On 3 August, 2008 at 10:58 This is a serious must-have. Somebody raided Puff’s vault and got the original and alternate versions of all the tracks on Ready to Die. So many gems. There’s the uncensored version of “Gimme the Loot” (all-time favorite song?) which contains the cringe-worthy line, “I wouldn’t give a fuck if you’re pregnant” without the little rewind over “pregnant”.

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1994 CD release of Ready To Die on Discogs.

Reminds me of the “Stack chips like Hebrews” line that got taken out of “It’s All about the Benjamins”. There’s the DJ Premier version of “Machine Gun Funk” which I don’t like quite as much as the album version.

There’s the version of “Ready to Die” with the original beat, which I’d say is better than the album version (nerd note: this was previously on Mister Cee’s Best of Biggie Part 2 mixtape, another must-have). There’s “Me and My Bitch” with the original beat, which definitely pales in comparison to the sinister beat on the album version. There’s the “The What” with Biggie’s original verses.

According to legend (and by legend, I mean Easy Mo Bee on the DVD), Biggie thought Method Man outdid him on the track. On this version, Biggie’s first verse is different and when Meth comes on after him, his flow pretty much annihilates Biggie’s.

It’s obvious that Biggie went back and redid the first verse to be on par with Meth. I’m thinking Biggie was referring to this version when he said Meth outdid him.

Other included tracks are the original version of “Whatchu Want,” which is far grimier than the Danja-produced version that appeared on the Duets album and the original version of “Come On” which is also a lot grimier than its counterpart on Born Again. Also there’s “Mac’s N Dons,” Biggie’s Pepsi freestyle and a radio cut of “Biggie Got that Hype Shit”. I’m not one of those who thinks Puff Daddy ruined Ready to Die, but this is a hint of what it would’ve sounded like without him. Now I want the songs Biggie supposedly recorded with Fat Joe, if Joe’s comments on are to be believed.

Somebody get Puffy on the phone! Download: Bonus: [ via ].