It was my first time seeing Big since we came back from our famous Hitmen producer retreat in Trinidad. When I walked in the studio, he’s bouncing to the beat, and he has the biggest ‘Oh my God’ look on his face. He said, “Oh, yo, come here, come here, you gotta hear this.”

He sat me down, and instantly said, “Biggie Biggie Biggie, can’t you see.” That meant it was serious, ’cause you didn’t hear Big’s lyrics until he went in that room—everything was in his head. And then he said, “Oh yeah, by the way, this is my first single.” I thought, you did not just say that to me.

I was like, “OK, that’s cool,” and then I went outside and called everybody, yelling and screaming like, “Yo, I’m gonna be a star!”

“Hypnotize” is built around a sample from “Rise,” a #1 hit from 1979 by jazz fusion trumpeter Herb Alpert. Randy “Badazz” Alpert, who wrote “Rise,” recalled working with Puffy saying:

“I asked Puffy, in 1996 when he first called me concerning using ‘Rise’ for ‘Hypnotize,’ why he chose the ‘Rise’ groove. He told me that in the summer of 1979 when he was I think 10 years old the song was a huge hit everywhere in New York and ‘Rise’ along with Chic’s ‘Good Times’ were ‘The Songs’ that all the kids were dancing and roller skating to that summer. He had always remembered that summer and that song. When he first played the loop for Biggie, Biggie smiled and hugged him.

“Over the years I was approached by Ice Cube, Easy E, Vanilla Ice, and maybe another 4-5 artists to use the song and I never said yes until I heard a rough version of Biggie’s recording. I was sent a cassette from Puffy and when I cranked it up I not only immediately loved it but my gut thought that this could be a #1 record once again.

“When I first met Biggie before they recorded ‘Hypnotize’ he played me a demo version with him doing the girl’s part. I still have that cassette demo and it’s definitely a classic piece of rap history.

Yes. “Hypnotize” was certified platinum by the RIAA on June 11, 1997.