Hypnotize" is a hip-hop song recorded by Brooklyn rapper The Notorious B.I.G. It was released as the first single from his album Life After Death in April of 1997.
The song was already a huge hit on U.S. radio stations before its release. Once a single was issued, "Hypnotize" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number two, right behind labelmate and co-writer/co-producer Puff Daddy ("Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"). When "Hypnotize" hit number one the following week, it made The Notorious B.I.G. the fifth artist in Hot 100 history to have a posthumous chart-topper (see List of Hot 100 (U.S.) chart achievements and trivia). It also gave back-to-back number-one hits to Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records label.
The rhythm track of "Hypnotize" is based upon a sample of "Rise", a Herb Alpert instrumental that was a number-one hit in the U.S. in 1979. The chorus of "Hypnotize", sung by Pam of Total, contains an interpolation of "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick.
The song was also played at The Notorious B.I.G's funeral, where the crowd went wild and some spectator's had to be restrained by police.
