March 09, 2009 @ 2:24 pm

12 Reasons VIBE Will Always Love Big Poppa

Chris Yuscavage

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The Notorious B.I.G. still packs a big impact

A legendary combination--distinctive, effortless, raw, unmistakable, and not to be fucked with--there was no missing Biggie on a track, until we were missing Biggie on the tracks. Then there were the raps: “Live from Bedford- Stuyvesant…” and it just goes from there. And then there were the albums. His debut, Ready To Die (Bad Boy, 1994)? Classic. His second album, Life After Death (Bad Boy, 1997)? Classic. His third and fourth posthumous albums? Um, okay. Not quite classic, but damn! Did you hear B.I.G. and Eminem on “Dead Wrong”? How $^%#&* dope was that?!? 

Still, if you’re too young to (legally) sip champagne when you’re thirsty, there’s a good chance that saying you love Biggie is a little like Michael Jordan fans saying they love Bill Russell. You’ve heard about how great he was—but do you really understand? Ånd basing everything you know about Biggie Smalls solely on his biopic Notorious (Fox Searchlight, 2009) doesn’t exactly cut it either. In order to say you love Christopher Wallace, you need to feel the power of his presence, see all that he contributed to the culture and understand what made other people love him so much. In other words…it’s 2009, folks, get your YouTube on! Or just keep reading. ’Cause if you don’t know, now… you can just press play.

1. THE MOMENT: Biggie rapping at 17 in Brooklyn

THE CLIP:

THE HIGHLIGHT: Raw. Unfiltered. Aggressive. Untamed. Biggie comes out swinging in one of his first video clips ever.

2. THE MOMENT: Biggie’s first music video, “Juicy”

THE CLIP:

THE HIGHLIGHT: The classic intro: It was all a dream, I used to readWord Upmagazine. Hip hop heads? Casual rap fans? Weird frat boys at keggers who think they know the word to every rap song? They know every syllable to this one.

3. THE MOMENT: A young Biggie trading bars with a young Tupac

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: Before sparking a tumultuous beef in the mid-’90s, Biggie and 2Pac linked up for this rare freestyle session.
4. THE MOMENT: A 1995 commercial spot for St. Ides

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: Biggie rapping, Forget the great taste that’s less fillin’, I’d rather have some St. Ides and some dimes in the crib chillin’. Of course, B.I.G. wasn’t the only rapper to endorse the brand (Ice Cube, Dre and Snoop did, too) but seriously: He was one of the flyest rappers of his time. How the hell did he manage to make grabbing a 40 on a Friday night sound like a good time?
5. THE MOMENT: B.I.G. chastises rappers for biting his style

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: After taking a thinly-veiled shot at 2Pac, B.I.G. remarks, “If I hear one more rapper talk about Versace, Dolce & Gabbana…I started it and I’m ending it.”

6. THE MOMENT: Uncle Luke catches up with Biggie and Lil Cease for Luke’s Peep Show

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: As his beef with 2Pac snowballs, both Biggie and Cease pledge peace. “I wanna be an entrepreneur,” B.I.G. says. “I want to be a million dollar nigga.”

7. THE MOMENT: Biggie Smalls sits down with BET’s Joe Clair for the last time

THE CLIP:
Part 1


Part 2


 


THE HIGHLIGHT: Biggie reveals how he created Life After Death and where he hopes to go as an artist.

8. THE MOMENT: A television interview with UPN 9, just two weeks before his death

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: For a moment, Biggie lets his guard down as he discusses violence in hip hop and reveals that he believes rappers need to take more responsibility to avoid it. “I wouldn’t want everybody to come up in the club with guns,” he says. “Frisk ’em. Metal detector and frisk ’em.”
9. THE MOMENT: Biggie visits KYLD Wild 107.7 in San Francisco just days before his death

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: B.I.G. breaks down the need for his heightened security on the West Coast trip that ultimately left him gunned down in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. “It’s not just rappers,” he says. “People are going to attack anybody that’s a large figure…They’re going to attack you if you’re on top.”
10. THE MOMENT:Biggie’s final ride

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT:  An era ends in Brooklyn as Biggie’s funeral procession rides through his old stomping ground in Brooklyn.
11. THE MOMENT: Biggie and 2Pac reunite

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: It took tragedy to put B.I.G. and ’Pac back together. Posthumously pieced together for “Runnin (Dying to Live),” the first single (and only music video) off Tupac: Resurrection, Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture  (Amaru, 2003).
12. THE MOMENT: Notorious hits theaters in early 2009

THE CLIP:


THE HIGHLIGHT: After several years of development, Biggie’s biopic finally hit theaters. Brooklyn rapper Jamal “Gravy” Woolard stars as B.I.G. to critical acclaim. Notorious is due out on DVD this spring.

Article tags: 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Notorious09 

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