Dancin’ On His Grave
The Notorious B.I.G.
Duets: The Final Chapter
(Bad Boy)
The essence of the word “duet” is duo, Latin for “two.” Some songs on this Duets involve as many as six vocalists.
Semantics aside, Duets serves only to pad Biggie’s sales figures never coming close to satisfying the thirst for something, anything akin to Ready To Die and Life After Death. As such, it feels more like a TV soundtrack or a label compilation than an album, unimaginitively surrounding B.I.G. with today’s “TRL” owners (Juelz Santana, Mobb Deep, T.I., Slim Thug) and a washed-up rock band, Korn. P. Diddy wastes a whole track — one with Eminem, no less — explaining away the project and responding to criticism that he’s profiting from Biggie’s death (“I’m building his legacy”). The former Christopher Wallace is bound to tower over the minnows trusted with this immortal epic.
Going for the Natalie and Nat King Cole “Unforgettable” angle extended, Puffy combines his mentor with Bob Marley, Big Pun, and Tupac Shakur on separate tracks, contributing novelty more than substance. The only sparring partners who belong here are Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas, Missy Elliott, and maybe Snoop; Puffy’s choice of Obie Trice and Akon over Chuck D., Rev Run, Q-Tip, Kurtis Blow, KRS-One, Raekwon or GZA, Rakim, Ice Cube, Common, Mos Def, etc., shows more about his intentions than anything. This is a waste of limited resources.
— Steve Forstneger
