Biggie’s golden anniversary is this upcoming Saturday. The Notorious B.I.G., who would have turned 50-years-old on May 21, is receiving a number of tributes in New York City.
On Friday, there will be a ceremony in partnership with Bad Boy/Atlantic and Rhino Records at the Empire State Building with family members, friends and collaborators of the legendary rapper, Christopher Wallace.
While Brooklyn’s Barclays Center will feature a video montage of him on the mega oculus display above the venue’s entrance.
New York City is going B.I.G. for Biggies 50th birthday.
On Saturday, the landmark skyscraper will be changing its lights to red and white, with a crown spinning on its mast.
In addition, the MTA is releasing a special MetroCard edition featuring the Brooklyn-born Hip-Hop icon and there will be a free orchestral tribute at the Lincoln Center on June 10.
The Notorious B.I.G. estate dropped a major metaverse announcement on Christopher Wallace’s (Biggie’s) would-be 50th birthday on Saturday, May 21.
Biggie fans can enjoy The Notorious B.I.G. on Web3 via a hyperrealistic model of his likeness in a new metaverse activation called “The Brook.” Fans can register to be the first alerted to when they can enter this unique world.
The teaser of the Brook below features the voice of Mark Pitts, who managed Biggie in life and worked with the teams at Surreal, Zoan and Willingie to give an authentic voice to the creative direction of the metaverse.
“Being born and raised in Brooklyn, I wanted it to feel as close to the Brooklyn that helped raise me. The hyperrealism is authentic to that experience. As we expand, we will use that same authenticity in other cities,” said Pitts.
“Technology continues to create opportunities that are beyond one’s imagination and I’m excited that we are stepping into the future with a beautiful rendition of a hyperrealistic avatar of my son Christopher and I’m thankful for our wonderful team of creative partners for their work to deliver Biggie into new media for his fans to enjoy,” said Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace.
The late great cultural icon was born Christopher Wallace in Brooklyn, New York. The Brook, by definition, is a small stream or river that flows into other rivers that eventually flows into the ocean. The Brook is also a reference to the four-time Grammy nominee’s hometown and will be realized as a metaverse activation of hip-hop culture, lifestyle, music, entertainment, sports and fashion.
Happy 50th Birthday B.I.G.!! The Biggie Avatar is coming to “The Brook”, a Hyperrealistic Metaverse experience that looks like a metaverse should… “REAL” Learn more about the Brook. Link in bio. @brookversepic.twitter.com/XoUH4nnjkI
According to the release, the platform will encompass an immersive digital space, giving users the opportunity to experience and explore virtual worlds, buy tickets to and attend virtual concerts, purchase virtual and physical merchandise, buy virtual real estate, and buy, sell and trade NFTs. The platform will launch with The Notorious B.I.G. and then spread to other activations and talent.
The project, developed in partnership with ZOAN, Surreal Events, and Hyperreal, is tied to his hometown in Brooklyn, to deliver Biggie into a new media for his fans and give provide a new platform to experience the culture of Hip-Hop.
Watch the trailer below. Share your thoughts with us on social media.
This Saturday, May 20, will mark what would’ve been The Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th birthday. As expected there are big plans to honor the late rapper, and it continues what’s been a celebratory year in honor of Biggie. This year also marked the 25th anniversary of Biggie’s Life After Death, and back in February, his estate released an anniversary box set for the album complete with eight LPs for fans to indulge in. Now, in celebration of his upcoming 50th birthday, Biggie’s estate delivers the late rapper’s first song in 17 years with “G.O.A.T.” and it’s quite the unique song, at least for what you would expect from Biggie.
Thanks to some help from Ty Dolla Sign and Nigerian singer Bella Alubo, Biggie arrives with “G.O.A.T.” which features an unexpected dose of afrobeats within the record. Biggie delivers verses at the beginning and at the end of the song while Ty Dolla Sign takes care of the middle verse. Elsewhere, Alubo takes care of the song’s hook. The track also samples “I Love The Dough,” which is a fan favorite from Biggie’s Life After Death album.
“Being on a song with Biggie has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Ty said about the new song. “The song title is fitting of him…the GOAT. Happy Birthday, Big. We miss you!” Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, also spoke about the new song. “It’s wonderful to witness my son’s music reimagined for his fans and today’s generation of young men and women to embrace his art,” she said. “I appreciate the hard work of all involved in bringing together the perfect blend of voices and music to this song, G.O.A.T.”
You can check out the new record in the video above.
Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Biggie’s golden anniversary is this upcoming Saturday. The Notorious B.I.G., who would have turned 50-years-old on May 21, is receiving a number of tributes in New York City.
On Friday, there will be a ceremony in partnership with Bad Boy/Atlantic and Rhino Records at the Empire State Building with family members, friends and collaborators of the legendary rapper, Christopher Wallace.
While Brooklyn’s Barclays Center will feature a video montage of him on the mega oculus display above the venue’s entrance.
New York City is going B.I.G. for Biggies 50th birthday.
On Saturday, the landmark skyscraper will be changing its lights to red and white, with a crown spinning on its mast.
In addition, the MTA is releasing a special MetroCard edition featuring the Brooklyn-born Hip-Hop icon and there will be a free orchestral tribute at the Lincoln Center on June 10.
Wack 100 recently gave another one of his hot takes, this time not in a Clubhouse chat.
The west coast based music manager appeared during The Game’s Drink Champs interview with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN where he claimed that Tupac died a legend while Biggie has become a legend as years have passed.
“Tupac died a legend, Biggie didn’t,” Wack argued. “His body of work—movies, double CDS, albums that went quadruple… He was dead before his first album came out—” Wack was then corrected, about Biggie passing before the release of his first album. It was actually his second album Life After Death. “Second album. He became [a legend]. Over the years, motherf*ckas remake the songs, he became that.”
Wack then doubled down on a stance he has stood by since Nipsey Hussle’s passing, claiming that Nip cannot be considered a legend musically because he only had one album and multiple mixtapes.
This led N.O.R.E. to ask Wack to define what a legend is. “We’re talking music…” Wack replied.
The Game then chimed in, posing a question that related back to their conversation.
“Do we know how long Jesus was giving n*ggas the gospel before Judas ran him into the Romans and they killed him? Was it long?” the rapper asked. “Was Jesus on his first album or second album?”
Last fall marked the 25th anniversary of Tupac’s death. Meanwhile, next month will mark the 25th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death. Since their deaths, hip-hop has experienced the loss of other major rappers. Some examples include Nipsey Hussle and Young Dolph, who were shot and killed in 2019 and 2021, respectively.During a recent interview with HotNewHipHop, Rick Ross spoke about how impactful their deaths were to this generation.
“Losing Nipsey and Dolph for this generation, I’m sure, was just as equivalent or greater to what [Notorious] B.I.G. or ‘Pac was for my generation,” he said. Nipsey was shot and killed outside of his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles back in 2019 and Young Dolph was murdered inside of Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis last fall. Rick Ross collaborated with Nipsey and Dolph throughout their careers and he even tried to sign Nipsey to his label, Maybach Music Group, at one point.
Rick Ross’ comments come after dropped a video for “Little Havana” with The-Dream — a track from his recently-released eleventh album RIcher Than I Ever Been.
You can read Ross’ interview on HotNewHipHop here.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s second and final album, Life After Death, is turning 25. To commemorate the LP, Biggie’s estate announced Wednesday that they plan to release a limited edition 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set of the project.
According to reports, the box set will include eight vinyl LPs, a special commemorative booklet with rare photos from the Life After Death cover shoot, liner notes from from music writer and editor Sheldon Pearce, as and contributions from multiple people who were involved with Life After Death’s initial 1997 release.
Life After Death, which turns 25 on March 25th, boasts tracks like “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” “Hypnotize,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” and “Kick In The Door.”
The super deluxe box set drops on June 10th and retails for $179.98.
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