30 Days/30 Songs. Day 4: A Song That Makes You Sad

"Sky's The Limit" - The Notorious B.I.G. (feat. 112)

The third single posthumously released from The Notorious B.I.G.'s second and final studio album, Life After Death. Every time I hear this song, I feel blue. Even the production of the song feels somber and eerily foreshadowing of Biggie's death soon after.

This song hits extra hard for me, Biggie was (is) my favorite emcee, and listening to this particular song out of all his songs, I realize how he tried to make one inspirational song to the folk that feel like they live on the bottom and their dreams are out of their grasp. This song, being in the same line, but an emotional opposite from 'Everyday Struggle' on his debut LP, Ready to Die. I think about his personal struggles and how he must have felt making this song, feeling that you can achieve your dreams if you just believe.
...only to die before he could fully grasp them.

When I hear that opening line, "A nigga never been as broke as me..." I think about how emotional his funeral procession was going down Fulton street in Brooklyn, that cold, yet surprisingly sunny morning in 1997. (I skipped school that day to attend with a friend I don't even speak to anymore.) I wish he could have seen how rich he was that morning.
Then somebody played 'Hypnotize' from a speaker in a window. Holy Shit.

It wouldn't be until years later that I would get over the whole thing and finally sat and watched the video Diddy made for 'Sky's the Limit' after Big was long gone. When I saw those little kids playing the Bad Boy family, B.I.G., Kim, Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Diddy,  it all came back to me.

....and it's so sad. What a power to take. Damn. Miss you B.I.G.

Title: Sky's the Limit (feat. 112)
Artist: The Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Life After Death
Released: March 25, 1997


Buy here