“One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix)” by The Notorious B.I.G. (ft. Faith Evans)

As we have pointed out before, The Notorious B.I.G. was instrumental in establishing the rags-to-riches’ trope which is now a mainstay in hip-hop. And this particular track can also be said to have been key in helping to establish another regular subtheme in rap music, that being artists bragging about their sexual prowess. In other words, on “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix)”, Biggie is advertising his “good love”-making skills.  And accordingly the title/chorus is based on a romantic interest pleading with him to take her back.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for The Notorious B.I.G.'s One More Chance at Lyrics.org.

Facts about “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix)”

Mary J. Blige provides additional, albeit uncredited, vocals to this track.

This is the remix of a song which was originally released as part of Biggie’s first album, “Ready to Die”. The remix itself came out, via Bad Boy Entertainment and Arista Records, on 6 July 1995.

This track was produced by P. Diddy and another artist called Tumblin’ Dice. And they also co-wrote the song alongside The Notorious B.I.G., Bunny DeBarge and Mark DeBarge.

The latter two co-writers are acknowledged due to the fact that the instrumental to “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix)” relies heavily on a song called “Stay With Me”. And said track was released in 1983 by the family group DeBarge, which Bunny and Mark were a part of.

Originally when creating the remix, Tumblin’ Dice (aka Rashad Smith) wanted to sample a song called “Riding High” by Faze-O (1977). He says that P. Diddy was cool with the idea, but Dice ultimately decided to go with “Stay With Me” instead.

At the time this track was released, Biggie Smalls was actually married to the featured artist, that being Faith Evans.

This song was a major, even historical hit for The Notorious B.I.G. For instance, it debuted on the august Billboard Hot 100 at the fifth overall position, which up until that point was the highest a rap song had ever premiered on the chart. And overall, it peaked at number two, in addition to topping Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs listings and ultimately being certified Platinum in the US.

Additionally it charted in a handful of other countries, including breaking the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

Whereas there have been numerous remixes of “One More Chance”, as well as the original itself, it was this particular version upon which the official music video was created. Said clip had Hype Williams, the most-renowned hip-hop music video creator of that era, as its director. And it featured a plethora of stars. Some were of the Bad Boy camp – such as Craig Mack, Total and P. Diddy himself – as well as Biggie’s Junior Mafia squad. But there were also quite a few others, such as the following:

  • Mary J. Blige
  • Zhané
  • Spike Lee
  • Jermaine Dupri
  • Da Brat
  • Tyson Beckford
  • Queen Latifah

It also featured a couple of artists that have since passed away such as Aaliyah and Heavy D.

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