The original reason ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ was created
The late legend Biggie Smalls produced several hits during the 1990s, and although ‘Juicy’ and ‘Hypnotise’ are considered two of his best, one track holds a special place in people’s hearts: his 1997 classic, ‘Ten Crack Commandments’.
The song, which appeared on the rapper’s final album, Life After Death, wasn’t even released as a single but became an underground anthem due to its potent, raw lyrics. As the title suggests, it mirrors the Ten Commandments listed in the Bible. However, instead of guiding people in godly virtues, these commandments teach people how to become master crack hustlers. For many, it reflected the reality of their lives and the lives of those around them.
Although many credit Biggie with creating a vivid picture, the song was based on a real individual’s advice. In 1994, an issue of The Source featured an article headlined’ On the Rocks: From 1984 to 1994, Ten Years of Crack,’ which featured ‘Ten Crack Commandments’. Some guidelines in the piece told readers to avoid letting people know how much money they have and not sell drugs near their block.
Biggie included these rules with lyrics such as “Rule Nombre Uno: never let no one know / How much dough you hold cause you know / The cheddar breed jealousy ‘specially / If that man fucked up, get yo’ ass stuck up.”
The raw energy of the article that translated into the song was the notion of selling drugs as a means of survival rather than for recreation, and Biggie vividly described the consequences that could present themselves if one doesn’t hustle the right way.
Although the lyrical substance of ‘Ten Crack Commandments” came from The Source article, a lot of it came from Biggie’s real-life experience as a drug dealer on the streets of Brooklyn. Strangely, the song’s beat had nothing to do with Biggie or Diddy.
DJ Premier produced the beat, and it was part of Angie Martinez’s show on HOT 97.0. During an appearance on the on the So Wassup? Podcast, the beatmaker unveiled a story about the making of the ‘Ten Crack Commandments’.
Unveiling some unknown details about the beat of the iconic song, Martin explained how the beat was originally meant for Angie Martinez, stating, “During that time of her new come-up, everybody that’s anybody were doing promos that sounded like records, including us.” He revealed that it was a promotional backing track for her radio show, explaining, “Jeru [The Damaja] was so hot during that era of Hip Hop, and he was also runnin’ Hot 97 just as well amongst Wu-Tang Clan and so many others, including Biggie.”
Speaking about Martinez’s show, Martin added, “But here’s the catch. This beat from ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ was created for Angie Martinez because she did a show called ‘The Hot Five at Nine.’ However, the beat ended up getting shelved and fell into the hands of the Ready To Die rapper, who turned it into a legendary moment in hip-hop history.