Song Of The Day: The Notorious B.I.G. “Big Poppa” (The Vibe Conductor Ritz Reggae Room Edit)

This past Monday the 21st of May marked what would have been the 46th birthday of Christopher George Latore Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G.

To commemorate the day, I cooked up a little something for my DJs that bigs up Biggie and his dual formative heritages of Brooklyn and Jamaica. For this edit of the second single from his 1994 debut Ready To Die, I teamed Biggie up with another Brooklynite of Jamaican parentage. Vicious (aka Lil Vicious) was a teen dancehall deejay who had a few minor hits in the ’90s. His infectious single “Nika” rode the same Isley Brothers sample as “Big Poppa”.

As for the track’s title I was just deepening the nostalgia further by honoring a legendary spot in D.C. in the ’90s where I learned what serious reggae and dancehall selecting (and partying) is supposed to sound and look like. The Ritz was a multi-room megaclub downtown that featured the biggest local and national DJ talent of that era. I would go see hip-hop heroes like DJ Kid Capri, local pioneers like DJ Iran and selectors like G-Nice and Super Slice in that packed, smokey, booming reggae room.