Death Of Biggie
Ordained with a flow as soulful to black, post-Reaganomics America as trumpet during the days of the civil rights movement, the street narratives of Brooklyn’s own Christopher Wallace — deified in music history as The Notorious B.I.G. And as Biggie Smalls — helped make him a definitive voice of a generation. Then, in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles, in early morning hours of March 9, 1997, a paranoia he fought desperately to escape became his reality. Wallace’s still-unsolved murder remains an open wound. Here we catch up with a few of the —, and — as well as L.A.’s own and (and ) to discuss what it was like living and playing in Los Angeles at the time of Biggie Smalls’ murder.
Some were even supposed to be with B.I.G. The night he was hit by four bullets in a drive-by shooting. Lucille O’Neal always knew where her child was.
Until the morning hours of March 9, 1997. Her eldest son, was one of the most recognizable faces in America. A jovial, 7-foot, gold medal winner, and the new face of the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq’s presence and crossover appeal was second only to Michael Jordan’s.
1-16 of 46 results for 'life after death biggie' Amazon Music Unlimited. Listen to any song, anywhere. Learn More about Amazon Music Unlimited. Life After Death (Remastered Edition) [Amended] [Clean] Aug 25, 2014. By The Notorious B.I.G. Listen with Unlimited. The 9 March marks the 21st anniversary of the death of Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls, the standard bearer for.
But he was still his mother’s son. And now Biggie was dead, and Shaq had told Lucille he was attending a party with Biggie that night at a Soul Train Music Awards after-party. It was to take place at the, sponsored by VIBE magazine.
Editor's Picks. ‘. From her home in Orlando, Florida, Lucille picked up her phone. Shaq answered groggily.
Shaq had been beyond ready to party with Biggie. The museum wasn’t too far from a Wilshire Boulevard penthouse he was staying in at the time. Shaq’s long white coat and white top hat had already been picked out.
But a nap beforehand couldn’t hurt. A second nap couldn’t either. He ended up sleeping through the night, and missing everything. “It was a relief knowing where he was,” said Lucille. “But sad at the same time.” Days before, Shaq had run into Biggie outside a tattoo parlor on Sunset Boulevard.
Be careful,” he told Biggie. Shaq, speaking via phone, says the light warning was a reference to the rapper’s presence in Los Angeles only six months after the murder of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. Biggie was in California to promote his insanely anticipated sophomore album,.
And, two, to demonstrate that no matter how many records and magazines it sold, the perceived was overblown. In his last interviews — with and with — Biggie is attempting to move past what was then an unavoidable cloud over hip-hop. Fifteen days before his death, Snoop Dogg of the West and Bad Boy founder and CEO Sean “Puffy” Combs of the East, guest-starred as themselves on popular sitcom The Steve Harvey Show. In an effort to ease tensions, they shook hands and agreed to work together.
If Biggie was concerned about his safety in Los Angeles, he didn’t let on. Dilwale movie songs download pagalworld. “Yeah, yeah,” Biggie said. But come to my party.” The bond between the two men extended beyond their own respective levels of notoriety.
I’m slamming n—–s / Like Shaquille, B.I.G. Rapped on 1994’s “,” a cut featured on his debut, Ready To Die.
“They was like, ‘Wooo, B.I.G. Shouted out your name!’ ” Shaq said, recalling his Magic teammates, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson as they celebrated the nod. “It just showed me that a lot of people appreciated what I was doing — just like I appreciated what he was doing.” Biggie’s passing took an emotional toll on Lucille, too. She met Biggie and when her son flew both to his Orlando home in ’96 to record “.” The record came to be synonymous with the extended dominance of Biggie in rap and Shaq in hooping. Lucille said she didn’t know much about rap until her son became involved. “Biggie was so sweet and gentle.
This was the impression that I got,” she said. “And very respectful. I looked at him like he could have been one of my children. I had great tenderness for him.”.
“It was like the streets kinda died all the wind had been let out of L.A.” — Baron Davis As for Shaq — whose March 6 birthdate is forever embedded in his mind with Biggie’s murder just three days later — he still can’t shake what might have been. Just a year earlier he and Biggie recorded together, laughed, joked and talked about business ventures in and out of their day jobs. Shaq said he took Biggie out on his. Biggie wasn’t a great swimmer, so when he fell off the jet ski, Shaq fondly remembers having to help find the notorious one find his bearings. A portrait of Shaquille O’Neal #34 of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.
Jamie Squire /Allsport “I don’t say I could’ve prevented it,” said Shaq. “I was just saying if I was out there by the car, would they still have fired?
That’s the only thing I would say to myself.” Shaq’s been pondering this, has been haunted by that night for 20 years. “I don’t wanna make it seem like I could’ve saved him,” he said again.
“I don’t wanna make it seem like if I was there, the shooters wouldn’t have shot. If I was there by the truck, after we all left and I’m dapping him up, would they still have shot?”. Stay undefeated with our culture newsletter Subscribe Ginuwine, DJ Klark Kent, comedian Chris Tucker, Missy Elliott, Irv Gotti, Aaliyah and more of March 9. In the final hours of his life, Biggie Smalls was surrounded by love. Love that should have propelled him to the next chapter of a still infant career. Biggie had survived a war that six months earlier had taken the life of his former friend. A death Biggie.
But even before that, B.I.G. Believed death was always around the corner. “I’m scared to death,” in 1994, sitting on the third-floor steps of his mother’s apartment in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. “Scared of getting my brains blown out.” Now, he spoke of the future. And the recent birth of his son with ex-wife and R&B singer — C.J., who played his father’s younger self in the 2009 biopic — inspired him. The success pouring into his life inspired him as well.
His lyrics were even sharpening, evident on posthumous appearances aside from his solo work on Puff Daddy’s “,” “ ” and “ ” proved. As the party ended (shut down by the ), Biggie’s life lay in front of him. Minutes later, that life ended in the passenger seat of a GMC Suburban at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire boulevards. Were an asthma inhaler, a bag of weed, and three Magnum condoms. He was two months shy of his 25th birthday.
Where were you when the news broke? Marcellus Wiley, right, is congratulated by unidentified man as he gathered with relatives in Los Angeles after he was drafted into the NFL by the Buffalo Bills during the second round Saturday, April 19, 1997.
The 280-pound defensive end was the 52nd draft choice. AP Photo/John Hayes (Compton, California, native; All-American at Columbia University; 52nd overall pick in 1997 NFL draft): I had so much going on in terms of how my life was transitioning and about to change. I wasn’t into the party scene I remember it being in the middle of the night. I don’t sleep much. It’s weird because in L.A.
When you see the local news it’s always murder-murder-fire-murder-murder-earthquake-murder-murder-bank robbery-weather-sports. This was before social media and cellphones — I ain’t have one. And they were like, ‘Biggie Smalls died.’ (current Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach; starting point guard for Lakers in 1997): We had a game that night I decided to stay in. It’s crazy because I was a big Biggie fan and my boy, my college teammate — who was my teammate with the Lakers — Corie Blount, was a Tupac fan.
That night it happened, they came to my house, it had to be like 3 something in the morning. They were like, ‘Man, they got ya boy. They got ya boy.’ I’m like, ‘Who?’ They were like, ‘Man, they shot Biggie.’. “I don’t wanna make it seem like I could’ve saved him. I don’t wanna make it seem like if I was there, the shooters wouldn’t have shot.
If I was there by the truck, after we all left and I’m dapping him up, would they still have shot?” — Shaquille O’Neal (backup center/power forward for Lakers in 1997): We got there early. I left the Soul Train/ VIBE party before all that even went down. Usually, I don’t mind being in the thick of it, but it was a little wild that night. Me and my homeboys was on some wild stuff ourselves. But later on I heard what had happened. (Los Angeles native; high school senior at in 1997): I was heartbroken because Biggie was one of my favorite rappers.
It was a volatile time in L.A. I remember seeing a lot of the pro dudes the next day or two and them crying about it. They was like, ‘We was right there, man.’ For me, just being in school and around, you hear rumblings in the streets. The streets talk. The had stained the city.
Not to mention the 1992 L.A. L.A.-based Death Row Records, the label Tupac was signed to at the time of his murder, was also imploding. A week before Biggie’s murder, Death Row CEO Marion “Suge” Knight was for violating probation stemming from his role in Sept. 7 — the night Tupac was killed — at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Tensions were high. What was the mood in Los Angeles in the weeks following Biggie’s murder?
O’Neal: You’d go to clubs and people weren’t really in there. It took me awhile to get to the clubs because I was saying to myself, ‘M—–f—–s is coming back.’ Somebody coming back to do something. I’d pick and choose where I went. It was definitely a somber mood, a bitter mood. Van Exel: It was quiet.
When you lose somebody like that, everybody feels like they know that person. The whole city of L.A., you could feel that vibe.
It was just crazy because you lost ‘Pac. Everything felt like it just stood still for a minute. Then you come right back and lose Biggie. Two of the biggest ever.
You’re in that city. It was an eerie feeling. Guard Nick Van Exel of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during a game against the Washington Bullets at the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland. Doug Pensinger/Allsport Blount: It was all based on who you asked.
Some people really felt like that was supposed to happen. Like, ‘Man, this L.A. You don’t come out here gettin’ off like that.’ Some people who had a passion for the artistry were upset that it happened. After it all went down, you realized that we lost two of the best artists of our time. And for it to happen in L.A., it just wasn’t a good representation of the city. Davis: It was like the streets kinda died.
It was like all the wind had been let out of L.A. The whole city was depressed.
A lot of people felt the same way I did. How could we be responsible? No one knew what was to expect. Who was next? Had hip-hop finally reached its breaking point?
Would the genre — a cultural spark plug capable of making Capitol Hill — die, marred by murder and the agony of unfulfilled potential? What were the conversations like with teammates and friends afterward? Wiley: It took me back to the ignorance of having friends who were on Pop Warner teams together and then all of a sudden one’s a Crip and one’s a Blood. Then the next thing you know one’s gone.
It took me back to. Just the L.A.
In me was like this a damn shame, man. Van Exel: I met Biggie two times in Atlanta. You had that sense of like, ‘Man, this was really one of the homeboys ‘ just because of the music and how inspirational he was and how uplifting he was for us. You could definitely feel it, the sense of change in a lot of people. Blount: We was shook, man. It was almost on the same level as when ‘Pac died.
At that time, man, Biggie’s records were hot! He had the love. For it to happen in L.A., it was almost kinda like a slap in the face. We were really trying to get past the situation with ‘Pac.
And Biggie didn’t really try to put up any kinda representation that he was coming back at ‘Pac or nothing like that. “I really think that he just came here to say, ‘Look, man. Enough of the madness. I’m chillin’. I’m out here. I ain’t flossing. I ain’t doing too much.
I’m just partying. I’m hanging.’ But, you know, the ignorance found him. The evil found him.” — Marcellus Wiley Crossroads High Senior Baron Davis slams during a game against Inglewood High at Pauley Pavillion, Monday, January 20, 1997. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Davis: Why was he even here?
Obviously, he had to do what he had to do. But, for me, when I heard about him dying in L.A., I was double heartbroken.
I was mad at L.A. Wiley: I really think that Biggie just came here to say, ‘Look, man.
Enough of the madness. I’m chillin’. I’m out here.
I ain’t flossing. I ain’t doing too much. I’m just partying. I’m hanging.’ But, you know, the ignorance found him. The evil found him.
Davis: I just remember people like, ‘Aight man, they’re about to come for us.’ We killed their everything, you know what I mean? Twenty years later. March 9 rolls around, unavoidable. It’s a chance to pay homage to a man who became a key fixture in these athletes’ pregame routines, and narrated stories of their lives. The love and admiration remain. But so does the hurt.
What goes through your mind when you hear “the 20th anniversary of Biggie’s death”? Davis: I only got f—–g two albums, you know what I mean? I’m still waiting for a m—–f—– to release a Biggie song that I ain’t heard yet. I just felt like he was my homeboy. Wiley: I just heard, the new Rock movie. It sounded so clean, so crispy like it came out last night! I was sitting there like it’s a damn shame that dude couldn’t make more than just two albums.
It’s a damn shame that all that talent got cut short. Van Exel: It’s still sad, man. I stay listening to Biggie. Every time March 9 comes around it’s fresh. You start remembering and thinking about how things used to be back in the day — the music, the videos. It’s always a fresh wound that opens back up when this day comes around.
O’Neal: One of the greatest MCs of all time. One of the greatest storytellers of all time. He personifies what a lot of young males go through, especially big guys. For us, you either gonna be in sports or you gonna be a rapper.
We really shouldn’t look at it like that. Like me, I wasn’t the type that was gonna get an academic scholarship. It was either I gotta be a basketball player, or join the army. A lot of brothers think like that. He was on his way. He was doing his thing. It was just real sad that he died tragically the way he did.
(L-R) Nick Van Exel #9 and Corie Blount #43 of the Los Angeles Lakers look on during game three of the Western Conference Finals against the Utah Jazz at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Getty Images Blount: I was involved with these cats called. This was a little film company that had followed Biggie and Puffy around and videotaped them whenever they’d come to L.A. We went to New York, interviewed Ms. Wallace, Jay Z, Lil Cease I was able to get around his people and see the love he had It was sad, man. What’s 🔥 Right Now Davis: I’ll never forget me and Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, we were playing against the Dallas Mavericks in 2007 and I think we was up 3-2 going back to Golden State for. I called Stephen and Matt.
I said, “Aye, man. We got Game 6. Tupac and Biggie with us.” Them fools just fell out laughing! Biggie and ‘Pac, even still to this day, their music and my love and adoration for them is still holding me up. Lucille O’Neal: Nobody hurts more than his mother. I don’t care what we say.
Nobody hurts more than her. Wiley: They always wanna portray the streets. It’s gonna lure the kids into that lifestyle. I raise my hand high and proud and say because of that type of music and because of these artists, they made certain that I wasn’t gonna do it.
People always wanna kill these type of artists.
Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were murdered six months apart in similar drive-by shootings YouTube The unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls are undoubtedly two of the biggest mysteries in Hip Hop and pop culture. The vicious rivalry between the East and West Coast rappers came to an end with the drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur in 1996 and the shooting of the Notorious BIG aka Biggie Smalls, who died in similar circumstances in 1997.
With no strong leads or suspects over the last two decades, fans and conspiracy theorists have run wild with their own suspicions on in rap history. Hip Hop mogul, Biggie's best friend and Bad Boy Records label boss P Diddy has found himself to be at the centre of the latest theory.
In the documentary Murder Rap, former Los Angeles police detective Greg Kading, who published a book in 2011 of the same name, alleges that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, and Death Row Records boss Suge Knight, who escaped the shooting unharmed. Death Row Records founder Suge Knight has been accused of orchestrating the murders of both Tupac and Biggie over the years Getty This is just one of the many theories out there on the murders that shook Hip Hop so from the outrageous to the most popular, IBTimes UK takes a look back at the biggest theories on who killed Tupac and Biggie.
Death Of Biggie
Russell Poole theory The former detective involved in the investigation of Biggie's murder claimed to have discovered that several members of the LAPD also worked as security for Death Row Records and were dirty police officers. According to Poole, these officers conspired to cover-up the fact Suge Knight was behind Biggie's murder. The ex LAPD detective said in Nick Broomfield's 2002 documentary, Tupac And Biggie: 'You got to think to yourself, 'Who could do this and get away with it?' The FBI killed both to put an end to violent rap culture Author John Potash explored this theory of Tupac's death in his book The FBI War On Tupac And Black Leaders, which took 12 years of research. According to Potash, Tupac was being monitored by the Federal Bureau due to his ties with the Black Panther Party. Explaining his idea behind the theory to All Hip Hop, Potash said: 'He had very close relationships with his extended Black Panther Party family, who acted as his mentors, not to mention that he was trying to do more positive things.
The government orchestrated his assassination.' Biggie paid a gang to kill Tupac In an explosive piece published by the Los Angeles Times, a reporter alleged that Biggie offered gang members $1m to shoot his rival Tupac and even lent his own gun to carry out the murder. However, this theory has been widely discredited over the years. Orlando Anderson killed Tupac According to Tupac's former bodyguard Frank Alexander, Crips affiliate Orlando Anderson orchestrated the rapper's murder after the pair got into a fight in Las Vegas. In an interview, Alexander said: 'On the night of the Tyson/Seldon fight, a friend of Suge Knight's came up to Tupac and whispered that he had spotted Orlando Anderson in the arena.
'Tupac ran over and that's when they got into it. I ran over and saw Tupac throw a couple of blows. Anderson tried to throw one back, but ended up going down, and that's when a ton of Death Row guys jumped on him. If you get into a scuffle and you get you butt whupped, whatcha gonna do? You're going to tell your friends, 'Hey I just got into a fight and guess who it was with? And someone's going to say, 'You know what, let's go get some payback'.
The Death Of Biggie Smalls Video
I can see that happen.' Watch Biggie Smalls talk about Tupac's death in his last interview.