Fitting of an emcee that commanded such talent and personality, Biggie was seemingly at his best when allowed to roam free on his own songs, without the hindrance of say a Puff Daddy or 112 to weaken a track. Further, Biggie did not have the opportunity to reach the level of collaborations seen by the likes of Ludacris or Eminem. Despite these drawbacks though, I have attempted to compile here the top ten Biggie collaborations; whether they be album tracks on his own albums, album tracks on other artist’s albums, remixes, or any track for that matter. Collaborations allow us to view Biggie’s work in a different light because there is adaptation to the other artist or artists that create a unique new take on Biggie’s artistry. Further, we can also see how Biggie’s presence affected others featured on the tracks. With these benefits in mind, let me make clear that I sought some sort of duality in these collaborations rather than just a particularly strong Biggie track (an idea I will articulate a bit more upon later).

Editor's note: Working out is essential to a healthy life. And it's no secret that music is a gives a good boost on those days one feels like slacking. Instead of giving my playlist of songs that'd pump me up on my workout, I chose to get a female perspective on this. I asked some of my (lady) friends why they listen to music when they workout and a lady acquaintance, Fire, provided her playlist: 15 of the songs she worked out too in one session.

The posse is the clique, the crew, the people you're down/associated/affiliated with. And the posse has an important place in hip hop. Everybody major rap artist (except LL Cool J) has one. Some posses went on to become groups - it was the most common thing to do in the earlier rap days. In other cases, the posse would be featured on a joint or two off of one member's album. Such joints are posse cuts - you need at least four emcees for a posse cut in my humble opinion. The definition of the posse cut was later expanded to include collaborations of several people, ignited usually by mutual respect for each other's skills on the mic.

As such, other purposes for posse cuts were found. One can use a posse cut to boost sales (there are a lot of posse cuts out there!), to raise awareness (on some We Are The World schtick), or to execute an interesting concept (Sticky Fingaz' State Vs. Kirk Jones and Immortal Technique's Peruvian Cocaine are excellent examples). Nonetheless, the posse cut remains the best way showcase your clique, on some "my crew is wild nice" ish. And every now and then, it can introduce us to incredible talent (NaS, Beanie Sigel, Redman, etc...).

This shiznit has some of my all-time favorite posse cuts, which I hope you'll enjoy.