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

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"Juicy"
Single by the Notorious B.I.G.
from the album Ready to Die
B-side"Unbelievable"
ReleasedAugust 9, 1994
Recorded1994
StudioThe Hit Factory (New York City)
GenreHip hop
Length4:13
Label
Songwriter(s)Christopher Wallace
Producer(s)

Pete Rock (uncredited)

The Notorious B.I.G. singles chronology
"Party and Bullshit"
(1993) 		"Juicy"
(1994) 		"Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)"
(1994)
Music video
"Juicy" on YouTube

"Juicy" is the first single by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G. from his 1994 debut album, Ready to Die. It was produced by Poke of the duo Trackmasters and Sean "Puffy" Combs. "Juicy" contains a sample of Mtume's 1983 song, "Juicy Fruit", though it is directly sampled from the song's "Fruity Instrumental" mix, and has an alternative chorus sung by Bad Boy Records cohorts, the girl group Total and label founder Combs. The song is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time.[1][2]

Music video

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The music video for Juicy was directed by Sean Combs and premiered in August 1994.[citation needed] In it, the Notorious B.I.G. raps the song first on the stairs in front of a house and later in the form of an interview with a reporter as well as on the street, in prison and at a pool party. Individual scenes are based on the content of the song and show how the Notorious B.I.G. is arrested for selling drugs or arguing with his mother when they lived in poverty, while he now glorifies his wealth. The Notorious B.I.G. also had a small part of the video at one of P. Diddy's parties.

Content

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The song is a "rags-to-riches chronicle".[3] The Notorious B.I.G. chronicles his childhood years living in poverty, his initial dreams of becoming a rapper, early musical influences, his time dealing drugs, criminal involvement, and his eventual success in the music industry and current lavish lifestyle.

One of the song's lines reads, "Time to get paid, blow up like the World Trade," referencing the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.[4][5]

Production controversy

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Producer Pete Rock alleged that Puffy stole the idea for the original song's beat after hearing it at Rock's house. In an interview with Wax Poetics, he said:

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.[6][better source needed]

Pete Rock's remix of "Juicy" uses the same sample as the original. During an appearance on the Juan Epstein Podcast, Rock said that he has no hard feelings about how "Juicy" came about, but wished he had gotten the proper credit, although he did admit to harboring some ill feelings at the time.[7]

Biggie appeared in the "Unsigned Hype" column of the March 1992 issue of The Source as "the Notorious B-I-G,"[8][9] and he was also listed as "the Notorious B.I.G." on a 1992 single by Neneh Cherry when he was signed to Uptown/MCA.[10] Aside from sharing the same sample source, both songs share little in common otherwise, most notably in regards to subject matter.[11][12]

Accolades

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  • ego trip ranked it number 1 on its Hip Hop's 40 Greatest Singles by Year 1980–98 list in 1999.[13]
  • Pitchfork Media ranked the song at number 14 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.[14]
  • Pop ranked it number 1 on their Singles of the Year list in 1994.[citation needed]
  • Q ranked "Juicy" the ninth greatest hip hop song of all time.[15]
  • Rolling Stone ranked the song number 424 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, moving to #32 in the 2021 revision.[16]
  • Spex included it on the Best Singles of the Century list in 1999.[17]
  • The Boston Phoenix included it on their The 90 Best Songs of the 90s list in 1999.[18]
  • The Source included it on their 100 Best Rap Singles of All Time list in 1998.[19]
  • VH1 ranked it number 7 on its "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Ever", and number 1 on its "40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the 90s".[20]
  • BBC ranked it number 1 on its "Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time".[21]

Track listing

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12-inch

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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

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

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1994–95) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[22] 72
UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[23] 16
UK Club Chart (Music Week)[24] 58
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 27
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[26] 14
US Hot Rap Singles (Billboard)[27] 1

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[28] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[29]
sales since 2009 		Gold 50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[31] 6× Platinum 6,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

In other media

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On July 3, 2022, Juicy was added to the online Battle Royale video game Fortnite as a purchasable lobby music track.[32] In September 2024, a "Jam Track" version of the song was added for Fortnite Festival alongside other songs from the Notorious B.I.G.

References

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  1. ^ "The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022.
  2. ^ Adaso, Henry. "100 Greatest Rap Songs". About.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "Ready to Die at Allmusic.com". Retrieved 2006-12-23.
  4. ^ Gaillot, Ann-Derrick. ""Biggie 9/11" is Twitter's best search". The Outline. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  5. ^ Herbert, David Gauvey. "The Notorious B.I.G. & 9/11: Radio Censorship, Illuminati Conspiracy Theories and Everything In Between". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ^ Wax Poetic interview - Pete Rock - tribe.net Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Fact: Ciph is a F*cking Douchebag!". Rosenberg Radio. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  8. ^ khari (2014-08-06). "The Source |Unsigned Hype Revisited: The Notorious B.I.G. (March, 1992)". The Source. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  9. ^ "The Source hip hop magazine issue 30 march 1992**Notorious BIG unsigned hype** | #495490625". Worthpoint. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  10. ^ Neneh Cherry - Buddy X (Remix), retrieved 2022-07-26
  11. ^ Notorious B1 - Big Daddy (Explicit ), retrieved 2022-07-26
  12. ^ The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy (Official Video) [4K], retrieved 2022-07-26
  13. ^ "Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists at rocklistmusic.co.uk". Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  14. ^ Pitchfork Top 200 Tracks of the 90s
  15. ^ "150 Greatest Rock Lists Ever at rocklistmusic.co.uk". Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  16. ^ "Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  17. ^ "Die besten Singles aller Zeiten at home.rhein-zeitung.de". Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  18. ^ Pappademas, Alex. "Juicy from The Boston Phoenix". Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  19. ^ "100 Best Singles at rocklistmusic.co.uk". Retrieved December 23, 2006.
  20. ^ "The 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time (via VH1)". Retrieved October 25, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ Brown, T. M. "The greatest hip-hop songs of all time". bbc.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  22. ^ "Notorious B.I.G: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  23. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  24. ^ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 1994-10-29. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  25. ^ "The Notorious B.I.G. Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  26. ^ "The Notorious B.I.G. Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  27. ^ Billboard Singles - AllMusic
  28. ^ "Danish single certifications – Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  29. ^ "Italian single certifications – Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Notorious Big – Juicy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  32. ^ "Fortnite Gets Juicy New Notorious BIG Music Pack". 3 July 2022.
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