AN ICONIC LEGACY: The Notorious B.I.G

ARTICLE KB TINDAL ARTWORK KWAZAR MARTIN

Once in a rare hybrid eclipse, which only comes a few times per century, an artist comes along that leaves an indelible feeling on the world that transcends the culture of Hip Hop where that artist started. Artists like this will live forever. Only a few have done it, but absolutely no one has done it quite as ceremoniously, after the fact, as Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. On what would have been his 51st year on the planet, in the 50th year of Hip Hop, Biggie Smalls, who was born on May 21st, 1972 was a force to be reckoned with before he even arrived. It was like the Gods had an emergency all hands on deck board meeting before allowing Big’s spirit to enter the realm of earth. It was as if those Gods had an enigmatic plan to allow us all to be graced with one of the most unimaginable gifts in Big, when they knew they were going to bring him back up to to the heavens in less than a quarter century so they could be entertained by his greatness forever. While us mere earthlings would only be able to remember him by two prestigious bodies of work in Ready To Die and Life After Death, a riveting personality and an aura that we still can’t quantify to this day, because it was just too damn talented, loyal, authentic, and…big. 

If you speak to anyone that knew Big, or even just the ones that still listen to his music, they will tell you that the energy he left behind is unparallelled, His storytelling brought you into his mind and made you feel like you were in a movie with him as the narrator. His jokes, according to those that knew him, were gut wrenching and hilarious. His dexterity when it came to his various styles and flows were just unfathomable at that time. No one would have thought to collaborate with Bone Thugs and Harmony but Big did, and he wholeheartedly put Brooklyn on his back along with Lil Kim and his Junior Mafia crew and took them all to the promised land. He made them all stars. His vision as an artist and as a future executive that he would have become, were grounded in his Brooklyn roots as well as the history of Hip Hop and the culture. He made Coogi as famous as Jay Z made the Yankee cap, He made big men sexy again, and he mentioned Rappin Duke on his first single “Juicy” from his debut album Ready To Die. If that’s not a deep dive into hip hop history I don’t know what is.

His competitive spirit made everyone from Pac to Jigga step their bar game up. We never got the chance to see what The Commission group would have given us, but I am sure that the elevation of stories, metaphors, multi-entendres and back and forth bar play that would have been on that project would have also been iconic.

Outside of Tupac, Big is the only artist whose legacy lives on in a “Bigger than life” fashion. He continues to influence the culture in more ways than one. Now everyone wants to say that they don’t write rhymes, when a lot of them need to write rhymes. The references to Big’s rhymes in music over the last 25 years has been unprecedented, from borrowing a line to remaking his iconic songs like “Ten Crack Commandments” numerous times over by multitudes of rappers. 

There is not a rapper in existence that does not respect Big and consider him the GOAT.

Ironically Frank White was deemed the King of New York way before anyone started using that term. And the beauty of it was that the moniker was given to him by the city of New York. Big not only touched Rappers but he touched the hustlers, drug dealers, jail heads, school kids, women, working class people, rich and poor people, and all races and he left his mark on Hip Hop and the world like no other artist and I am sure that for the next 25 years his name will remain revered as one of the best MC’s to ever touch a microphone if not the best to ever do it. And he did it in only 24 years on the planet. His time with us was far too short but his voice lives on.

Happy Birthday Big. We will continue to salute you King! Now and forever.