Posthumous Posse: Big After Lyfe

My crew weighs half a ton
Two out of three:
Fat Joe feat. Big Pun and Big L: "Bring 'Em Back"
from True Story, Universal 2004

Those in the inner-circle are up on this hare-brained marketing scheme of mine: we've heard plenty of deceased artist/live artist collabos, but have we ever heard a true deceased super-group bring it "live"? Simple ain't it, but quite clever.

With the miracle of recording technology, Natalie Cole set off the posthumous chart appearances by creating the shameless duet with her pops, and since then, 2pac's mom continues to make a killing off her son's legacy. Biggie only had "Born Again"--not really counting "Life After Death" as an official posthumous release, since it was recorded and produced during his lifetime; I think it's just a matter of time before Puff plunders the remaining lost verses of Brooklyn's finest. Big Pun's only post-mortem banger (again, excluding "Yeeeeah Baby") was the loose collection of remixes, guest appearances, and odds and ends, entitled "Endangered Species." Only Big L's "The Big Picture" sounded like a truly respectful release following his demise, opening with a snippet from the DITC tribute at NYC's Tramps venue.

And so, considering that this type of despicable marketing will inevitably continue, let's at least make it interesting and create a lengendary super-group while we're at it. I present to you the Next Big Thing in hip-hop: Big After Lyfe: Notorious B.I.G., Big Pun, and Big L--three of Hip-Hop's Top Ten--crushing all the living and breathing emcees from high above in their thugz mansion.