What if I told you that in a different universe, you actually have The Notorious B.I.G. rapping over the beat for LL Cool J’s classic, “Doin’ It”? Well, that’s exactly what was apparently supposed to happen when Biggie tapped renowned producer, Rashad Smith with some ideas for a track while working on his second album, “Life After Death”. Rashad is famous for his work on other classic tracks such as Notorious B.I.G. - “One More Chance/Stay With Me”, Busta Rhymes - “Woo Hah!”, Nas - “If I Ruled The World”, and more.
In an episode of the R.O.A.D. Podcast, Rashad breaks down how Biggie wanted him to sample Grace Jones - My Jamaican Guy, as well as Al B. Sure! - Nite and Day. Rashad gets to work and plays the tracks for Biggie, one of which was what would become LL’s “Doin’ It”.
Of course Biggie dug the tracks and wanted to get to work, but Rashad needed to be paid for his work. While Diddy allegedly delayed payment, not even offering a deposit, Rashad got to work on other projects while he waited. You see where I’m going with this?
That’s when legendary record producer and Violator Records co-founder, Chris Lighty was working with LL Cool J on his Mr. Smith album and brought on Rashad for some production work. While sitting with LL and browsing through Rashad’s beat catalog, they stumbled upon Biggie’s track and LL was blown away. He had to have it.
Rashad was in a rough patch financially and they offered double what Bad Boy was paying for the beats. We all know what happened after that. “Doin’ It” became an LL Cool J classic and an instant party go-to track.
The financially desperate decision did come with some consequences as Biggie felt betrayed by Rashad. The relationship dwindled down to non-existent and the two never worked together again. Rashad says he regrets not mending his relationship with B.I.G. before the rapper’s untimely death.
Biggie on that track would’ve been “bananas” as LL likes to say, but I can’t imagine this beat going to anyone else but Mr. Smith himself.
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