B-side Who Shot Ya Format CD single Length 4:11 | Released December 30, 1994 Recorded June 1, 1994 | |
Genre Dirty rap, hip hop, G-funk | ||
"Big Poppa" is a song by American hip hop recording artist The Notorious B.I.G.. It was released as the second single from his first studio album Ready to Die. It features a sample of the song "Between the Sheets" written by The Isley Brothers. "Big Poppa" was also nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. It also went on to win at the Billboard Music Awards.
Contents
The single was certified platinum by the RIAA and sold 800,000 copies domestically.
There is an official remix released in 1995 featuring Jermaine Dupri, called "Big Poppa (So So Def Remix)", which has similar lyrics (Dupri replacing Puff Daddy) except Biggie has a new 3rd verse. This remix appeared as a single.
Background and content
The title is based on one of The Notorious B.I.G.'s many nicknames. The line "I love it when you call me Big Poppa" is sampled from his verse from the Super Cat song "Dolly My Baby," released in 1993. The song makes a reference to original Bad Boy artist Craig Mack ("now check it, I got more Mack than Craig in the bed...").
Legacy
The song was used in the 2001 film Hardball multiple times and used in the 2009 biographical movie Notorious. The song was mentioned in 2008 film, Madea Goes To Jail, as well as being used for the party scene in 2007's Superbad.
The song was used by The LOX's "We'll Always Love Big Poppa" as a tribute to B.I.G., who was killed in 1997 as the closing track from Money, Power & Respect.
Omarion sampled the lyrics in his song "Let's Talk". The song was released in Maybach Music Group album, Self Made Vol. 2. (2012)
A Spanish version of the chorus was used in a Taco Bell commercial called "Grande Papi" (2013).
The American comedy film Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015) used the song in its second trailer.
Will Ferrell performed a comedic version of the song while portraying Robert Goulet in an episode of Saturday Night Live.
The metalcore band A Plea For Purging covered the song as a stand alone single.
12 inch
Maxi single
- "Big Poppa" (radio edit)
- "Big Poppa" (remix radio edit)
- "Who Shot Ya?" (radio edit)
- "Big Poppa" (remix instrumental)
- "Big Poppa" (club mix)
- "Big Poppa" (remix club mix)
- "Who Shot Ya?" (club mix)
- "Warning" (club mix)