Hypnotize Notorious BIG- An Essential East Coast Track

Video Credit- The Notorious B.I.G YouTube channel, YouTube Hypnotize 2007 Remastered

Hypnotize is a notable song from the king of the East Coast 1990s hip hop scene. The lyrics and beat are memorable and smooth, and the unmistakable vocals of Biggie Smalls makes this a must listen and a true rap time capsule.

Hypnotize was released during hip hop’s bling era. The video was played constantly on MTV and the beat became famous. The yacht party during which the action takes place was indicative of the times, and was a raw display of the things the riches harvested from the rap game could buy. This song hit the airwaves in 1997 off the Life After Death Album. This was unfortunately not long before Biggie died. He is missed.

Biggie Smalls’ lyrics are aggressive and his style is classic East Coast hip hop. Biggie was extremely talented and has a way to convey his business acumen and love of the good life. Hypnotize is all about the work-hard and play-hard lifestyle. Biggie and Puffy were big players in the bling era, and this song mentions the luxury brands and status symbols of the 1990s. East Coast hip hop icons including NAS and the Wu Tang Clan had a grittier and more boom bap sound, which made this tune stand out from the pack.

The thing that makes music magical is that it’s like a time machine. As I have mentioned before, this song takes me back to the mid/late 90s when I was in high school and MTV played music videos nonstop. The puffy vests and baggy jeans were in style, and bling like chains and iced out watches were in vogue. This song’s beat and lyrics are smooth, and we played it while driving and heard it on the radio.

I highly recommend listening to this track and watching the video. The 1990s were different, and the entertainment was more high-brow than it is now.