The Notorious B.I.G. passed away on March 9, 1997 weeks before his sophomore album

was set to be released. It was an event that stopped the ever-growing East vs West beef which was sparked by two friends, 2Pac and Biggie, and spun out of control.In the height of their careers, two mid-20-year-old Black men gunned down due to senseless violence in the midst of a growing regional rap war. While we knew things would change, who knew that hip hop would change like this?The year was 1997. Hip hop was going through sort of a transition at the time. With the death of 2Pac, and Dr. Dre deciding to leave the label he co-owned, Death Row Records the west coast was losing the dominance it which was partially sparked by the popularity of Dr. Dre's debut album

in 1992. Back on the East Coast, it was time where artists were beginning to stop being so gritty, and raw, and exchange their Champion sweatshirts, and into shiny suits.The death of Biggie left a gaping hole in New York City. He was the biggest artist in hip hop at the time, and was holding the torch for New York City. Who was going to carry the torch for the Big Apple in his absence?We would not have to answer this question for another year. March 25, 1997, Notorious B.I.G.’s anticipated sophomore album

was released. An instant classic, the new version of Biggie had songs for the radio and for the hood in a double-disc album that had no skips. Little did we know at the time, but this would be the beginning of Bad Boy’s explosion.Biggie was there to see the beginning of that very success as Puff Daddy released his first single, “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” after debuting at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, the track featuring Mase reached number one. That was later taken over by Biggie’s hit single, “Hypnotize” before the tribute track “I’ll Be Missing You” was released and dominated the charts in Biggie's passing.While bittersweet, Puff Daddy continued to grow the Bad Boy Records brand following the release of

https://embed.tidal.com/videos/44154050

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Wu-Tang Clan left street hip hop fans excited once again as they all returned with their double album,

. The project was eventually nominated for a Grammy at the

for "Best Rap Album" but ended up losing to Puff Daddy & The Family's album