Notorious B.I.G.
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Get ready New Yorkers. Now that Timberland boot season is upon us, Timberland is preparing to release an exclusive version of their classic construction silhouette that will be paying homage to the first anointed king of New York’s rap scene, The Notorious B.I.G.
According to Nice Kicks, Timberland will be collaborating with the estate of the late-great Notorious B.I.G. to drop a boot that pays tribute to the legendary rapper as they look to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of his debut album, Ready To Die. This is the latest footwear brand to pay homage to Big Poppa as not too long ago Jordan Brand released an ultra-limited edition Biggie version of the Air Jordan 13 that basically no one was able to cop.
While these boots are sure to have limited stock available, Biggie fans will at least have a chance to cop when the boots release on Sept. 27 exclusively at Foot Locker stores.
Nice Kicks reports:
Biggie’s relationship with Timberland also reflected the broader cultural trends of hip-hop embracing workwear and street-ready attire. The boots, originally designed for manual labor, became an iconic piece of fashion in urban culture, thanks in part to Biggie’s influence.
Biggie’s frequent use of the boots and his lyricism embracing the 6-inch boot helped shape how the brand was perceived, turning them into a symbol of authenticity and toughness in the world of rap and street culture.
Biggie did love himself some Timberland construction boots. Just look at his music videos and photo shoots.
Still no official images on how the boot will look and what kind of details it will have showing it’s related to Biggie, but best believe OG Hip-Hoppers and Biggie fanatics will surely be looking to cop a pair when they release.
Will you be copping a pair of Biggie Timbs? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Marvel / Marvel
A few years ago, Marvel surprised comic book fans and Hip-Hop heads alike when they dropped a variant cover for Deadpool No.1, which featured the legendary Notorious B.I.G. Now, they’ll once again be calling on Big Poppa to grace another variant cover for the Merc with a Mouth.
For the upcoming issue to Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII No. 3, the Black Frank White will once again be visiting the Marvel universe as Deadpool and Wolverine go toe-to-toe. Drawn up by Salvador Larroca, the special variant cover to the issue is available on Hustl.agency and is limited to just 3,000 copies, with an extra special spotlight virgin variant limited to just 1,000 pieces.
In a press release for the special edition comic, we get a quick explanation behind Biggie’s second appearance in the world of Marvel comic books:
The Notorious B.I.G. returns to Marvel Comics as the undisputed mayoral figure of Brooklyn. On his streets, he plays the diplomatic peacemaker, living out his iconic lyrics, “Spread Love, It’s the Brooklyn Way.” In Biggie’s second variant cover appearance, he comes back to break up the animosity between Deadpool and Wolverine on the very streets he helped build. Although Biggie is not in the story or series, the special variant cover is a limited-edition collectible issue.
If anyone can tame the likes of Wolverine while matching the wits of Deadpool, it’s Biggie.
Check out pics of the variant cover to Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII No. 3 above, and let us know if you’ll be picking up a copy in the comments section.
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Source: Amazon Music / Amazon Music
When Biggie Smalls asked, “What’s Beef?” he posed the question at the height of the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry, which would ultimately result in the death of the Brooklyn MC—as well as Tupac Shakur.
But, does beef always have to end in death? Most Hip-Hop fans would hope not. The very nature of the culture is competitive, and rivalries can be thrilling and entertaining when they stay on wax.
The recent rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has been one of those quarrels that has reenergized the culture and entertained Hip-Hop fans in a way not seen in years.
SlotsUp online casino and Media Lab Insights recently prepared and shared statistics that detail the legacy of rap beef—by breaking the statistics and songs into eras which are marked by a major event.
“These timelines were used to better understand the development of conflicts, success, and the demand for performance in the hip-hop industry,” the report notes. “Their comparison is focused on three main points: the technical aspect (the average tempo of the tracks (which can be calculated by the amount of bars, and the length), the profitability (the amount of platinum albums), and the risks involved (death rate).”
Researchers at SlotsUp commented on the study. “Until our current era, the more beef was around, the more successful the artists were. Our current era is going against this pattern, with the same amount of deaths and diss tracks as the first era, but with more platinum albums. Over the years, Hip-Hop became less technically demanding, especially after 2004. This study shows that conflicts aren’t always profitable, and violence can be avoided.”
The first era was marked by what the researchers called “The Roxanne Wars” in the mid-1980s. Two of the most significant songs were “Roxanne, Roxanne” and “Roxanne’s Revenge.” However, cultural commentators say that there were up to 30 songs related to the beef. The only major death to come out of that era was Scott La Rock—whose murder has not been directly attributed to the beef. The clear winner of this battle was Roxanne Shante, who went on to a lengthy career and is credited as one of the foundational female MC’s.
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The second era was one of the most deadly. Lasting from 1992 to 1997, the beef sparked the true rise of the diss track. The research shows that diss tracks and deaths more than doubled while platinum albums skyrocketed to 35. The era saw 10 deaths, with three being the most prominent—Eazy E, 2Pac, and The Notorious B.I.G. The winner of this era could be seen as the recently disgraced Sean “Diddy” Combs as his Bad Boy imprint saw some of its biggest success following the death of B.I.G. This era also marked Hip-Hop’s biggest foray into the pop genre with an increase in record sales that would last for more than a decade—before the proliferation of streaming.
The third era, lasting from 1998-2004, featured the beef between Jay-Z and Nas. This era was also the most financially successful with more than 50 platinum albums. “Eminem was significant in this era,” as the study shows that the Detroit rapper released nine diss tracks. The winner of this era continues to be debated. However, the culture benefited from the end of the beef with Jay and Nas making several concert appearances together.
Source: Bethany Mollenkof / Getty
The fourth era: 2005-2008, is one largely of peace—kicked off by the end of the beef between Jay-Z and Nas—two New York rap titans. Also worth noting is the average length of rap songs would begin to get shorter with many getting under the 4-minute mark. The fifth era from 2009-2012, was marked by the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. It would be the second era that Eminem would be involved in numerous beefs including with Benzino and Mariah Carey. It was during this era that beef would escalate in southern states with one significant death being that of Slim Dunkin.
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Era number six was from 2013 to 2019. The most significant beef was between Drake and Meek Mill. However, the two would eventually collaborate (again, since they were cool prior to Meek’s Twitter fingers) on “Going Bad.” This era is also marked by continued financial success with more than 40 platinum albums. The murder of Nipsey Hussle would mark the end of this era.
Our current era began with the coronavirus pandemic, which affected the entire world but also highlighted the significance of “beef,” with the good-natured but often tense musical battles as part of the Verzuz series. But without question, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” is thus far the most powerful diss song of the era—but whether or not it’s over is still up for debate, and Drake. Fortunately, K. Dot did his victory lap by bringing gang members together on one stage as a show of unity at the conclusion of his pop out concert on Juneteenth.
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Source: dream hampton / It Was All a Dream
One of the culture’s literary pioneers is sharing her journey with the world. dream hampton has released the trailer to her new documentary, It Was All A Dream.
As exclusively reported by Variety, the esteemed writer is going into her personal archives for her newest endeavor. This week, Hampton released the trailer to her forthcoming film and she makes it clear she was really moving and shaking during Rap’s golden era. In the 90-second clip we see footage of her interacting with the likes of the late great Notorious B.I.G., Method Man, Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, Ice-T, Mobb Deep and more.
In it she narrates each piece of archival footage in relation to the original writing assignment that featured the respective talent. Hampton detailed how the project came about in a formal statement. “Last summer, I was moving my daughter across the country and found two boxes of footage I forgot I had and spent the last few months making this film,” she explained. She would also reveal that Notorious B.I.G.’s son, CJ Wallace, was the first person to see the film and encouraged him to be one of the executive producers. “I named it It Was All a Dream not because of my name or ‘Juicy,’ but because of the golden haze that has cloaked this era.”
dream hampton has written for multiple publications and once served as the Chief Editor at The Source magazine. You can watch the trailer below.
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Source: Rolling Stone / Getty
Music by The Notorious B.I.G. and Slick Rick are among those on this year’s selections list for the National Recording Registry.
On Tuesday (April 16), the National Recording Registry announced its list of inductees for 2024, and music from The Notorious B.I.G. and Slick Rick are included. The registry, which the Library of Congress administers, picked the late rapper’s debut album Ready to Die from 1994 to be among the list of 25 inductees for the year along with the Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh classic 1985 hit “La-Di-Da-Di”.
“The Library of Congress is proud to preserve the sounds of American history and our diverse culture through the National Recording Registry,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in her statement announcing the news. “We have selected audio treasures worthy of preservation with our partners this year, including a wide range of music from the past 100 years, as well as comedy. We were thrilled to receive a record number of public nominations and we welcome the public’s input on what we should preserve next.” This year’s list now brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 650.
The inclusion of Ready to Die speaks to the significance of The Notorious B.I.G.’s impact not only on Hip-Hop but on American music culture overall, with its gritty and powerful lyricism backed by timeless production capturing life in the eyes of the Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn native. “La-Di-Da-Di”, which was first released as a B-side where Slick Rick was billed as MC Ricky D, is one of Hip-Hop’s most influential songs – according to the Library of Congress, it has been referenced in over 1,000 other songs and recordings.
Other songs and albums that were on this year’s list include Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, Bill Withers’ “Aint No Sunshine”, and Blondie’s Parallel Lines album along with Green Day’s Dookie album and ABBA’s Arrival album. The Library of Congress said it had received 2,889 nominations from the general public for this year’s list, which is a record for the institution. Nominations for the 2025 list can be submitted by October 1 through their website.
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Source: Al Pereira / Getty
It seems there is more to learn about 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.’s story. Busta Rhymes reveals that a popular Biggie Smalls verse was actually going at Pac.
As spotted on Vibe, the Rap legend recently paid a visit to the All The Smoke podcast. While the “Touch It” MC discussed a variety of topics, ranging from his storied career to current events, it was a story he told about a studio session with B.I.G. that has since gone viral. Back in the mid-’90s Busta Rhymes was aiming to secure Biggie, Method Man and Nas as features on one song. While the track didn’t come together like how he originally intended, it birthed a very memorable performance by the King of New York.
“So there’s a song in the middle of the Biggie and 2Pac beef and he [Biggie] recorded the verse in my studio session. At the time I thought it would be brilliant to have these three MC’s on a J Dilla beat. I think B.I.G. just got into the car accident with [Lil’] Cease and his leg was messed up and the elevator wasn’t working,” Busta explained. “I got to Soundtracks [on] the third day. Elevators fine,” Busta continues. “Big and [Lil’] Cease come. They pull up. Meth and Nas came two days in a row now. No Biggie. So, they was not coming on the third day.”
The former Leaders of the New School member would go on to detail seeing B.I.G.’s creative process for the first time ever. “One hour, two hours; he just smoking. He ain’t writing nothing. About three hours in I’m like ‘My ni**a you ain’t going to do this verse my ni**a?’ That ni**a said, ‘I’m ready Buss.’”
Busta Rhymes would go on to recite the verse and emphasize the lines directed at 2Pac via his cadence and pitch. “Diamonds on my neck, chrome drop-top / Chillin’ on the scene, smoking pounds of green / Oooh-wee, you see, the ugliest / Money-hungriest, Brooklyn Loch Ness / Nine millimeter cock test, wan fi’ test? / And the winner is, not that thinner kid / Bandanas, tattoos, my fists never bruise / Land still cruise.”
At the time, Bus was good friends with 2Pac thus he told B.I.G. he would not be releasing the song. Years later, the verse would reappear on the posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album Born Again on “Dangerous MC’s.” You can hear the original verse below.
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The memory of the Notorious B.I.G. still looms large in the borough of Brooklyn so whenever a mural pops up paying homage to the OG King of New York, Brooklynites hold the art in high regard.
Unfortunately the owners of a newly open cannabis dispensary in Bushwick, Brooklyn weren’t too aware of what a mural of baby Biggie meant to the neighborhood, so when they were forced to paint over the decorated wall to comply with city regulations, the outcry was loud and swift. According to ABC7, the CEO of Emerald Dispensary, Christina de Giovanni, part of the deal to get a license to sell marijuana in the gentrified neighborhood was to cover up the three-year-old Biggie mural. And while she didn’t want to take such actions, she felt she had to in order to comply with city regulations.
Per ABC7:
“This was not on our radar, and we tried, we did not want to cover this up at all,” said Christina de Giovanni, CEO of Emerald Dispensary. “We love this mural from the minute we moved into this building, and we had artwork done on the front of the building and along the side, we all agreed we’re not touching this big mural. We love this. This stays.”
Initially, it didn’t quite work out that way. The iconic childhood mural of Biggie, that went up three years ago in Bushwick where the Emerald Dispensary is now open for business, was covered up with black removable graffiti before it opened its doors last week.
“We were following the regulations,” Giovanni said. “We had a state inspection a couple weeks ago, and so prior to that, we had been speaking to a compliance officer and we were aware of the regulations in regards to exterior artwork. And so, we covered it up because we thought that we were in compliance. We thought that that is what needed to happen to be in compliance.”
Naturally the neighborhood residents who’ve grown found of the artwork that artist Huetek blessed the neighborhood with years ago took issue with the move. Things got so heated that the owner was allegedly hit with death threats over the decision to black out the Biggie mural. Thankfully no one was actually physically harmed and after hearing the public outcry from the neighborhood residents, the OCM decided the mural could stay as they saw how much it meant to the good people of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
A decision that Emerald Dispensary co-owner, Roman Roman says left him elated.
“I’m just happy that we were able to get this, you know, over with,” he told ABC7.
We’re just happy the memory of Biggie continues to live in the most thorough of boroughs.
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Source: Paul Natkin / Getty / Les McCann
The music world lost a giant before 2023 came to a close with the passing of soulful Jazz great Les McCann.
The Hollywood Reporter shared the sad news that Les McCann passed away at 88 in the Los Angeles area. McCann’s music is no stranger to the Hip-Hop community, as some of his songs were used as samples of the late Notorious B.I.G., legendary producer/rapper Dr. Dre, Mobb Deep, and more.
Per The Hollywood Reporter:
The musician, who released more than 60 albums over the course of his career, had been admitted to a hospital from the nursing care facility he’d lived in for the past four years and was diagnosed with pneumonia, his manager Alan Abrahams told The Hollywood Reporter.
In a prolific career, he was arguably best known for his 1969 Montreaux Jazz Festival performance of the protest song “Compared to What.”
Hip-Hop Songs That Sampled McCann’s Work
For those who don’t fancy the credits for their favorite albums, McCann’s song “Go On and Cry” was sampled in the original version of “The Next Episode,” which was supposed to be featured on Snoop Dogg’s classic album Doggystyle before it landed on Dr. Dre’s 2001.
Biggie’s “Ten Crack Commandments” off his double-disc Life After Death is heavily sampled from McCann’s “Vallarta.”
Mobb Deep went into the McCann duffy when they used his song “Benjamin” to craft their track “Right Back At You” off their a1995 album The Infamous.
Other artists who sampled McCann include stoner hip-hop pioneer Massive Attack, Cypress Hill, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Naughty By Nature.
McCann was born in 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, and was a self-taught pianist before picking up the sousaphone in high school and serving in the U.S. Navy at 17.
In a 2017 interview with the Oxford American, McCann said he wanted to “go to the Navy School of Music,” only to learn they did not have the sousaphone to play.
He would go on to win a talent contest in the Navy that landed him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. After being discharged, he formed a band in Los Angeles, landing his first contract with Pacific Jazz in 1960 after Miles Davis heard him play in a nightclub.
McCann also signed with Atlantic Records after Roberta Flack discovered him.
After suffering a stroke in the 90s while on stage in Germany, he used a wheelchair, but that didn’t keep him from performing.
McCann’s life is the true definition of a life well lived.
May he rest in paradise.
—
Photo: Paul Natkin / Getty
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Source: Moments In Time / Moments In Time
Any kind of memorabilia that was personally signed by the likes of Tupac Shakur or The Notorious B.I.G. is as scarce as they come. So you can bet that when something like that hits the auction block, it’s going to fetch a pretty penny from somebody with deep pockets.
Source: Moments In Time / Moments In Time
According to TMZ, such items have just become available to whoever got a quarter mil to spare as Momentsintime.com have posted the finger print cards that both Tupac and Biggie had to fill out and sign when they were taken into police custody back in the day. With the asking price at a staggering $225,000 per card, you can bet that whoever ends up purchasing either one of these joints (or both) probably has money to burn.
Our money’s on Jay-Z buying Big’s finger print card while Jada Pinkett Smith will end up copping Tupac’s joint and displaying it somewhere that Will Smith has to walk past every single day. Just sayin’.
TMZ reports:
Check it out … Tupac’s fingerprint docs — which list him under his real name, Lesane Parish Crooks — stem from his 1995 arrest … for which he served 9 months of his 1.5-year sentence after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a female fan named Ayanna Jackson.
Meanwhile, Biggie also makes history with his arrest fingerprint docs … the first-ever piece you can snag of him signing off by his real name, Christopher Wallace.
With the ’95 arrest season in full swing, Biggie was also booked then for a robbery and aggravated assault charge in Pennsylvania … but the robbery charges were later dismissed.
You have to wonder how someone was able to get access to these joints. Either way, someone’s about to get paid big time.
Who do you think might end up dropping a half a million on these joints? Would you cop if you had it like that? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Roger Kisby / Getty
One of the most important influences on The Notorious B.I.G. has transitioned. Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Chico Del Vec has passed away.
As spotted on HipHppDX the Brooklyn, New York native is no longer with us. On Monday, August 14 Rap legend Special Ed shared the unfortunate news with on his official X account, formerly Twitter. “Just got a call. Rest In Peace Chico Del Vec. Junior Mafia.” AllHipHop.com followed up with the “I Got It Made” rapper he added that he was not privy to the cause of death only commenting that “I don’t have much details other than they found him in his room.”
Naturally the bad news quickly spread over the internet prompting his friends and peers to declare their condolences. Lil Cease in particular shared a touching post with footage of the group performing. “Rest In Peace To Our OG Of Junior Mafia , Official Day 1 Member Of The Group, Legend Of Fulton & St James.. The One That Got B.I.G. Off The Stoop & On Fulton St.. My Brother Chic Delvec @chicodelvec9371 I Love You & Ima Miss You Big Time Bro..” he wrote.
Produce Easy Mo Bee who produced several of Bad Boy Entertainment’s biggest singles (“Flava In Ya Ear”, “Warning”) also wrote a heartfelt post in tribute of Chico Del Vec. “Let me say something. This life can be so short. So cherish the good ones while they’re still here because any day could be their last” he wrote. “Always be good to yourself and appreciate the small things. The vanities and all the money in the world won’t keep you happy. It is the love of God, family and kindred spirits like Chico that will put a smile on your face and make this life worth living.”
Rest in power Chico Del Vec.
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