Childhood
Born in the South Bronx of Puerto Rican descent during the early years of hip-hop, Christopher Rios grew up enjoying basketball, boxing, and other sports. He met his wife Liza in the eighth grade. At the age of five, he broke his leg in a Manhattan municipal park, resulting in a lawsuit against the City of New York, later settled out of court. He received a lot of money in compensation. By all accounts from Pun's family, his early years were very difficult, including witnessing his mother's drug abuse, his father leaving the family, and a stepfather who was very hard on Pun. According to his grandmother, Pun would become angry and self-destructive, punching holes in the walls of his family's apartment and eating the chunks of drywall rocks . At the age of 17, Rios dropped out of Stevenson High School and for some time was homeless, staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.
Career
Sometime during the '80s, he formed the Full a Clips Crew with Triple Seis, Prospect and Cuban Link who was at the time named "Lyrical Assassin". At this point Big Pun was operating under the alias Big Moon Dawg. Rios met fellow Puerto Rican and Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Joe's second album, Jealous One's Envy, in addition to appearing on a b-side to Joe's "Envy" single, "Fire Water."
Later, "I'm Not a Player" (featuring an O'Jays sample) was supported by a significant advertising campaign and became an underground hit. The song's remix, "Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe), became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit. His full-length debut Capital Punishment followed in 1998, and was the first album by a solo Latino rapper to go platinum, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200. Capital Punishment was also nominated for a Grammy, but lost out on the award to Jay-Z's Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life. He became a member of The Terror Squad, a New York-based group of rappers founded by Fat Joe, with most of the roster supplied by the now-defunct Full a Clips Crew.
Death
Despite his athletic adolescence, Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 90's between obese and morbidly obese. In the last years of his life he fluctuated between 450 and 697 pounds. Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program in North Carolina, in which he lost 100 pounds, but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost. On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack and respiratory failure in a hotel, Crowne Plaza, in White Plains, NY.
Posthumous works
His second album, Yeeeah Baby, completed before his death, was issued as scheduled in April 2000. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and earned gold record status within three months of its release. It eventually went platinum. A second posthumous album, Endangered Species, was released in April of 2001. Endangered Species collected some of Pun's "greatest hits," previously unreleased material, numerous guest appearances, and remixed "greatest verses." As with his other albums, it also peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200, reaching #7, but didn't sell as much as the previous Pun albums had.
In recent times, Big Punisher was featured with Fat Joe on "Duets: The Final Chapter," an album of tracks featuring the Notorious B.I.G, also deceased. The track "Get Your Grind On" begins with a Big Pun radio interview in which he said he would perform a duet with Biggie at the gates of heaven. Punisher was also featured on a track from the revived Terror Squad's second album, True Story, on the track "Bring 'Em Back" with Big L.
Sony Records has been considering releasing a second posthumous album featuring unreleased material, but the project is being delayed by Sony. Liza Rios also held an auction in 2005 for her deceased husband's Terror Squad medallion, citing financial difficulties in the wake of Pun's death, and again claiming to have not received any royalty checks for Pun's posthumous album sales (save for a small check from the sales of Endangered Species).
Lyrical ability and technique
Big Pun rapped at high speeds. He used huge multies and internal rhyme schemes. He showcased his punchline capabilities on 'Dream Shatterer', multies and flow in 'Twinz', 'You ain't a Killer' and 'Boomerang'. He was influenced heavily by Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. He also showcased superior topic versatility ranging from street life to sex/relationships and politics to social injustice.
It's So Hard
Big Pun Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Got the Glizzy locked in the stizzy
Pop the clizzy, goin' 60 down the one-wizzy
Drunk pissy, tryin' to cruise through the avenue
While my peoples is poppin' bottles up in Sue's Rendevous
Fuck that, spun a U-ey, lost a hubcap
It's back to the shack, came back in a, "What's that?"
Straight from Paris, checkin' Gaby's new baby carriage
Fresh out the dealer, got the TEC for the squealers
Wear a vest for the killers, nothin' less 'cause it's realer
In the Big Apple, where it's quick to get your shit tackled
Enemies spit at you, best friends kidnap you
Trust no one (uh-uh), got beef? Bust your gun (yeah)
You don't need no one (nope) talkin' 'bout that you owe him
I'm a go for dolo, Scarface without Manolo
One deep I be solo, bustin' heat throwin' bolos, it's hard
And it's so hard (it's hard work, baby)
Yeah (I just lost a hundred pounds, I'm tryin' to live, I ain't goin' nowhere)
Niggas wanna be like Pun (I'm stayin' alive, baby)
But they don't bust they guns
And it's so hard (that's my wife, I paid for them titties)
(Get your own, your own, ya heard?)
Niggas wanna fuck my wife
Niggas wanna take my life
But it's so hard
Rollin' with the squad, we like Gods
Catch us at the bar-de-bar-de-bars, strip bars in Miami
Almost came home with the Grammy
Next year, bringin' home three for the family
Watch me, you can catch it live on Hitachi
Poppin' shit like a Nazi, iced out like DeBiase
Fuck that, Liberace
4X Versace, somebody stop me
Never that (skee-yu), where my niggas at?
Uptown, uptown, you know you feelin' that
Cash rule, hardcore you can dance to
That old Biggie give me (one more chance)
Take a glance then I'm off with yours
With both hands take off my drawers and jerk me like the Source Awards
I love hip hop
I ain't even probably the best lyricist alive
Terror Squad, nigga stop sleepin'
What you say your name was again?
And I know you from where? Elementary school?
Niggas wanna be like Pun (I don't know you, man)
But they don't bust they guns
And it's so hard (money, not you again, go that way)
Niggas wanna fuck my wife (loser)
Niggas wanna take my life
But it's so hard
Ooh, yeah
You ain't fuckin' my wife, takin' my life
And if you just hating, just walk on by
All you haters, just walk on by
The opening lines of Big Punisher's song "It's So Hard" provide a vivid portrait of his status as a New York rapper who has made some serious bank. He boasts of being in a cherry red one-fifty (a reference to a car), with a gun locked in the glove compartment. He speeds down the avenue sipping on alcohol while his friends celebrate with champagne at a nearby club. The line "spun the you-ey lost a hubcap" refers to making a U-turn and losing a hubcap in the process. Later, the song becomes more introspective when Pun references "Scarface without Manolo," a metaphor for a lone wolf who can handle things on his own.
Throughout the song, Big Punisher asserts his dominance over other rappers, claiming that they want to mimic him but lack the necessary street cred. He makes references to strip clubs and boasts of winning Grammys, proving that he has made it big. At the same time, however, he is constantly on guard, always watching his back due to threats to his life and even his wife. This tension between success and danger makes "It's So Hard" a powerful song that probes the psyche of a man on the rise.
Line by Line Meaning
You can catch me in the cherry red one-fifty
I'm driving my cherry red one-fifty car around town
Got the grizzy locked in the stizzy
I have my gun locked up in my hiding spot
Pop the clizzy goin' sixty down a one-wizzy
I'm speeding down a one-way street at sixty miles per hour with my gun
Drunk pissy, tryin to cruise through the avenue
I'm drunk and trying to navigate through the avenue
While my peoples is poppin' bottles up in Sue's rendezvous
My friends are drinking and partying at Sue's rendezvous
Fuck that, spun the you-ey lost a hubcap
I made a U-turn and lost a hubcap in the process
It's back to the shack, came back and now, "What's that?"
I returned to my hiding spot and realized something was off
Straight from Paris, checkin' Gaby's new baby carriage
I just got back from Paris and checking out Gaby's new baby carriage
Perry Ellis (nice), auburn cherry reddish
I'm wearing a nice, auburn cherry reddish Perry Ellis outfit
Fresh out the dealer, got the Tec for the squealers
I just bought a new gun and I'm ready to use it on snitches
Wear a vest for the killers, nothin' less 'cause it's reala
I wear a bulletproof vest to protect myself from killers
In the Big Apple, where it's quick to get your shit tackled
In New York City, you can get attacked or robbed quickly
Enemies spit at you, best friends kidnap you
Enemies will insult you while best friends will betray you
Trust no one (eh eh) got beef bust yo' gun
Don't trust anyone and use your gun to handle any conflicts
You don't need no one (nope) talkin' bout that you owe him
Don't let anyone tell you that you owe them anything
I'ma go for dolo, Scarface without Manolo
I'm going solo like Scarface without Manolo's help
One deep, I be solo, bustin' heat, throwin bolos, it's hard
I'm alone, shooting my gun and throwing punches, it's tough
[Chorus]
Repeating chorus
Rollin with the Squad, we like Gods
I'm rolling with my crew and we feel like gods
Catch us at the bar-de-bar-de-bars
You can find us at the bars
Strip bars in Miami, almost came home with the Grammy
We went to strip bars in Miami and almost got a Grammy award
Next year, bringin home three for the family
Next year, we'll bring three Grammy awards home for our family
Watch me, you can catch it live on the Hitachi
Watch me on TV, you can see it on the Hitachi
Poppin' shit like a Nazi, iced out like DeBiase
I'm talking big and flashy like a Nazi, covered in ice like DeBiase
Fuck that, Liberace
I'm better than Liberace
Fo'-X Versace, somebody stop me!
I'm wearing expensive Fo'-X Versace and nobody can stop me
Never that, skee-yu! Where my niggas at?
Never gonna give up or back down, where are my friends at?
Uptown! Uptown! You know you feelin' that
Uptown, we're feeling good and you should too
"Cash Rule," hardcore you can dance to
"Cash Rule" - it's hard-hitting and danceable
That old Biggie give me, "One More Chance "
Listening to old Biggie Smalls gives me hope for a second chance
Take a glance and I'm off with yours
I'll steal your girl with just a look
With both hands take off my drawers
I'm taking off my pants with both hands
And jerk me like the Source Awards
And she'll jerk me off like the Source Awards
I love hip-hop, I ain't even probably the best lyricist alive
I love hip-hop and I'm probably not the best lyricist alive
Terror Squad nigga stop sleepin, ooh yeah
Terror Squad is the best, don't sleep on us
What you say your name was again?
I don't remember your name
And I know you from where? Elementary school?
I don't know you from elementary school
I don't know you man!
I don't know you, man
Money, not you again
I don't want to deal with you again
Go that way!
Leave me alone and go in that direction
Loser!
You're a loser
[Chorus]
Repeating chorus
Yeah, 'cause you ain't fuckin' my wife, takin' my life
I'm not worried about you taking my life or sleeping with my wife
And if you just hatin' just walk on by
If you're just hating, keep walking and don't bother me
All you haters just walk on by
I don't have time for any haters, just keep walking
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Christopher Lee Rios, Julian I. Jr. Garfield, Richard Frierson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@samo8093
Who still listening in 2024
@fitopineapplez9488
Today marks 24 yrs Feb 7
@Quagmirious_Bingleton_SR
@@fitopineapplez9488 That's crazy that one year from today, Pun died 25 years ago!
@Quagmirious_Bingleton_SR
@samo8093, It's comments like yours that make everybody not read the comments these days.
@Cap-gy1dn
Rip pun still one of the greats
@smileyemory89
💪🏾
@theoldbk5419
@3:20 Love Prodigy saying Pun was number 1!!! The respect and love is undeniable!!! RIP Prodigy, RIP Pun!!
@cecec9403
I miss this Era. People were coming together. Bring thisback
@AhmadKhan-ez3zk
no they weren't. The Rwandan genocide happened during this era
@felixcolon3296
@@AhmadKhan-ez3zk I don't think you understood the meaning he meant like all those artists and people coming together