Yeeeah Baby

Yeeeah Baby
File:Yeeeah Baby coverart.jpg
Studio album by Big Pun
Released	April 4, 2000
Recorded	1999-2000
Genre	Hardcore rap, East Coast hip hop, Latin hip hop
Length	52:08
Label	Terror Squad/Loud Records
Producer	Fat Joe (Executive) Just Blaze Buckwild L.E.S. Sean C DJ Shok Richard "Younglord" Frierson Knobody O.Gee Mahogany Minnesota Guy Boogie KNS The Infinite Arkatechz
Big Pun chronology
Capital Punishment (1998)Capital Punishment1998 Yeeeah Baby (2000) Endangered Species (2001)Endangered Species2001

Yeeeah Baby is a posthumous studio album by rapper Big Pun. In the wake of Big Pun's death in February 2000, it was released in April of the same year as planned, peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts selling 179,000 units during the week it was released, and subsequently was certified gold. Fat Joe, Pun's close friend and mentor, is the executive producer of the album.

Struggling with morbid obesity, Pun experienced breathing problems throughout the album’s recording process, slowing down his iconic flow. He died at 28 years of age, just two months before the album’s release.

Background

The album consist of two of Big Pun's biggest hits, the first single "It's So Hard" and the Puerto Rican anthem "100%". In the former song, he exclaims "Its hard work, baby. I just lost 100 pounds. I'm trying to live. I ain't going nowhere." Numerous critics mentioned this unfortunate irony.

In his last magazine interview, conducted by Industry Insider only a week before his death, Pun detailed that his approach on Yeeeah Baby was not as "hardcore" as his previous album Capital Punishment, in an attempt to reach out to an even wider fanbase than his debut album already had. Despite this, while Yeeeah Baby received positive reviews from critics, it was not nearly as commercially successful as Capital Punishment.

Tracks

Terror Squad members and affiliates such as Sunkiss, Tony Sunshine, Prospect, Cuban Link, Remy Ma, and Fat Joe were featured on the album.

The album featured lighthearted songs like "100%" and "It's So Hard". It opens with an introduction "The Creation", likening Big Pun to Frankenstein. The first song "Watch Those" is a rock-oriented rap song with the beat derived from the theme song of Starsky and Hutch. With Tony Sunshine, there were also jokey R&B ballads like "My Dick" and "Laughing at You", an interpretation of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" with lyrics like "It was all a scheme / I used to load the tech with the magazine". The track "Nigga Shit" is a two-minute skit where Pun jokes about indulging in black stereotypes. There were also hardcore revenge-fantasy songs with a dark sinister sound like "Off With His Head", "LeatherFace" and "Wrong Ones". "Laughing at You" samples Simple Minds' Don't You (Forget About Me)

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Billboard	(Favorable)
Entertainment Weekly	C
NME	(7/10)
Q
RapReviews	(8.5/10)
Robert Christgau
Rolling Stone
The Source
Vibe	(Favorable)

Commercial

Yeeeah Baby posted a strong debut on the Billboard 200, the album sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week in stores to take the third slot on the chart. It reached Gold status within three months.

Critical

Yeeeah Baby received favorable reviews from music critics.

• Rolling Stone (4/13/00, p. 128) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...[Pun] has gone out with a bang. He attacked standard hip-hop topics with witty, unpredictable elasticity....Pun is at his habanero hottest..."

• Q (7/00, p. 111) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Would have established [him] as both a radio-friendly commercial force and rebellious icon..."

• CMJ (4/24/00, p. 30) - "...Beams the spotlight on the Boricua bomber's unparalleled breath control and hilarious jaw-dropping wordplay."

• Vibe (6/00, p. 214) - "...A triumphant final effort for one of the Boogie Down Bronx's favorite super-lyrical sons....[It] showcases Pun's matured artistic vision and newly mastered flows but never ceases to move bodies and minds..."

• The Source (5/00, p. 186) - 4 mics out of 5 - "...An even more in-depth peep inside the heart and soul of a man in constant struggle with himself....a backstage pass to the all-out jam that was Pun's personality: street-wise, intellectually sharp, sex-crazed - and funny as hell..."

• NME (4/29/00, p. 35) - 7 out of 10 - "...[A] raucous final musical statement....like a library of every cool contemporary hip-hop sound squeezed onto one compact disc....One for delinquent work experience boys everywhere."

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Creation (Intro)"		1:29
2.	"Watch Those"	Knobody	3:20
3.	"Off Wit His Head" (featuring Prospect)	Just Blaze	4:06
4.	"It's So Hard" (featuring Donell Jones)	Younglord	2:52
5.	"We Don't Care" (featuring Cuban Link)	Younglord	3:12
6.	"New York Giants" (featuring M.O.P.)	Mahogany, Minnesota	3:30
7.	"My Dick" (featuring Tony Sunshine)	Sam Sneed, Guy Boogie, KNS	3:19
8.	"Leatherface"	The Infinite Arkatechz	3:25
9.	"Air Pun (Skit)"		0:51
10.	"100%" (featuring Tony Sunshine)	Sean C	3:51
11.	"Wrong Ones" (featuring Sunkiss)	Just Blaze	4:07
12.	"Laughing at You" (featuring Tony Sunshine)	O.Gee	4:26
13.	"Nigga Shit"	Buckwild	1:45
14.	"Ms. Martin" (featuring Remy Ma)	DJ Shok	4:16
15.	"My Turn"	L.E.S.	3:48
16.	"You Was Wrong" (featuring Fat Joe, Drag-On & Remy Ma)	DJ Shok	3:51

Album chart positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
2000	Yeeeah Baby	#3	#1

Singles chart positions

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	Hot Rap Singles	Rhythmic Top 40
2000	"It's So Hard"	#75	#19	#11	#39
2000	"100%"	#84	#53	#16	-