The Notorious B.I.G. – Going Back to Cali Lyrics

“Going Back To Cali” is Biggie’s love letter to California, recorded at the peak of the controversial East Coast/West Coast rivalry of the mid-’90s.

The song was produced by frequent Biggie collaborator Easy Mo Bee using a chopped up sample from Zapp’s “More Bounce To The Ounce,” giving the song an ’80s electro-funk sound that was commonly associated with West Coast hip-hop at the time. Zapp frontman Roger Troutman was famously featured on 2Pac’s “California Love” the previous year.

LL Cool J’s 1988 hit “Going Back To Cali” also served as inspiration. Although LL’s track isn’t sampled, the two songs share a title and a theme of a prominent New York rapper visiting California and experiencing the West Coast lifestyle.

The lyrics on “Going Back To Cali” contain important insight into Biggie’s perspective on the East Coast/West Coast rivalry. He attempts to defuse the coastal tension by professing his love for California’s “weather, women, and the weed,” making it clear that his only beef is with the specific people that “violate” him.

Biggie’s tragic murder—which happened on his 1997 trip “back to Cali”—casts a dark shadow over the song’s positive celebratory message.

In an interview with AllHipHop, producer Easy Mo Bee talked about how he flipped Zapp’s oft-sampled “More Bounce to the Ounce” and how he got the blessing of none other than Roger Troutman himself on the use of his song:

‘More Bounce to the Ounce’ was a record that I always wanted to sample. […] But what can I do to set it apart? So what I did was, I dissected the record as if Roger Troutman gave me the master and I had access to the individual tracks and sounds. I kept the drums the same. The bass, I made it travel how I wanted to. Some light keyboard pads added to it. There’s the light machine gun synthesizer added to it. The reverse waah waah. A lot of people don’t know that.

You know what made me feel better about that record? Right before he died, I got to know Roger Troutman over the phone. […] First time he talked to me, he said, ‘Easy Mo Bee! A lot of people used my record before. But you flipped that [joint]!’ That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. That’s the biggest endorsement coming from the man who made it.

“Going Back to Cali” was released as a triple A-side single (alongside “Sky’s The Limit” and “Kick In The Door”) in late 1997 and the single peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1998.

Going Back to Cali Lyrics by The Notorious B.I.G.

[Intro: Biggie and Diddy]
[Dialing numbers]
[Phone Rings]
Yo!
Yo Big, wake up, wake up baby
Mmm, yo…
Yo Big, wake yo’ ass up c’mon
I’m up! I’m up. I’m up , I’m up
Big, wake up!
I’m up Diddy, what the fuck, man? What’s up?
C’mon now it’s a quarter to six we got the 7:30 flight
Mmm, (mumbling) yeah
Yo Big, Big, Big
Yeah I hear you dog, I hear you, alright, 7:30
Yo take down this information
Ain’t no pen
Tell your girl then to remember it or somethin’. Can you do that?
Aight honey, yeah write this down
Aight, uhm, flight five-oh-four
Five-oh-four
Leaving Kennedy
Kennedy
On the L-A-X
Oh! Cali?
No doubt baby, you know we gotta get this paper
Ahh, no doubt, aight
You aight?
I’m up, I’m up
Yo Big
I’m up, man
Flight five-oh-four
Alright 7:30 I’ma meet you at the airport
California
Yeah
[Phone clicks]
[Verse 1: The Notorious B.I.G.]
Uhh, when the la-la hits ya lyrics just splits ya
Head so hard, that your hat can’t fit you
Either I’m with ya or against ya
Format bent ‘cha, back through that maze I sent ya
Talking to the rap inventor
Nigga with the game tight, fifth that flame right
Spell my name right, B-I, double-G, I-E
Iced out, lights out, me and Cease-A-Leo
Getting head from some chick he know
See it’s all about the cheddar, nobody do it better
Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women and the weed, sticky green
No seeds bitch please, Poppa ain’t soft
Dead up in the hood, ain’t no love lost
Got me mixed up, you drunk them licks up
Mad ’cause I got my dick sucked
And my balls licked, forfeit, the game is mine
I’ma spell my name one more time, check it
It’s the, N-O, T-O, R-I, O
U-S, you just, lay down, slow
Recognize a real Don when you see one
Sipping on booze in the House of Blues

[Chorus: The Notorious B.I.G. (Stevie J)]
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)

[Verse 2: The Notorious B.I.G.]
If I got to choose a coast, I got to choose the East
I live out there, so don’t go there
But that don’t mean a nigga can’t rest in the West
See some nice breast in the West
Smoke some nice sess in the West, y’all niggas is a mess
Thinking I’m gon stop, giving L.A props
All I got is beef with those that violate me
I shall annihilate thee
Case closed, suitcase filled with clothes
Linens and things, I begin things
Beeper start to flash, 818’s, 213’s
313’s, B.I.G
Frequently floss hoes at Roscoe’s
If I wanna squirt her, take her to Fatburger
Spend about a week on Venice Beach
Sippin Crist-o, with some freaks from Frisco

[Chorus: The Notorious B.I.G. (Stevie J)]
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)

[Verse 3: The Notorious B.I.G.]
Cali got gunplay, models on the runway
Scream Biggie Biggie gimme One More Chance
I be whipping on the freeway, the NYC way
On the celly-celly with my homeboy Lance
Pass hash from left to right
Only got five blunts left to light, I’m set tonight
Met a bitch at the Versace store
Said she suck it ’til I ain’t got no more, only in L.A
Bust on bitches be-lly, rub it in they tummy
Lick it, say it’s yummy, then fuck your man
What’s your plan, is it to rock the Tri-State?
Almost gold, five Gs a show date
Or do you wanna see about seven digits?
Fuck hoes exquisite, Cali, great place to visit
[Chorus: The Notorious B.I.G. (Stevie J)]
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)
I’m going going, back back, to Cali Cali (going back to Cali)