It's on again kind people! This is another twentieth anniversary salute. Thanks for showing these salutes love. This particular salute goes to an album that became an unexpected classic. In an age where materialism and consumerism had begun to take full fledge over the game (this during and just after the mafioso phase in hip-hop), this album explored some of that but more so very personal emotions, ranging from deep depression to reflection to high levels of anger in ways that were unapologetic and deliberate. Released just a few months after the death of a hip-hop icon, this album was as melancholy as it was defiant, gloomy as it was ambitious. While it may not have been a lyrical marvel by the artist himself, his friends and guests made the ride a lot better and smoother. It became one of the highest selling hip-hop albums of the late nineties. This is the salute to Puff Daddy & The Family's No Way Out.
Before he was Diddy, he was Puff Daddy, and Sean Combs was the boy wonder of the music game in the nineties. His Bad Boy empire didn't hit, it exploded. He made instant stars out of Craig Mack and a buzzing young emcee named Notorious B.I.G. Their respective albums of Project: Funk Da World and Ready To Die became staples of the burgeoning label, especially the classic latter. Riding the wave of the momentum of Biggie, Combs was in full demand, although drama and beef started to develop between he and Deathrow Records CEO Suge Knight that would tragically prove fatal. In March of '97, Biggie got murdered by an unknown assailant in what appears to this day as a professional hit. This after the six month anniversary of the equally tragic passing of 2Pac. There was so much going on in the life of Puff Daddy, and he had a lot to get off his chest and from his heart. Linking up with his Bad Boy artists of Black Rob, Ma$e and The Lox, he delivered No Way Out, a surprising juggernaut of an album. Clearly having people ghostwrite for him throughout the album ( he admitted himself he wasn't a rapper, he was an entertainer), this was more of a conceptual firecracker. The production work done by his team The Hitmen (Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Young Lord, D-Dot, 6 July, Nasheim Myrick, Yogi, and an then somewhat unknown Stevie J) was beyond stellar and proved that they were the hottest production team in hip-hop.
The album started with an eerie dream sequence of sorts, then explodes with the FEROCIOUS cut "Victory", which includes an animated as usual Busta Rhymes and a phenomenal posthumous few bars from Biggie. Over an incredible Rocky-sample, it was Biggie and Puffy at their Batman & Robin best. From there, they balance the Moet-popping, lavish lifestyle on cuts like "Been Around The World" and the monster anthem "All About The Benjamins" with the touching and painfully poignant on cuts like the utterly depressing "Pain" (which featured a haunting Biggie sound byte), "Is This The End" (which featured an amazing guest spot by Twista) and of course the Grammy Award winning "I'll Be Missing You" with Faith and 112. You see all of Diddy's emotions spread all over this masterful album. Of course, he did a dedication to J. Lo with the sultry "Señorita" and did a fantastic job with storytelling on the vivid standout with Black Rob "I Love You Baby", that showed that Rob was officially a force to be reckoned with over a dynamite string piece provided by Amen-Ra and J Waxx.
Love him or hate him, this album was undeniable.We all knew Diddy wasn't a lyrical swordsman. In this case, it didn't matter. This was an exceptional effort that stands as one of Bad Boy's most prized possessions. With No Way Out, Diddy and his label put together an album that still stands the test of time and could easily be up there with anything great that came out during this time period. While other Diddy albums weren't in the ballpark as fantastic, this one showed his star appeal post-Biggie. Give props where it's due. With that, happy twentieth anniversary to No Way Out. Biggie would be proud.
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