Hypnotize

Album

No Parlez

Label

Bad Boy Records

Genre

East Coast hip hop

Composer(s)

Christopher Wallace;Sean Combs;Deric Angelettie;Ron Lawrence;Andy Armer;Randy Alpert

Entered Chart

Apr 26, 1997

Peak Date

May 3, 1997

Released

March 4, 1997

Recorded

1996

Catalog #

Bad Boy 79092

B-Side

I Got a Story to Tell

"Hypnotize" has one of the catchiest and most effective hooks in hip-hop history, with Pam Long from the group Total singing: Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see? Sometimes your words just hypnotize me "Biggie" (short for "Biggie Smalls") is one of the many monikers for The Notorious B.I.G., who had reached the pinnacle of the rap game by this point. He fills the verses with clever rhymes extolling his talents, but Long says it more succinctly in the second part of the chorus: I just love your flashy ways Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid All of the music on this song comes from a sample of Herb Alpert's "Rise," a trumpet-driven instrumental that was a #1 hit in 1979. It's not the trumpet that was sampled though; it's a section of the groove with a sultry bassline and guitar stab that Biggie's producers, Puff Daddy, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie and Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, layered, effected and looped into the (appropriately) hypnotic track. By this time, hip-hop had extracted every imaginable sample from obvious sources like James Brown and P-Funk, but "Rise" was untapped. Getting it cleared was a boon for Biggie. The Notorious B.I.G. was the tentpole artist for Bad Boy Records, Puff Daddy's label, and it was Puffy who laced the track. The song it samples, "Rise," was written by Andy Armer and Herb Alpert's nephew, Randy Badazz Alpert, who told Songfacts how it happened. "I asked Puffy, in 1996 when he first called me concerning using 'Rise' for 'Hypnotize,' why he chose the 'Rise' groove," Alpert said. "He told me that in the summer of 1979 when he was I think 10 years old the song was a huge hit everywhere in New York and 'Rise' along with Chic's 'Good Times' were 'The Songs' that all the kids were dancing and roller skating to that summer. He had always remembered that summer and that song. When he first played the loop for Biggie, Biggie smiled and hugged him." "Hypnotize" was released on March 4, 1997, five days before Biggie Smalls was killed in a drive-by-shooting. It was the first single from his second album, Life After Death, which was released posthumously on March 25 and debuted at #1. The song hit #1 on May 3 and stayed at the top for three weeks. A bigger hit that year was "I'll Be Missing You," a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. by Puff Daddy with help from various Bad Boy artists. It went to #1 on June 14 and stayed for 11 weeks. The next single from the Life After Death album was "Mo Money Mo Problems," which hit the top spot on August 30. This was the first time the "Rise" sample was cleared. Randy Badazz Alpert explained to Songfacts: "Over the years I was approached by Ice Cube, Easy E, Vanilla Ice, and maybe another 4-5 artists to use the song and I never said yes until I heard a rough version of Biggie's recording. I was sent a cassette from Puffy and when I cranked it up I not only immediately loved it but my gut thought that this could be a #1 record once again. The original 'Rise' record climbed the chart all summer and became #1 around the end of October. Biggie's version was released and charted its first week at #2 and went to #1 the second week." Biggie Smalls wrote the entire rap, including the female vocals. Alpert told us: "When I first met Biggie before they recorded 'Hypnotize' he played me a demo version with him doing the girl's part. I still have that cassette demo and it's definitely a classic piece of rap history." The Notorious B.I.G. listened to lots of hip-hop from the '80s, and for the hook to "Hypnotize," he borrowed from Slick Rick's line in the 1985 classic "La Di Da Di": Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, can't you see Somehow your words just hypnotize me And I just love your jazzy ways MC Rick my love is here to stay The music video, directed by Paul Hunter, was shot before Biggie was killed. It's shot like a big-budget action movie, with he and Puff Daddy outrunning authorities, first on a boat and then in a convertible. There are also mermaids. During Notorious B.I.G.'s somber funeral procession in the streets of Brooklyn, "Hypnotize" was suddenly blared from a nightclub's speakers at full volume, which prompted everyone to dance and sing along. It became no longer a mourning of his death, but a celebration of the rapper's life.

Uh (uh), uh (uh), uh (c'mon)

Ha, sicker than your average
Poppa twist cabbage off instinct
Niggas don't think shit stink
Pink gators, my Detroit players
Timbs for my hooligans in Brooklyn (that's right)
Dead right, if the head right, Biggie there e'ry night
Poppa been smooth since days of Underoos
Never lose, never choose to, bruise crews who
Do somethin' to us (come on), talk go through us (through us)
Girls walk to us, wanna do us, screw us
Who us? Yeah, Poppa and Puff (hehe)
Close like Starsky and Hutch, stick the clutch
Dare I squeeze three at your cherry M-3 (take that, take that)
Bang every MC easily, busily (take that, haha)
Recently, niggas frontin' ain't sayin' nothin' (nothin')
So I just speak my piece, keep my piece (come on, now)
Cubans with the Jesus piece, with my peeps (thank you, God)
Packin', askin', "Who want it?" (who want it?)
You got it, nigga, flaunt it
That Brooklyn bullshit, we on it

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie (uh-huh), can't you see? (Uh)
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me (hypnotize)
And I just love your flashy ways (uh-huh)
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (ha)

I put hoes in NY onto DKNY (uh-huh)
Miami, D.C. prefer Versace (that's right)
All Philly hoes know it's Moschino (c'mon)
Every cutie wit a booty bought a Coogi (ha)
Now who's the real dookie? Meanin', who's really the shit?
Them niggas ride dicks, Frank White push the six
Or the Lexus, LX, four and a half
Bulletproof glass, tints if I want some ass
Gon' blast, squeeze first, ask questions last (haha)
That's how most of these so-called gangsters pass (bye-bye)
At last, a nigga rappin' bout blunts and broads
Tits and bras, ménage à trois, sex in expensive cars
I still leave you on the pavement
Condo paid for (uh-huh), no car payment (uh-uh)
At my arraignment, note for the plaintiff
Your daughter's tied up in a Brooklyn basement
Face it, not guilty (shh)
That's how I stay filthy (not guilty)
Richer than Richie, 'til you niggas come and get me (come on)

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie (uh-huh), can't you see? (Uh)
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me (hypnotize)
And I just love your flashy ways (uh-huh)
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)

I can fill ya wit' real millionaire shit (I can fill ya)
Escargot, my car go one-sixty, swiftly (come on)
Wreck it, buy a new one
Your crew run-run-run, your crew run-run
I know you sick of this, name brand nigga wit'
Flows, girls say he's sweet like licorice (uh-huh)
So get with this nigga, it's easy (uh-huh)
Girlfriend, here's a pen, call me 'round ten (ten)
Come through, have sex on rugs that's Persian (that's right)
Come up to your job, hit you while you workin' (uh)
For certain Poppa freakin', not speakin'
Leave that ass leakin', like rapper demos (ha)
Tell them hoes, take they clothes off slowly (slowly)
Hit 'em wit' the force like Obi (Obi)
Dick black like Toby (Toby)
Watch me roam like Romey (Romey)
Lucky they don't owe me
Where the safe? Show me (say what?)
Homie (homie)

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie (uh-huh), can't you see? (Uh)
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me (hypnotize)
And I just love your flashy ways (uh-huh)
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie (uh-huh), can't you see? (Uh)
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me (hypnotize)
And I just love your flashy ways (uh-huh)
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid (uh)

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see?
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid