Music history is littered with brilliant artists whose lives and careers were sadly cut short, but there's something particularly tragic about the senseless murder of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. in a 1997 drive-by shooting. Still unsolved to this day, the most closure fans have ever gotten in the case is probably (the artist formerly known as) Puff Daddy's Grammy-winning rap dirge "I'll Be Missing You," which debuted less than three months after Biggie's death and went on to spend 11 weeks at #1. Representing the height of Puffy's much-criticized "over-sampling," the song is a complete reappropriation of the Police's creepy classic "Every Breath You Take"; their instrumentals are identical and the chorus of "Missing," sung by B.I.G.'s widow, Faith Evans, changes nothing but the lyrics. Of course, if you're going to use someone else's work, you might as well take from the best. Andy Summers' melancholy guitar riff and Sting's iconic melody still shine through the basic rhymes and gospel flourishes, providing a solid base on which to build a loving (if somewhat lackluster) tribute to a dearly departed friend. B-
15 years ago this week, "I'll Be Missing You' was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.
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