The unreleased versions of the Biggie Smalls classic Ready to Die is a grittier version of the already gritty debut.
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"I wouldn't give a fuck if you're pregnant / Gimme the baby rings and the Number 1 Mom pendant," raps an especially menacing Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. on the unedited version of Gimme the Loot. That line in the song was so ultra-violent that, on the official release of the 1994 album, the word 'pregnant' was snuffed out by a record scratch. 2Pac, Biggie's rival at the time, called out the line as being over-the-top, even for gangsta rap.
On this unedited, sample-juiced version of the album that made B.I.G. one of raps' immortals, the previously redacted word is out in the open.
That minor change is indicative of the rest of Ready to Die, the O.G. Edition. Not that there aren't more discernible differences - there are - but most are of the violent, sexual, and sometimes scary variety. Except for hardcore fans (read: fans that are hardcore ie don't mind threats to strangle women), it's probably for the best B.I.G.'s more murderous moments were reigned in back when he was a relative unknown.
Elsewhere, Juicy, B.I.G.'s most endearing single, gets a Pete Rock remix that's inferior to the original (not to second guess the God Pete Rock, but how can you lose that Juicy Fruit sample?) and compilation leaves out the great Debarge-sampling One More Chance/Stay With Me remix [video].
So, for the most part, the O.G. Edition is more like the educational edition: strictly for those who want to find out what Brooklyn's finest would sound like on different beats, or explore demo versions, or just learn how masochistic he really was.
