Born Again

• Born Again

Amazon.co.uk When it comes to having a chart success a minor detail like being dead shouldn't matter. At least that's what Sean "Dr. Frankenstein" Combs is counting on with Born Again: as the title infers, the feeling Combs (who executive produces with Bigge's mother, as well as Biggie's ex-wife) hopes to invoke is one of rejuvenation and rebirth. Sadly, this CD fails to do that. Not because Biggie wasn't an extremely gifted and personable artist--he was, and the body of work he left behind (two multiplatinum albums plus a slew of mix-tape offerings) is testament to that. Yet the opportunistic Puff Daddy just couldn't allow Biggie's memory and his music to rest in peace. Instead, he and his band of producers have taken outtakes, B-sides, demos, and a few other cuts, and either reworked them or simply built new tracks around Biggie's rhymes. If that weren't intrusive enough, there are a plethora of "guests," some of whom--Cash Money Clique, Eminem--had absolutely no connection to Smalls when he was alive. As for the special guests who did have some tangible link to the pride of Bed-Stuy (Junior M.A.F.I.A., Redman, Busta Rhymes), their vocal contributions don't mesh cohesively with Biggie's, often reducing Smalls to a featured artist on his own album. Unlike the posthumous Tupac discs, which were completed before his death, the tracks on Born Again were constructed without input from the artist whose name (and death) will sell the CD. Which means that no matter how acceptable some of the cuts might be, the stench of exploitation woefully overpowers this "tribute." There's plenty to remember about Biggie Smalls's artistry; this collection doesn't add much to that already glowing legacy. --Amy Linden Product description Format: Music CD, Puff-Daddy Records. Rock music CD release from Notorious B.I.G. with the album Born Again. Released on the label Puff-Daddy Records. Hip-Hop music CD. This hard to find pre-owned music CD is fully guaranteed.