Before Ready to Die. Before diamond plaques. Before the crown as the King of New York. There was one record that introduced the world to Christopher Wallace’s undeniable talent.
Released in the summer of 1993, “Party & Bullshit” served as the first official release from a young Brooklyn MC known as Biggie Smalls and simultaneously helped launch Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ newly formed Bad Boy Records. Featured on the soundtrack to Who’s the Man?, the Hip Hop comedy starring Yo! MTV Raps personalities Ed Lover and Dr. Dre, the record immediately separated Biggie from the pack.
At a time when East Coast Hip Hop was searching for its next superstar, Biggie delivered effortless storytelling, commanding breath control, and a larger-than-life presence that made it clear he wasn’t just another rapper looking for a deal—he was next.
The song became Bad Boy’s opening statement. Before Faith Evans, 112, Total, Mase, or The LOX helped define the label’s legacy, “Party & Bullshit” laid the first brick in what would become one of the most successful runs in Hip Hop history.
Long before the world knew him as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie was simply another hungry kid from Bedford-Stuyvesant, sharpening his craft alongside the friends who would later become Junior M.A.F.I.A. That hunger came through in every bar, making “Party & Bullshit” feel less like a soundtrack record and more like the beginning of a movement.
Within a year, Ready to Die would cement Biggie as one of rap’s greatest lyricists, while Puff transformed Bad Boy into a cultural powerhouse that helped restore New York’s prominence during one of Hip Hop’s most competitive eras.
Salute to The Notorious B.I.G., Puff, Bad Boy Records, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and Brooklyn for giving Hip Hop one of its most unforgettable introductions. Thirty-three years later, “Party & Bullshit” still sounds like the moment a legend first knocked on the door—and the culture has never been the same since.
