Lance "Un" Rivera, the music executive who experienced huge success in the mid-1990s alongside business partner and close friend The Notorious B.I.G., recently stopped by The Art of Dialogue to tell some stories about his time running with Biggie and his crew. Rivera and Biggie co-founded Undeas Recordings in 1994, a joint venture with Atlantic Records that also housed Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Lil Kim.
During his appearance on the show, he discussed the heights the label reached after Kim's debut album, Hard Core, as well as his attempts to shop Junior M.A.F.I.A. (as a group) around to labels. Rivera also talked about how Biggie's death affected their business, and poured some cold water on a claim Fat Joe first made in a 2018 interview with DJ Vlad, in which he alleged that he and Biggie recorded eight songs for a joint album before Biggie's death.
When asked if there was any truth to Joe's claim, Rivera laughed to himself before delivering his answer. "I love Fat Joe, Fat Joe is my guy. I love the Jada & Joe show, and now I know why they're running with the 'Joe is the King of Cap,'" he said. "Imma call cap, without even knowing, 'cause I don't know for sure, but I'm calling cap [...] If there was a real, legitimate album, I would've heard about that. I wouldn't have heard about them doing songs."
Biggie Fat Joe Collab Album
Fat Joe's told the story of his alleged joint album with Biggie multiple times over the years, first with DJ Vlad and again on Cam Capone News. He's always claimed that the reason it never saw the light of day was because the tracks featured the two of them dissing 2Pac repeatedly, and they didn't think the songs should be put out, especially after Biggie died.
Other people close to Biggie have often discussed his recording process, and Rivera suggested that sometimes, he wouldn't even lay a verse down if he wasn't in the mood (or didn't have weed). If the story is true, a joint album between Joe and Biggie surely would have been an interesting one, but given his own relationship with Biggie, it's clear why Rivera would be skeptical of its existence.
