The iconic Biggie Smalls track Diddy hated

The Notorious B.I.G. is a legendary figure in hip-hop who profoundly impacted the culture, especially in New York. The Brooklyn legend came up on the Brooklyn underground and quickly became a local star with his witty rhymes and precise lyricism. His talent promptly got him recognised by The Source magazine, and he only got bigger from there, eventually getting attention from Diddy. 

In 1993, Sean’ Diddy’ Combs signed the young emcee, and as a member of Bad Boy Entertainment, things exploded. However, behind the scenes, Diddy wasn’t a fan of every Biggie song and let it be known what he thought. 

Biggie Smalls’ 1994 album, Ready To Die, remains a classic today and boasts many iconic songs. With hits like ‘Juicy’ and ‘Big Poppa,’ some of the project’s singles were easy picks. However, there was one song that Diddy didn’t believe was worthy of being promoted. 

Biggie Smalls’ journey is vividly documented in Justin Tinsley’s 2022 book It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him, and in the book, Tinsley recalls a heated dispute that occurred between Diddy and the Arista record executive Rob Stone concerning one song in particular.

During the single selection process, Diddy asserted that ‘One More Chance’ would not be a successful single and told both Biggie and Rob Stone that ‘Machine Gun Funk’ was the best option. While ‘One More Chance’ was a great song, Tinsley unveiled that even Rob Stone knew it was too explicit to receive airplay. 

However, he had an intelligent workaround that Combs had yet to think of. After being told that his choice was wrong, Tinsley recalled Puff ranting, “All you motherf*ckers think you know what the f*ck I should be doing! What the f*ck you should be doing is getting my sh*t played on the radio! And I’ll worry about what the f*ck Puff needs and does.”

However, the radio play wouldn’t be an issue as Stone told Diddy, “Go make a remix to this and put Janet Jackson, Madonna, Aaliyah, Total, Faith, Mary J. Put every big-name woman in the industry begging this guy for one more chance.” This changed Combs’ view of the record as a more palatable remix would be ideal for radio play.

Two weeks later, “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix)” was delivered, featuring Mary J Blige, Aaliyah, Faith Evans and Total. The track missed the top spot on the charts, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. However, a song that Diddy initially hated was suddenly at the top of the charts and was a hit. You can listen to ‘One More Chance (Remix)’ in the video below.