Y'all was grimy in the early 90s, far behind me

from The Notorious B.I.G. – What's Beef? Lyrics on Rap Genius

The predecessors of BIG — rappers like Wu-Tang Clan and Nas — weren’t willing to “play the game” and record radio-friendly singles on their albums; they preferred to stay “grimy” (dirty/real) and not sell records

When Biggie’s Ready to Die was released in ‘94, he showed that high-art and marketing can go hand-in-hand

This, along with the previous few lines, is a response dis to Raekwon and Ghostface Killah for the Shark Niggaz skit where they imply Biggie copied Nas. On the same album, they went from the grimy Enter the 36 chambers to a Mafioso concept album which has some rhymes about cars and fashion. B.I.G. claims Rae and Ghost are biting him.

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