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"PARTY AND BULLSHIT"

Produced by Easy Mo Bee, Wallace's hit single "Party and Bullshit" first appeared on the soundtrack for the forgettable 1993 comedy thriller Who's the Man. Light yet strong, the song reflects the lyricist Wallace had become, and in it he delivers clever lines in his trademark charismatic and controlling manner.

The song features Wallace as the narrator, with Mo Bee's beats use of organs and strings sampled heavily from ESG's classic song "UFO." The song has been remixed twice: in a jazz version by Bronx producer and DJ Lord Finesse and in a Combs-heavy version called "Puffy's Remix."

The title for the single comes from the Last Poets' song "When the Revolution Comes," in which the phrase "party and bullshit" is repeated several times. The Last Poets—musicians from Civil Rights-era Harlem— are often considered to have heavily shaped modern rap and have been called the godfathers of the style. Throughout the years, they have col¬laborated with a variety of musicians, including Wu-Tang Clan's Black Market Militia (on "The Final Call") and Common (on "The Corner").

Easy Mo Bee was the last producer to work with Miles Davis, having produced his studio album Doo-Bop in 1992, winning a Grammy for that effort. Bee was also from Bedford-Stuyvesant, having lived his whole life in the neighborhood and having known Wallace from the streets. Bee, also known as Osten Harvey Jr., grew up with Big Daddy Kane and often worked with the popular artist, most notably on his hit "It's a Big Daddy Thing." Bee also produced most of the GZA's critically acclaimed Words from the Genius and worked with a variety of rappers, including Tupac Shakur for his pivotal release Me against the World.

Just after the single hit the street, Wallace and old friend Damien "D-Roc" Butler were walking in their neighborhood, just after having din¬ner at Butler's grandmother's house. Joking around, the two talked about the future and how they would spend the money once it started flowing. Soon, though, they heard sirens, and within seconds, the police were on them. Wallace had in his pockets an unregistered gun, which he imme¬diately threw out into a nearby yard. One officer retrieved the gun while another overtook the two, arresting them. There were two men and one gun—someone had to take responsibility. In the interrogation room at Brooklyn's 79th precinct, the arresting officer told the two to make a deci¬sion as to who would take responsibility, leaving the old friends to discuss it. Wallace had a child on the way, a single on the charts, and a recording deal. Add in several prior arrests for weapons, as well as a current proba¬tion for weapons-related charge, and it was clear Wallace would serve several years if convicted. Butler shouldered the blame, telling officers the gun was his. He was convicted and sentenced to four years, though he didn't serve his full sentence.

Almost as soon as Butler was hauled off to jail, Wallace's life suffered another setback. His mother, always the beacon of strength, was sick. Tests showed she had breast cancer, and although it was in the beginning stages, she needed almost all the lymph nodes surrounding her breast removed, to prevent the disease's rampant spread. She didn't require chemotherapy, but the surgery left her weak, forcing a slow recovery witnessed by her son.
During this time, he actively wrote, penning what would later become the core of his debut album, Ready to Die, a force of hip-hop many con¬sider to have permanently changed hip-hop.