DO PLAYERS GET PLAYED?

 If you were a fan of the late rapper Notorious Big aka Biggie Smalls, you probably have heard his classic track I got a story to tell. It was one of the singles in his last studio album, Life After Death'. For those who are not familiar with the song, album, or personality, I will try my best to expound more on all the above.

Many referred to him as the King of Newyork after he helped raise the then-failing East Coast hip hop industry in the early nineties. This came to be when he released his debut album Ready To Die', back in 1994 when West Coast gangster rap was dominant all over America.

He was a highly skilled rapper with unmatched lyrical capabilities. For this, he was considered a hip-hop icon with only 2 albums to his name. Sadly his life came to an abrupt end on March 9th, 1997. This didn't stop his last studio album from selling 690,000 copies within the first week. In 2000, it was certified Diamond by the RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) after it had sold five million copies of the double disk album. It compiled many chart-topping singles, but the track I got a story to tell will be the topic for our discussion today. 

The track was produced by Buckwild and Chucky Thompson at Badboy Records. Here biggie showed his storytelling capability by recreating a lyrical memory of a true life experience that he had gone through. The song begins with a skit intro of the rapper meeting with a group of his close pals at their chill spot and asks for their attention to tell them a story.

In the story, Biggie finds himself in an after-hours sexcapade, in an unfamiliar home with a woman romantically tied to a basketball player playing for the Newyork Knicks. On the documented night, the sportsman is engaged with his team playing against the Utah Jazz. With captivating lyrical rhymes, the rapper vividly describes how he meets the unfaithful lady outside a club and persuades her to leave with him. He then goes on to describe their destination, which seems to be the woman's spouse's home. He even describes his perception at the time of the woman's boyfriend's height. He then shares some explicit details of their sexual encounter with the unfaithful lady.

The lyrical masterpiece keeps you captivated and unaware to even notice when the story changes from being a one-night fling to becoming an armed robbery scene. In the most perfect lyrical description, biggie tells of how while, in their sexual encounter with the woman, they both are suddenly stunned to hear the doorbell and becoming aware, they were just seconds away from being found out. This is undoubtedly the most memorable part of the story. This is the moment everything changes.

In quick reactional thought, the rapper puts his clothes on and wears a mask, then ties the woman up at gunpoint while awaiting the approaching basketball star. At the perfect moment, he surprises him, gun in hand, robs him, and takes off, leaving the basketballer shocked and clueless about what had occurred. The story ends at the point it began, with the rapper reaching the chill spot.

Due to the in-depth detail Biggie created and delivered the story, it seems too believable to be true. Rumor after rumor came as a result, and since the song's release, many have claimed to have knowledge of the Knicks player's identity. 

John Starks, a former Newyork Knicks player, was one of the suspected characters. However, in a 2014 interview on ESPN, he denied it. In his defense, he argued that he was six foot two. This made him 3 feet shorter than the character described in the late rapper's song. He also claimed to know the identity of the said character but rejected revealing his identity to the hosts.

In recent years, Fat Joe, the Bronx rapper, put the nail to the coffin by revealing the character. He claimed it was Antony Mason, who was a six-foot-five Knicks player at the time Biggie released the song. However, he had passed by the time the story was revealed. Fat Joe claimed later that he regretted being the one who had told the years long-secret. 

Do you believe him?

Let us know what you think. THANKS.