Biggie’s first number one hit “Hypnotize” was released just a week before his death on March 9, 1997. The song was the first single from his second album Life After Death.

The song’s hook interpolates Slick Rick’s lyrics from the 1985 hip-hop classic “La Di Da Di,” while the beat is built around a sample from “Rise,” the 1979 #1 hit by jazz-fusion trumpeter Herb Alpert.

A funky party song filled with boasts, pick-up lines, and pop culture references, “Hypnotize” remains one of Biggie’s best known hits. The song’s action-packed music video is one of the most iconic of the 1990s.

On April 26, 1997, “Hypnotize” became the second single to ever debut at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 (the first was Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “Tha Crossroads” one year earlier). It went #1 the following week, tying Bone Thugs and The Beatles for the fastest rise to the top of the chart.

“Hypnotize” replaced Puff Daddy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” at #1, marking Bad Boy’s second chart-topper. It remained at #1 for three weeks, until it was kicked down to #2 by Hanson’s “MMMBop” on May 24.