XXL catches up with Biggie’s right hand man, Lil Cease: Part 1 & Part2
Archive for the 'Lil Cease' Category
15
May
Daily Recap - 5/15/08
Toshi sits down with Lil Cease:
For Lil’ Cease, being The Notorious B.I.G.’s best friend had its benefits. He got to be his hypeman and the frontman for Biggie’s offshoot rap clique, Junior M.A.F.I.A. He was also immortalized in unforgettable Big rhymes (”Cease will drop you off when he see his P.O.”). Unfortunately, since Biggie’s murder in 1997, Lil’ Cease has weathered quite a storm. His solo career fizzled out, and a very public falling out with fellow Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil’ Kim culminated in his testimony against her during a 2005 trial that resulted in jail time for the Queen Bee. Here, Cease puts the drama aside to honor the anniversary of Biggie’s passing (March 9), and counts down his favorite Biggie verses of all time.
6. The Notorious B.I.G., “Niggas Bleed”
“That third verse was one of the sickest verses. The whole shootout, the girl Gloria and the dudes parked in front of the hydrant at the end was like listening to a movie. That’s what separates the best from the rest. Whether it’s real or not, it’s ill that you can put something together and make it so visual. At the end of the day, I was around it, but I was just as amazed as any other person or fan. When I listen to a Big verse, it’s not like I’m listening to my homeboy, it’s like I’m listening to someone that I never heard before. That’s how good his music and flow was. It made you feel like, ‘I’m on the winning team right now.’”
5. The Notorious B.I.G., “Unbelievable”
“The second verse, because the flow and the way he broke down sh*t was crazy. I mean with the name, ‘B-I-G-G-I-E a.k.a. B-I-G, Get it? Biggie! Also known as the bon appetite/ Rappers can’t sleep, Need sleepin’/ Big keep creepin’.’ I think that’s one joint where B.I.G. really showed another side of hip-hop as far as metaphors. He would switch flows every four bars. Big listened to other people, too. It’s not like he was stuck on himself. That’s what made Big so versatile. At that time, we were listening to Jay. When we were doing Ready to Die, we were bumping the Raekwon album [Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ...] hard. We were f*ck*ng with Wu-Tang hard. He had songs with Method Man and Ol’ Dirty. We were stuck on that type of sh*t, Redman Whut? Thee Album. All of this was out when we were coming into the sh*t. It was a lot of hot motherf*ck*rs that was out at that time that we were adapting to. We weren’t biased to the other coast or sitting there on some Big and M.A.F.I.A. sh*t. We studied everyone that was around us. We were also fans of the game, too. So, he’ll put a little Kane in there or do a little Rakim. He did the story thing like Slick Rick. He always tried to adapt to everything that was in the music and put it in his own way. ”
