A day before late, great The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in L.A. on March 9, 1997, he entered the studio and recorded a verse for the last time in his life. The verse on “Victory” would appear on Puff’s debut studio album, No Way Out, and feature some of Biggie’s most memorable and ruthless bars over sinister production by The Hitmen.
In an interview on the making of No Way Out, Stephen Dent, an audio engineer who worked on the album, he called Puffy and Big working on “Victory” together.
Stephen Dent: Big put his part down and then Puff lived with it for a couple days. Then, he came back and he did his part and, like I said, to me, that’s totally his best performance ever, that I’ve ever heard. And then, when they added the Busta element, when Busta came in, you know it was just a big party. Busta had the amplified lyrics and the amplified attitude to go along with it. It just made the record go from sounding regular to an extra ordinary song to me. Every element about it was just, you know, I remember all those sessions pretty much vividly. Especially for “Victory”. I can remember almost everyday we spent on this record.
07/22: The Making of “No Way Out” | Bad Boy Blog
Big’s lines, “Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike // Anyone – Tyson, Jordan, Jackson,” are timeless and have been subsequently used by Jay Z on “Ni**as in Paris” and more recently by Westside Gunn on “Spurs 3.”
Upon its release as a single, “Victory” peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since gone on to claim classic status. Many rappers have gone on to record freestyles over the song, most notably 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks in 2002, for their mixtape, No Mercy, No Fear.
In the commission, you ask for permission to hit 'em He don't like me, hit him while wifey was with him You heard of us, the murderous, most shady Been on the low lately, the Feds hate me The son of Satan, they say my killing's too blatant You hesitatin', I'm in your mama crib waitin' Duct tapin', your fam' destiny Lays in my hands, gat lays in my waist Francis, M to the izz-H phenomenal Gun rest under your vest by the abdominal Rhyme a few bars so I could buy a few cars And I kick a few flows so I could pimp a few hoes Excellence is my presence, never tense Never hesitant, leave a ni**a bent real quick Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike Anyone - Tyson, Jordan, Jackson Action, pack guns, ridiculous And I'm, quick to bust, if my ends you touch Kids or girl you touch, in this world I clutch Two auto-matoes, used to call me fatso Now you call me Castro, my rap flows Militant, y'all fa**ots ain't killin' shit Oops Cristal keep spillin' shit; you overdid it holmes You in the danger zone, you shouldn't be alone Hold hands and say it like me The most shady, Frankie baby, fantastic Graphic, tryin' to make dough, like Jurassic Park did quick to spark kids who start shit See me, only me the underboss Of this holocaust, truly yours, Frank White
