As one of the greatest rappers to ever bless a mic, The Notorious B.I.G. left quite an everlasting mark on hip hop in just his twenty-four years on this earth. Big already had one classic album under his belt with “Ready to Die” and was in the process of releasing his second studio album “Life After Death” when he was gunned down in Los Angeles. On this day exactly twenty years ago, he released the classic first single “Hypnotize” off of his “Life After Death” album. It would go on to become Big’s first song to top the charts and the fifth time an artist hit number one posthumously.

This song which samples Herb Alpert’s “Rise” also came in at number 30 on Rolling Stone’s list of greatest hip hop songs of all time. The hook is sung by Pamela Long of the R&B group Total.