Its co-billing notwithstanding, The King & I is more a Faith Evans release that frequently samples the voice of the Notorious B.I.G. than it is the third posthumous B.I.G. album.
It's a sprawling nostalgia trip of sorts through the duo's relationship, one that even incorporates an interlude where Jamal Woolard reprises his lead Notorious role to re-create a lighthearted early moment in Evans and Biggie's courtship.
Elsewhere, Biggie's mother Voletta, credited as co-executive producer with Evans' and Biggie's daughter and son, recalls interactions with her late son and daughter-in-law.
The likes of old associates such as Lil' Kim, Lil' Cease, Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, and Busta Rhymes also contribute verses.
Biggie is heard throughout, most frequently with lines so well-known that his presence ranges from baffling at best to confounding at worst.
There are some clever applications, such as the use of a Biggie verse from an obscure Aaron Hall track, heard on the slick Just Blaze collaboration "The Reason." Some of these songs, however, would be much more effective without the late rapper's voice.
Take the otherwise fine "Somebody Knows," where Evans sings about the mystery regarding Biggie's murder; Biggie himself punctuates a bunch of lines with "Who shot ya?," as if he's addressing his lifeless body.
The recycling of parts from "Who Shot Ya?," a historic moment in hip-hop -- a track 2Pac believed was directed at him -- is bizarre enough, but the context into which they're dropped here lacks sense.
The constant recycling, along with the quantity and variety of other voices, detract from some of Evans' best, most impassioned performances, which are matched with some solid work from a roster of co-producers that includes Salaam Remi, James Poyser, and DJ Premier.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A BillionF. Evans, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 00:59 | 2 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | LegacyF. Evans, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Beautiful (Interlude)F. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 00:30 | 1 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Can't Get EnoughF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Don't Test MeF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Big/Faye (Interlude)F. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 01:28 | 3 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Tryna Get ByF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | The ReasonF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | I Don't Want ItF. Evans, F. Nassar | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | I Got Married (Interlude)F. Evans, S. Jordan, Voletta Wallace | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 02:26 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Ten Wife CommandmentsF. Evans, R. Muhammad | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | We Just Clicked (Interlude)F. Evans, S. Jordan, Voletta Wallace | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 01:05 | 2 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | A Little RomanceDavid Balfour, F. Evans, Kevin Gilliam | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | The Baddest (Interlude)F. Evans, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 00:43 | 1 MB | 0 MB |
| 15 | Fool for YouF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 16 | Crazy (Interlude)F. Evans, M. Keith, O. Parker, Marvin Scandrick, Voletta Wallace | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 01:13 | 2 MB | 0 MB |
| 17 | Got Me TwistedSean Combs, F. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 02:54 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 18 | When We PartyF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 19 | Somebody KnowsF. Evans, T. Smith | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 20 | Take Me ThereF. Evans, S. Jacobs, D. Styles | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 21 | One in the SameF. Evans | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 22 | I Wish (Interlude) | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 01:27 | 3 MB | 0 MB |
| 23 | Lovin' You for LifeF. Evans, C. Russell, K. Tyler | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 24 | NYCF. Evans, C. Martin, C. Wallace | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 03:29 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 25 | It Was Worth ItF. Evans, S. Jordan | The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans | Play | 01:58 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 72 mins | 166 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 112 | Featured Artist, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Matt Anthony | Engineer |
| 3 | Joel Arthur | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | David Balfour | Composer |
| 5 | Battlecat | Producer, Scratching |
| 6 | Ben Briggs III | Engineer |
| 7 | Busta Rhymes | Featured Artist |
| 8 | Curt Chambers | Guitar |
| 9 | Kuldeep Chudasama | Assistant Engineer |
| 10 | Sean Combs | Composer, Producer |
| 11 | Rony Daibes | Engineer, Mixing |
| 12 | Kevin KD Davis | Mixing |
| 13 | Gleyder "Gee" Disla | Engineer |
| 14 | DJ Hurricane | Scratching |
| 15 | DJ Premier | Mixing, Scratching |
| 16 | Lamar "Myguymars" Edwards | Producer |
| 17 | F. Evans | Composer |
| 18 | Faith Evans | A&R, Additional Production, Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Tomi Fischer | Assistant Engineer |
| 20 | Cheryl Flowers-Briggs | Associate Executive Producer |
| 21 | Fredwreck | Bass, Keyboards, Producer, Talk Box |
| 22 | Joey Galvan | Assistant Engineer |
| 23 | Geoff Gibbs | Engineer |
| 24 | Kevin Gilliam | Composer |
| 25 | Lisa Glines | Art Direction, Design |
| 26 | Anthony Gonzales | Assistant Engineer |
| 27 | Garrett Graveline | A&R |
| 28 | Chyna Griffin | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Stevie J | Engineer, Producer |
| 30 | S. Jacobs | Composer |
| 31 | Matt Jacobson | Engineer |
| 32 | Jadakiss | Featured Artist |
| 33 | S. Jordan | Composer |
| 34 | Just Blaze | Mixing, Producer |
| 35 | M. Keith | Composer |
| 36 | Michael Lavine | Photography |
| 37 | Lil' Cease | Featured Artist |
| 38 | Lil' Kim | Featured Artist, Vocals |
| 39 | Sheek Louch | Featured Artist |
| 40 | Troy "Tlz" Lyons | Engineer, Mixing |
| 41 | Jonathan Mannion | Photography |
| 42 | C. Martin | Composer |
| 43 | Tony Maserati | Mixing |
| 44 | Kevin McCall | Featured Artist, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 45 | Rufus Moore | Vocals |
| 46 | David Moses | Engineer |
| 47 | R. Muhammad | Composer |
| 48 | F. Nassar | Composer |
| 49 | Gary Noble | Mixing |
| 50 | The Notorious B.I.G. | Primary Artist |
| 51 | O. Parker | Composer |
| 52 | Brad Post | Engineer |
| 53 | Herb Powers, Jr. | Mastering |
| 54 | James Poyser | Keyboards, Producer |
| 55 | Salaam Remi | Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Producer |
| 56 | Matty Rich | Mixing |
| 57 | Adros Rodriguez | Engineer |
| 58 | Dante Ross | A&R |
| 59 | C. Russell | Composer |
| 60 | Susanne Savage | A&R |
| 61 | Marvin Scandrick | Composer |
| 62 | Miguel Scott | Engineer |
| 63 | Tyler Scott | Assistant Engineer, Mixing Engineer |
| 64 | J. Drew Sheard | Engineer |
| 65 | T. Smith | Composer |
| 66 | Snoop Dogg | Featured Artist |
| 67 | Steven Felix | Engineer |
| 68 | Styles P | Featured Artist |
| 69 | D. Styles | Composer |
| 70 | Chyna Tahjere | Featured Artist |
| 71 | Chucky Thompson | Producer |
| 72 | K. Tyler | Composer |
| 73 | Jeffrey Walker | Producer |
| 74 | C. Wallace | Composer |
| 75 | Christopher Wallace | Executive Producer |
| 76 | Mama Wallace | Featured Artist |
| 77 | Tyanna Dream Wallace | Executive Producer |
| 78 | Voletta Wallace | Composer, Executive Producer |
| 79 | Larry Whitt | Engineer |
| 80 | Jamal Woolard | Featured Artist |
| 81 | Andrew Wright | Mixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |