Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was one of the most talented, influential rappers of all time, with pristine abilities on the mic, a glowing sense of humor, and a fly sense of fashion. And since his life was cut so short after his murder in 1997 at 24 years old, there have been multiple films, books, and posthumous records, all focused on attempting to either preserve his musical legacy or to make sense of his senseless death. I Got A Story To Tell, released this month on Netflix, does neither of those things. Instead, it tells an origin story as Big’s lifelong friend Damion “D-Roc” Butler for the first time reveals reams of personal footage shot in hotel rooms and backstage at shows, showing a vulnerable side of the rap legend rarely witnessed outside of his inner circle. Director Emmett Malloy dives deep into the people and places that created Christopher Wallace: from his visits to his mother’s family in Jamaica, to the lesser known loved ones in the several-block radius that formed his Brooklyn stomping grounds. Along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, Butler, and Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace, the film includes his Jamaican uncle and grandmother, jazz musician and neighbor Donald Harrison, and other childhood friends. And instead of dwelling on the (still infuriating) murder, the film focuses on just how fragile his success was in the first place: on how many times he could have lost his chance at stardom altogether, and how he overcame it. “His story doesn't have to be a tragic ending,” says Puffy in the film. - GQ. You can watch the trailer for the documentary below...
Today marks 24 years since the death of The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie has now been dead for as long as he was alive, yet he left behind a musical legacy as one of the greatest MCs of all-time! In the archives are numerous tribute mixes, albums, reviews, interviews, promotional items, press kits and a ton more from The Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records... I highly recommend clicking through and remembering our fallen legend. Me... I remember the day he passed. I was a freshman at Hofstra University at the time. I was hanging out in my room when I got the call... I ran to a friend's room on the floor, knocked oncce and busted through, interrupting him with the news. He was as big a fan as I was, and it rocked us! I was traveling back and forth to Queens on the weekends, and I remember getting an advanced copy of Life After Death from Numbers Records in Ridgewood ... it was everything! It's hard to imagine that with such a limited catalog, you can still look to Life After Death and see the many styles and looks he gave us at his raw talent on that 2LP. It's all there, whether you love it or not. It also makes me smile thinking back that my first copies of Ready To Die on cassette and CD (before I got the vinyl) were both stolen... one from an uneven trade that I'd never returned and the other from a house party. I had to have that album by any means necessary! The music has stayed with me, as have the memories, which inspired the art below... R.I.P.
