Songfacts®:

• Getting rich was a rap cliché by the time this song was released in 1997. Rappers had become businessmen, with Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Master P and many others expanding their empires and bringing in lots of cash. One of the most successful and ambitious was Puff Daddy (Sean Combs), head of Bad Boy Records, whose crown jewel was The Notorious B.I.G., a street-smart rhymer with a booming voice and captivating flow.
  
  This song, instead of celebrating the almighty dollar, lets us in on the dark side: More money brings more problems. For one thing, it creates jealousy, and it also makes you a target. The song isn't complaining, though (being rich is far better than being poor). As Puff Daddy explained, it's about how they don't do it for the money. After all, the more money they come across, the more problems they see.
• The track is built on a sample of the 1980 Diana Ross hit "I'm Coming Out," written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. Puff Daddy had a talent for putting a modern spin on hits from a generation earlier. And while money can lead to problems, it can also pay to clear pricey samples.
• Along with Puff Daddy, another Bad Boy artist, Mase, is featured on the track. The female singer on the chorus is Kelly Price, a prominent session vocalist who wasn't on the label and isn't credited. She released her own album, Soul Of A Woman, in 1998.
  
  The Notorious B.I.G. is the lead artist and it's his song on his album, but he doesn't come in until the last verse.
• The Notorious B.I.G. had been killed by the time this song was released. He died in a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, two weeks before the song appeared on his second album, Life After Death. The lead single, "Hypnotize," was issued before his death and rose to #1 in May. Before releasing "Mo Money Mo Problems" as a single, Puff Daddy put out a tribute song to Notorious B.I.G. called "I'll Be Missing You," featuring many Bad Boy artists, including Faith Evans, who was married to Biggie. That song was a runaway hit, going to #1 in June and staying at the top for 11 weeks. During this run, "Mo Money Mo Problems" was issued as a single, and on August 30 it supplanted "I'll Be Missing You" in the top spot.
• Puffy, Mase and Notorious B.I.G. wrote the song with Steve Jordan, who was one of Puffy's go-to collaborators at the time; Jordan and Puff produced it. Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers are also credited as writers because of the sample.
• Hype Williams directed the music video, which has Puff Daddy winning a golf tournament and dancing and floating alongside Mase. The clip also includes a bit of footage from Puff's personal archives: a home video of the Notorious B.I.G. talking about how mo money causes mo problems.