L.A. (Death & Raw) is a live album released by Death. It was recorded on December 5, 1998, in Los Angeles (according to its title) and released on October 16, 2001, through Nuclear Blast. The album was also released in DVD format. The album was not remastered for sound and captured the original sound from the live performance.
This was one of two Death albums originally released to raise money for Chuck Schuldiner's cancer treatment.

 

 

Life After Death 

Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997, a fact reflected in the album's title. It features collaborations with guest artists such as 112, Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, Mase, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Too $hort, Angela Winbush, D.M.C. of Run-D.M.C., R. Kelly, The LOX, and Puff Daddy. Life After Death exhibits The Notorious B.I.G. further delving into the mafioso rap subgenre.

Life After Death was released to a significant amount of critical praise and commercial success. In 2000, the album was certified diamond in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and it has been credited as one of the best-selling rap albums of all time. It also made the largest jump to number one on the Billboard 200 chart in history, jumping from number 176 to number one in one week. Also, it spent four weeks at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and topped the Billboard Year-End chart as an R&B/Hip-Hop Album for 1997.

The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 1998 including Best Rap Album Best Rap Solo Performance for its first single "Hypnotize" and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its second single "Mo Money Mo Problems". Along with Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995), AZ's Doe Or Die (1995), Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt (1996), and Nas' It Was Written (1996) Life After Death has been considered by music writers as one of the seminal mafioso rap albums, as well as a milestone in hip hop music.

Long Kiss Goodnight

It was also speculated by many listeners that the song "Long Kiss Goodnight" contains cryptic insults towards 2Pac and Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, although at the time it was never confirmed due to the sensitive nature of both rappers' recent deaths.

However, Lil' Cease, Biggie's cousin and a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A. claimed the following in XXL Magazine's April 2003 issue about Long Kiss Goodnight: "That was about ’Pac. He had some shit at the beginning of that though, nobody heard it, on the reel. We had to change it. It was a little too much. I can’t remember what Big said about him, but it was terrible. It couldn’t make it. He didn’t want to do it. He had some fire. But he didn’t want to make it too much. He just wanted to address it and to let nigga know, “I know what’s going on, and I could get wreck if I want to.” Like, “If I really wanted to get on ya niggas, I could.”

Sean Combs, however, denies these claims stating: "Naw, it was just some emcee lyrics. I know people wanna have their imagination, but it was just lyrics. You're hearing it from the horse's mouth. I would tell the truth.

In the first verse, the lyric "Laugh Now, Cry Later" is allegedly a reference to two tattoos on 2Pac’s back. A line in the first verse is supposedly aimed at Shakur:

    When my men bust you just move with such stamina
    Slugs missed ya, I Ain't Mad at Cha (We Ain't Mad at Cha)

The last 2 verses in particular seem to be directed towards Tupac:

    I'm flaming gats, aimin' at these fuckin' maniacs
    Put my name in raps, what part the game is that?
    Like they hustle backwards
    I smoke Backwoods and Dutchies, ya can't touch me
    Try to rush me, slugs go touchy-touchy
    You're bleeding lovely with your spirit above me or beneath me
    Your whole life you live sneaky
    Now you rest eternally, sleepy, you burn when you creep me
    Rest where the worms and the weak be

    Slugs hit your chest, tap your spine, flat line
    Heard through the grapevine, you got fucked fo' times
    Damn that three to nine, fucked you up for real though
    Slugs still slow, as for remorse, we feel no

The lines seem to be making reference to Tupac frequently mentioning Biggie by name in his raps, and allegations spread by Wendy Williams that he had been raped during his prison term at Rikers Island.Although some fans have interpreted these lines as references to Shakur's murder, XXL Magazine wrote that the song was most likely recorded before 2Pac's death.