March 09, 2007 @ 11:58 am

vArchive: "Things Done Changed" - On Tour with Biggie in 1995

Mimi Valdes

Twelve years ago, Mimi Valdes toured with the Notorious BIG. Read the original piece from VIBE's Oct

Back when he dropped his debut, Brooklyn's own Notorious B.I.G. was Ready to Die. Now he's got a No. 1 single, a platinum album, a loving wife, and everything to live for. Mimi Valdes goes on tour with the hip hop giant to answer the question, "How ya livin' Biggie Smalls?" "I didn't know he was gonna be this large," says Mark "Gucci Don" Pitts, the Notorious B.I.G.'s manager, driving the black Lexus that doubles as his office. Pitts, 25, is a former employee of Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment who left to represent Biggie independently in 1993. "Damn," he says, thinking back on the past 24 months. "I can't believe we blew up that quick." And he's not the only one who's surprised. "That star shit ain't really hit me until a couple of months ago," says 22-years-old Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. Who could have predicted that the Brooklyn native would throw New York hip hop back into the spotlight? He's the East Coast messiah; even KRS-One (he of the legendary skills and equally legendary ego) says it's true. Biggie's album, Ready to Die, is nearly a year old and still up there in the charts. His first single, "Juicy," went gold. "Big Poppa" went platinum. And the souped-up "One More Chance/The What (Remix)" had been sitting atop the R&B charts for six weeks at press time. Michael Jackson even asked him to rhyme on HIStory. No doubt, B.I.G. is more than large. Christopher Wallace was born the only child of a Jamaican single mom. The two have always lived in the same flat in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area until this year, when Big moved into a duplex with his wife, singer Faith Evans, and her daughter. Before his rap career, Big didn't give a fuck about anything - just look at what he named his album. "It was a lot of hard work, getting him serious about business," says Pitts. Big remembers how Pitts helped him through the transition: "Mark used to come to my crib, and I'd be, like, 'Fuck you, I ain't doing shit.' But he'd take a hot rag, wipe his face, and help me up." Biggie's financial situation didn't make things any easier. "When I stopped hustling and started making songs, it was the worst," he says. "My advance from Bad Boy was just petty money, like 12, 20 G's" - nothing in comparison with the "money money" that he was used to back when he was selling drugs. Most of Biggie's money these days comes from live shows; he's been touring steadily throughout the past year, picking up $20,000 per performance. "Big understands what he has to do, and being on the road is part of that," says Hawk, who grew up down the block from Big and is now his road manager. Biggie rolls with a tight crew of seven or eight, whom he considers "family." It's a good thing they're so tight, because life on the road - shady promoters, broken-tour buses, weed shortages, and too much McDonald's - can get hectic. Big doesn't do much to prepare for this evening's concert in Raleigh, N.C. - besides maybe smoking a few blunts. Wearing a navy blue Sergio Tacchini track pants and no shirt, he's watching TV with Little Kim, the fly female MC from Junior M.A.F.I.A. (Big's longtime partners and proteges). Although she calls herself Big Momma on "Player's Anthem," Kim, who's actually slim and petite, is concerned that Big Poppa may be a little too big. "I've never thought about losing weight," says Biggie. "I just want you to be healthy," Kim pleads, laughing. "Healthy, schmealthy. How much you think I should weigh?" "A hundred and eighty," she says. But when the six-foot-three MC lets her know his weight (315 pounds), Kim reconsiders. "Two hundred, then. I didn't know you weighed that much." It's after 11 p.m. when Big, now wearing a custom-made 5001 Flavors linen suit, steps onstage at Club Rhythms. The stage is actually outdoors, facing a forest, a fence, and 500 fans standing on gravel, ready to go wild. By Big's side are Little Ceasar (from Junior M.A.F.I.A), Money-L (the hype man), and D-Rock (his right-hand man), who's videotaping the show. And there's a lot to capture: girls in front rubbing their titties during "Players's Anthem," kids sitting in trees outside the club pumping their fists, and chaos when 200 one-dollar bills are thrown into the audience during "Gimme the Loot." (Biggie used to throw money himself until he lost a $5,000 ring Faith gave him.) After the concert, more than two dozen cats play follow-the-white-stretch-limousine. At the hotel, Big rushes to his room while his crew waits to see who's in the cars. A few girls in evening gowns make their way inside. "I don't want him to think we came to do the do-it," says one autograper seeker. After standing around for a whole, she and her crew decide he ain't coming out. They leave but some scantily clad girls linger. But Big ain't trying to fuck with any chicken heads. Although there are rumors that his marriage to Faith was a publicity stunt, or that it was recently annulled, they're totally false. The pair celebrated their first wedding anniversary on August 4 and are very much in love. At the video shoot for Faith's "You Used to Love Me," they could be seen giggling and calling each other nicknames (he's Riccardo, she's Moschino). They met at a Bad boy photo shoot last summer and were married nine days later. "I had my share of all kinds of women," says Big. "I can't explain it. I just knew Faith was different. I wanted her locked down." Of course, his friends were buggin', especially his mom. Everyone believed she married him for his loochie, through at the time, Faith actually had more money than he did because of her songwriting and background vocal work for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Color Me Badd, and Pebbles. "I'm like, 'Ma, what money? I owe you $300,'" says Biggie, laughing. As serious as Big is about his "baby," she's just as serious about him. One night after a show in Virginia, Big was arguing on the phone with Faith, who was in New York. He hung up, and when she tried to call back, Big refused to answer. Later, some girls came to the hotel and couples off with Biggie's boys. One was left out, and Big allowed her to sleep in his room. "It was some completely innocent shit," insists Big. "We weren't fucking." They awoke at 8 in the morning to a knock on the door. "The girl's, like, 'Who is it?'" he recalls, "and a sweet voice says, 'Housekeeping.' She opened the door, and Faith beat the shit out of her. Oh my God. Punched homegirl in the face about 30 times, then got on the next flight back to New York." Big was lying in bed speechless the whole time. "I was, like, Oh shit, that's the illest right there," he remembers. But Faith made her point: " I was so nervous, I jetted to New York' cause I wasn't gonna leave her buck-wil'ing like that. The girl was mad cool and I felt horrible, but fuck that, I got on that plane." For Biggie, being away from Faith is one of the hardest things about touring, but he's got to get the paper. "I still haven't gotten money from the album itself," says Big. "I spent a lot, and the label has to recoup first. That's why I sold half my publishings to Puffy. I was br-zoke, and if a nigga could make a quick quarter of a million just from signing a few papers, you gotta let it go." Puffy may have hit him off with a nice chunk, but it's nothing compared with what Big might've made had he stuck a publishing deal after he blew up. Some may say Big got jerked, but then again, Puffy is very much responsible for his success. Biggie wanted his first single to be "Machine Gun Funk," but Puffy knew which songs would take him to a wider audience. "Puffy was on some, 'Yo, let's get rich. If we drop "Juicy," you'll have a gold single,'" recalls Biggie. Puffy compromised by letting him do an ill B-side. "If people weren't with 'Juicy,' they could turn it over and hear 'Unbelievable,'" says Biggie. "My niggas weren't mad at me, so I was straight." Puffy wanted to drop "Big Poppa" next. "I was, like, Oh man," says Biggie, rolling his eyes. "But then Puffy started talking that money shit again." After a 12-hour bus ride from Raleigh to Cleveland, and three stops at McDonald's, Big's getting set for tonight's concert. The smoke detector in his room has been covered with a towel so his King Edward blunts won't set off any alarms. "I'm feeling kind of sluggish," he says. "Maybe it's because I didn't' take no vitamins today." He's referring to his jar of yohimbe pills (made from African yohimbe trees) that promise "ultra strength, stamina, and energy." After brushing his teeth neat the TV, spraying on some Guy LaRoche cologne, and applying deodorant, Big's ready. Two white limos bring everyone to Gund Arena, which is like three minutes away. Once inside, the entourage head straight to their dressing rooms. A few minutes before he's supposed to go on, Big decided to step to the backstage area, which is visible to some fans. Woman of all shapes, sizes, and colors lose their minds the moment he appears. "Big Poppa, Big Poppa," screams one beautiful sister. "Please, please, please, please come over here so I can feel you," yells another. Through Ice Cube is headlining - on a bill that also includes Naughty by Nature, Heather B, and Ku Klose - Big steals the show. The crowd goes wild during "Big Poppa," and when DJ Enuff drops the beat for "Can't You See" and Big starts his rhyme, the arena explodes. But when surprise guests stars Total begin singing, the vibe just dies. By the time they get to the chorus, someone has thrown water at one of the girls; when Total finish, pennies and a half-eaten hot dog litter the stage. But Big picks up the pace and leaves the crowd wanted more before closing with "One More Chance" as an encore. Back at the hotel, it's all chilling and cracking jokes. Because of Big's size and demeanor, many would be surprised to learn that he's a straight-up comedian. "I definitely can make a motherfucker laugh," he admits. He gets all excited about the black female contestant on Jeopardy's Senior Week: "Yo, you missed the introductions. Mama says she was from Bed-Stuy, representing BK to the fullest." Big tells his boys, who know he's lying. "I swear. She even said she wanted to give a shout-out to Biggie Smalls!" When he recalls the surreal experience of meeting Michael Jackson, he can't stop laughing. "When I found out he wanted to do a joint with me, that just ticked me pink," says Big, who flew to the session in L.A. almost immediately. He heard the track fro "This Time Around," knocked out the vocals, and was ready to bounce, when he heard Jackson wanted to meet him. "I was like, 'Do you like it? Make sure you use it. Please,'" says Biggie, who's hoping the song gets released as a single. "Just imagine us playing C-Lo in the video. It would be over." Five minutes after getting on the highway to Chicago from Cleveland, the bus runs out of gas. As the driver disappears to get help, the crew chat on their cellulars and play spades for $200 a game. It's almost five hours later when the bus finally moves, and close to midnight before it arrives in Chicago. Everyone's tired and hungry, but happy they'll be in the city for three days and can finally do some laundry. "I ain't got no draws," complains Big. The next day, the promoter takes everyone out to a couple of malls in a white van. Biggie's looking for Versace shades but instead settles for five pairs of multicolored Coogie socks at $17.50 each. At the counter, he flips through the Coogie housewares catalog of blankets, pillows, and curtains. "I can't wait to get my house," says Big. "I'm gonna get all this shit." As soon as Big gets some of his big checks, he's buying his moms a house in Florida and moving out of Brooklyn with a quickness. "I'd be a fool-as nigga to sit in the 'hood, on top of millions, thinking that nothing ain't gonna happen to me," says Biggie. But what about keeping it real by staying in the ghetto? "Keeping it real is taking care of your family," he says, "not taking all that money and doing stupid shit." That's why Big has a screenplay in the works, plans to open a chain of 24-hour diners called Big Poppa's, maybe even start a clothing company for big men. "I got the cars, the jewelry, the clothes," he says. "Now it's time to do something with the money instead of just spending it." After the mall, it's off to a steak house, where the crew sit down to their first meal in days. But when the check arrives, the promoter refuses to pay. Later that night, hotel personnel inform everyone that their rooms haven't been paid for either. The next day there are pins in everybody's doors, preventing them from using their keys. The promoter's actions are worthy of a breakdown, but Big's crew know better. You see, Big don't get down like that. That's why his recent arrest on assault charges is so unbelievable. Ain't nobody trying to hear that bullshit about rappers happy to be locked up 'cause they'll sell more records. "I'd rather be dead than in jail," says Biggie. "That shit is the worst. I was shaking, throwing up, 'cause that shit was mad dirty, mice and rats all over." Not the place for an MC who wants Coogie down to the socks, caviar for breakfast, and champagne bubble baths. On May 6, Biggie was supposed to do a show in Camden, N.J., but when he got to club Xscape, the promoter (and Big's money?) could not be found. Pitts told Nate Banks Jr., who had brought Biggie to the club, to take them to see the promoter. Upset ticket holders followed Big in their own cars, joining the mission to find the promoter. When the caravan reached the promoter's crib, his brother came outside and said he wasn't home. According to Bank's attorney, Banks was then beaten up and robbed of his necklace, bracelet, watch, cellular phone, beeper and $300 in cash. "When he was down, Christopher Wallace comes across the street and kicks him in the head," the attorney adds. "I saw the commotion," says Biggie. "I got put of my truck, Mark said, 'Get the fuck back in the truck,' and I did." Exactly who beats Banks down - and when - remains unclear. Six weeks later, after a show near Philly, Biggie and crew jumped in their rides to leave. Outside the parking lot, they noticed flares on the ground and policemen giving directions. "We're thinking it's a police escort 'cause there were so many people outside the club," says Biggie. "They lead us to a lot and – whoo, hoo. I swear on my daughter, niggas rolled out the bushes on their stomachs and pointed rifles with infrared beams on my truck. Meanwhile, I'm in the passenger seat with a bottle of Dom Perignon, pissy drunk, like, What the fuck is going on?" No one in Biggie's circle even knew that there was a warrant out for his arrest. "They got me on my belly, in the grass, with mad bugs crawling on my face," recalls Biggie. "Next thing you know, one guy got the shotty with the flashlight on the tip leaning on my head. They took me to the precinct and niggas were giving each other fives and doing belly slaps. I'm looking at them like they crazy." The cops even asked him to sign autographs. Biggie was held in jail for three days before being released; he then turned himself in to Camden police. His trial date has yet to be set. "Somebody told me I should just give duke (Banks) some money," he says. "Whatever man, I'll see that nigga in court." The whole ordeal, however, puts a temporary strain on Big's relationship with his mom, a Jehovah's Witness. "That shit made her think of the old Christopher, like I was still on the same bullshit," Biggie says. "I'm telling her that I didn't hit him, I didn't rob him and looking at me, like, Whatever. I mean, that's my ol' MO, you know what I'm saying?" "Things done changed," raps Biggie on his debut album, and that song has since taken on a multitude of meanings. Yes, he went from negative to positive, but nothing's ever all good. A few years ago the possibility of prison was an occupational hazard, but at least he knew the risks. Now that he's turned his life around, he's got a whole new set of problems to worry about. Biggie says he's the "same ol' nigga - maybe a little bit more bossy" The letters of his stage name used to just mean "big." Now he likes to say they stand for "Business Instead of Game." And if he was Ready to Die two years ago, now he's got everything to live for. He knows it too: He's already decided on a title for his next album. It will be called Life After Death.

Article tags: VArchive, Things, Done, Changed, Tour, Biggie, 1995 

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http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/03/things_done_changed/

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