Released April 4, 2000 Length 52:08 Release date 4 April 2000 | Recorded 1999–2000 Artist Big Pun Label Loud Records | |
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Yeeeah Baby
(2000) Endangered Species
(2001) Genres Hip hop music, Latin hip hop, Gangsta rap, East Coast hip hop, Hardcore hip hop Producers Fat Joe, Just Blaze, Buckwild, Sean C, DJ Shok, Younglord, Knobody, Arkatech Beatz Similar Capital Punishment, Endangered Species, The Legacy: The Best, Bronx Legends Never Die, Jealous One's Envy | ||
Yeeeah Baby is the second (and first posthumous) studio album by rapper Big Pun. In the wake of Big Pun's death in February 2000, it was released in April of the same year as planned, peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts selling 179,000 units during the week it was released, & subsequently was certified Gold. Fat Joe, Pun's close friend and mentor, is the executive producer of the album.
Contents
Struggling with morbid obesity, Pun experienced breathing problems throughout the album’s recording process, slowing down his iconic flow. He died at 28 years of age, just two months before the album’s release.
Big pun yeeeah baby the creation intro
Background
The album consists of two of Big Pun's biggest hits, the first single "It's So Hard" and the Puerto Rican anthem "100%". In the former song, he exclaims: "It's hard work, baby. I just lost 100 pounds. I'm trying to live. I ain't going nowhere."
In his last magazine interview, conducted by Industry Insider only a week before his death, Pun detailed that his approach on Yeeeah Baby was not as "hardcore" as his previous album Capital Punishment, in an attempt to reach out to an even wider fanbase than his debut album already had.
Tracks
Terror Squad members and affiliates such as Sunkiss, Tony Sunshine, Prospect, Cuban Link, Remy Ma, and Fat Joe were featured on the album.
The album featured lighthearted songs like "100%" and "It's So Hard". It opens with an introduction "The Creation", likening Big Pun to Frankenstein. The first song "Watch Those" is a rock-oriented rap song with the beat derived from the theme song of Starsky and Hutch. With Tony Sunshine, there were also jokey R&B ballads like "My Dick" and "Laughing at You", an interpretation of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" with lyrics like "It was all a scheme / I used to load the tech with the magazine". The track "Nigga Shit" is a two-minute skit where Pun jokes about indulging in African-American stereotypes. There were also hardcore revenge-fantasy songs with a dark sinister sound like "Off With His Head", "LeatherFace" and "Wrong Ones". "Laughing at You" samples Simple Minds' Don't You (Forget About Me). In the song "My Turn", Big Pun made a jab at a then up-and-coming rapper 50 Cent in response to the remark 50 made about Pun in his song How to Rob.
Commercial
Yeeeah Baby posted a strong debut on the Billboard 200, the album sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week in stores to take the third slot on the chart. It reached Gold status within three months.
Critical
Yeeeah Baby received favorable reviews from music critics.
Songs
1The Creation (Intro)1:29
2Watch Those3:20
3Off Wit' His Head4:06