Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘G.O.A.T.’ With Ty Dolla Sign Puts An Afrobeats Spin On One Of His Classic Tracks

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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 Would’ve Turned 50 on May 21, New York City Celebrates

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His Love For Jazz Music, Dreams of Entrepreneurship and 9 Other Things I Learned From Watching Netflix's 'Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell'

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.

READ MORE: Fat Joe Recounts Uniting Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Biggie for “Notorious Thugs” Collaboration

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.

For more information on the tribute, visit the Lincoln Center’s website.

The post Biggie Would’ve Turned 50 on May 21, New York City Celebrates appeared first on The Source.

Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th Birthday To Be Celebrated Across NYC

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The Notorious B.I.G.

The upcoming weekend kicks off big plans to honor the 50th posthumous birthday of The Notorious B.I.G.  The celebration will continue across NYC, where the late rapper became a hometown hero, over the next two months. The Notorious B.I.G. Celebration The Notorious B.I.G. will be crowned the King of New York this weekend when his […]

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Empire State Building To Hold Lighting Ceremony In Honor Of Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th Birthday

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This Friday evening at 4 p.m., the Empire State Building (ESB) will host a lighting ceremony to honor the 50th birthday of the Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie), in partnership with Bad Boy / Atlantic / Rhino Records and the Christopher Wallace Estate. 

The Empire State Building Observatory Experience will feature a life-size photorealistic avatar of Biggie for guest viewing and photographs on Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, on Friday and Saturday, fans can purchase exclusive Biggie x ESB hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts, sold only at the Observatory. Biggie’s 11x platinum album Life After Death will be available to purchase on cassette, along with the preorder for the 8-LP Deluxe. 

Fifteen minutes after sunset on Saturday, May 21 – what would have been Biggie’s 50th birthday – the Empire State Building will light up in dynamic red and white with a rotating crown and the number “50” in the mast.  

The post Empire State Building To Hold Lighting Ceremony In Honor Of Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th Birthday appeared first on The Source.

LeBron James Names His Top 5 Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time And Doesn’t Really Go Out On A Limb

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In case you didn’t know, LeBron James is a huge fan of hip-hop and he wants you to know it. Perhaps you watched LeBron showing off his dance moves while blasting the new Kendrick Lamar album in his backyard this past weekend? It was hypnotic, in a real dad sort of way. To his credit, he’s leveraged his relationships in hip-hop for good causes, like when Drake recently donated $1 million to LeBron’s I Promise School. But did a Drake album happen to make it’s way into the King’s top 5 hip-hop albums of all-time?

Yesterday, seemingly on a whim, LeBron decided to host an informal Q&A session on Twitter. “Q&A folks???,” he tweeted before adding, “Aight fire off.” He was pretty candid in his responses, saying that his favorite Lakers moment of all-time was Anthony Davis’ buzzer beater against Denver in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, saying that Luka Doncic is his favorite player, and clapping back at Tom Brady’s question about who would win in an ice hockey shootout.

Then, journalist Sierra Potter asked him to reel off his “Top 5 hip-hop albums.” LeBron, who has typically been a safe interviewee throughout his career, kinda kept with that tradition and didn’t really light the world on fire with his choices, instead, reeling off a handful of undisputed classics: Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, Jay-Z’s The Black Album, Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death, and Nas’ It Was Written.

Perhaps the only gripe people could make is that Illmatic is the better choice of Nas albums instead of It Was Written, but we can hardly fault the man’s personal taste here. So if you were hoping to see LeBron namecheck an obscure rapper’s joint as one of his go-to’s, well, then you’ve come to the wrong basketball star for that. He did however, end his reply with, “But I have so many more to name for real!” So if he made anybody mad with his answers, he left the door open to save some face. Classic Lebron.

Lil Wayne Shares His Top Five Rappers, Including Biggie, Jay-Z, And Some Surprise Picks

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We love when rappers share their picks for the top five rappers. It gives us insights into their influences and creative processes. It often vindicates some of our most deeply held beliefs about the culture and genre. It puts newer or younger fans (sometimes older) onto a broader range of artists to check out. And, of course, it gives us an endless well of fuel for our most cherished Twitter debate, ensuring that we’ll have enough fat to chew on until the sun burns out.

The latest rapper to contribute to the long-running tradition is Lil Wayne, whose list is quite a doozy, containing both the expected picks and some left-field surprises that actually make sense when you consider his own unique approach to the art of rap. Wayne gave his answer in a special edition of What’s Wright? With Nick Wright, a podcast version of the Fox Sports personality’s popular show.

Almost as well known for his affinity for hip-hop as Wayne is for his sports referencing raps, Wright offers his own list (a pretty humdrum collection including the usual picks: Jay-Z, Tupac, Wayne himself, Kanye West, and T.I.), which Wayne says he respects. Then Wayne starts off his own list with a pick that far too few people include for my taste, Missy Elliott. Vindication!

Missy is a pick that makes perfect sense for Wayne — a quirky writer and performer who outright avoids convention and whose influence resonates throughout the industry, even if she rarely gets credit for it. Good one on Wayne for including her. Of course, Jay-Z enters his list (he’s repeatedly said that the Brooklyn rapper is his favorite MC ever). He also credits Biggie and Gucci Mane — another interesting pick, although not wholly unexpected from a Southerner like Wayne. Guwop’s influence throughout the bottom half of the States is undeniable and inextricable. His last pick is pretty mind-blowing though.

He cheats a little by picking a group, but rather than a well-worn, oft-tapped collective like Wu-Tang Clan, Wayne once again shows his Southern roots by choosing Atlanta mainstays Goodie Mob, a four-man band that includes Big Gipp, CeeLo Green, Khujo, and T-Mo. Their debut album, Soul Food,
is considered a classic and as part of the Dungeon Family, they worked extensively with Outkast and Organized Noise, two of the most pivotal groups in Southern rap.

Not a bad list, all things considered. And like I said before, pretty telling when you compare Wayne’s influences to his output. It’s easy to see why he goes against the grain so much and the results so often turn out so well.

Check out Lil Wayne’s full interview with Nick Wright above.

Today In Hip Hop History: The Notorious B.I.G.’s Posthumous ‘Life After Death’ LP Turns 25 Years Old!

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A quarter century ago today in Hip-Hop history, Notorious B.I.G. released his second album, Life After Death. The double LP was released posthumously by Bad Boy Records. Biggie, who was killed two weeks prior to its release, was nominated for three Grammy’s for this project: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for “Hypnotize” and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

Featuring artists like 112, Jay-Z, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Too $hort and R. Kelly, along with tracks like “Kick In The Door,” “What’s Beef,” “Notorious Thugs,” “Ten Crack Commandments” and “Sky’s The Limit,” it can be said that Life After Death is one of the greatest rap albums of all time. The album hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and the US Top R&B/Hip Hop chart. It went diamond (that’s 10,000,000 copies sold) in the United States alone, double platinum in Canada, and platinum in the UK. Life After Death has also made appearances on top music charts across the globe. The album has been ranked by countless publications as one of the top rap and Hip-Hop albums of all time (The Source ranked it as #8 in 2005).

Salute to Diddy and the rest of the Bad Bot family for this timeless piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: The Notorious B.I.G.’s Posthumous ‘Life After Death’ LP Turns 25 Years Old! appeared first on The Source.

Fat Joe Recounts Uniting BTNH And Biggie For “Notorious Thugs” Collaboration

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In a classic #ThrowbackThursday post on IG, BX legend Fat Joe posted a reflection of himself, Diddy, Lil Kim, Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs N Harmony shortly before the timeless studio session between the King of New York and the Cleveland quartet.

Posted on the 25th anniversary of Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace’s untimely death, Joe captioned the flick, “Fun fact i got a call from BIG and he said joe i need your boys BONE on a song,” adding, “I said say no more BONE N BIGGIE BONE N BIGGIE. I love you BIG we will never forget you 25 years later we will never forget THE KING OF NY.”

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Produced by then Bad Boy Hitman and now reality star, Stevie J, the song “Notorious Thugs” on the Life After Death album had a hidden gem. In it, Biggie maintained that his beef with “You Know Who” was really not what everyone pumped it up to be. Which was cool because at the time Bone was known to be close to ‘Pac (who the statement was made about) and had performed on a song earlier.

The post Fat Joe Recounts Uniting BTNH And Biggie For “Notorious Thugs” Collaboration appeared first on The Source.

Biggie’s Estate Is Launching A Notorious B.I.G. NFT Collection Backed By Quincy Jones

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Bob Dylan wasn’t kidding: the times, indeed, they are a-changin’. Today, on the 25th anniversary of the death the Notorious B.I.G., The Estate Of Christopher Wallace has announced that they will be launching a series of collectible NFTs. The series is being released in partnership with the NFT platform OneOf, which is backed by Quincy Jones. You can go ahead and file this as the most 2022 way to remember Biggie on the 25th year after his death.

“Using NFT technology, Biggie’s legacy and his outsized impact on music and culture will be forever cemented on blockchain, to be honored and shared with fans around the world and for generations to come,” OneOf COO Josh James said.

This is either a welcome statement or an appalling one, based on where you stand on the recent proliferation of NFTs. Details of what specifically these NFTs will look like weren’t immediately available, but there doesn’t seem to be a lack of ways to remember Biggie’s legacy to begin with. A Ready To Die 25th anniversary box set was recently announced, and even the apartment where he recorded the album went up for sale last year. Not to mention well… the music itself, which will undoubtedly live on forever.

Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace, voiced her excitement for the drop. In a statement, she said, “We are excited about our partnership with OneOf and their expertise to memorialize my son Christopher with this first official NFT drop to give his fans an opportunity to participate in and honor their love of him and his music.” For what it’s worth 2Pac’s “Immortal Collection” of NFT Jewelry was released last year. So maybe the two rappers can continue their beef on the blockchain as well?

Today In Hip Hop History: The Killing Of Notorious B.I.G In Los Angeles 25 Years Later

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On this day in 1997, Brooklyn native and Hip Hop legend Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in LA. 25 years ago

Wallace left Puff Daddy’s Vibe Magazine party in a GMC Suburban SUV that stopped at a red light at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax. While stopped a Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up beside him and his entourage. According to witnesses, a black male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie rolled down his window and shot Biggie four times and he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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After years of investigations and conspiracy theories as to who killed Biggie and why, no one has been brought to justice to answer for Wallace’s death. Former LAPD Detective Russell Poole fought vigorously, even sometimes against his own peers, to get to the bottom of his untimely death. Poole died from a heart attack on August 19, 2015 while discussing the Tupac Shakur and Wallace cases at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The legacy B.I.G. left behind is embedded in Hip Hop culture officially two decades later and will continue to influence the community as his family and friends share his story.

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