The Commission (hip hop)

The Commission was a hip hop supergroup that was created by The Notorious B.I.G..

Formation and history

In 1996, The Notorious B.I.G. began forming the group. B.I.G. and Charli Baltimore had been in an auto accident and the two discussed the group while recovering. B.I.G. envisioned a Mafioso rap supergroup. The original members were B.I.G., Baltimore, Busta Rhymes, and Jay-Z. It was extended to include Puff Daddy, Lil' Cease, and producer Lance "Un" Rivera.

In the mid-1990s, the hip hop world was still riveted by the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, of which the Notorious B.I.G. was a major focus. Some feel that The Commission would have been the answer to 2Pac's constant slandering of East Coast rappers; specifically allies of Biggie Smalls. However, The Commission really got underway following the death of 2Pac, and numerous songs were made such as "Brooklyn's Finest", "I Love the Dough", "Victory", "What's Beef" and "Young G's".

In The Notorious B.I.G. song "What's Beef ?", the group members' "Commission" aliases are listed:

• Lance "Un" Rivera - Uncle Paulie
• Puff Daddy - P. Diddy
• Lil' Cease - Caesar Leo de Janeiro
• Charli Baltimore
• Jay-Z - Iceberg Slim
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Frankie Baby a/k/a Frank White

However, the plans for The Commission fell apart with the death of B.I.G. on March 9, 1997 and the group went their separate ways. An album was never completed.

Post-breakup

On December 2, 1999, Jay-Z and Lance "Un" Rivera got into an altercation at a Times Square nightclub which resulted in Rivera being stabbed twice in the stomach. In 2001, despite having proclaimed his innocence on his song "Guilty Until Proven Innocent", Jay-Z pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to three years probation as a result of a plea bargain. Neither party has discussed the incident since or the details of the plea bargain.

In an interview, Charli Baltimore expressed some disappointment with Jay-Z and Rivera. She claims Jay-Z was ambivalent about the group and that she and Rivera clashed over the way she was marketed and other business matters.

A song titled "Whatchu Want (The Commission)" by Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z appears on the posthumous album Duets: The Final Chapter.

DJ Mello and DJ Cinema got together to make the mixtape The Commission: The Album That Never Was. This mixtape consists of all new Jay-Z and B.I.G. remixes. It features artists such as Akon, Rakim, 2Pac, DMX and Lil' Kim.