In Lesson No. 1 from this week's Madvillain review, it’s never a good idea to mess with a classic. But even more so than "Madvillainy," the Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 debut, "Ready to D.I.E.," is among the top 10 hip-hop records, period.

Despite my co-worker Adam Huber’s insistence that Biggie sounded like he was trying to rap with six packs of Bubblicious in his mouth, the gritty detail in his rhymes and the way he commanded attention puts him in firmly on the Mount Rushmore of Rappers.

"Ready to D.I.E. (O.G. Edition)," a mixtape released by DJ Semi and available through Mixtrap.com, purports to be Biggie’s original vision for the landmark record, featuring extra verses, alternate beats that were scrapped because a sample couldn’t be cleared or because a better one came along, and demos.

And there are some interesting moments. “The What” features an alternate first verse, DJ Premier supplies what was apparently the original beat for “Machine Gun Funk” (though it’s kind of repetitive and not as good as the lazy guitar loop that appears on the main album). Instead of a guitar loops that spirals downward, the version of “Me & My *$&%!” that appears here has a low-key guitar figure that works its way upward.

But most of the “never-heard-before” moments are unexciting. A jazz-guitar loop sounds all right as the original backdrop for the title track, but it also means it lacks the epic, echo-heavy drive of the original; Pete Rock’s drum loop on “Juicy” trades the original’s angular beat for a bouncy-but-boring alternative. And who doesn’t know that the two censored words from “Gimme the Loot” are “pregnant” and “strangled”?

There are also a few rarities at the end (“Come On,” with Sadat X, the original “Who Shot Ya?” demo and others), but if you’ve ever searched “Notorious B.I.G.” on Limewire, chances are you’ve heard them before.

If you simply must have everything the late Christopher Wallace recorded, then you can find the O.G. edition of Ready to D.I.E. here.

But I’d stick with the original.

Sussex Countian