The Notorious B.I.G. passed away at the young age of 24 and, today, he would be celebrating his birthday. If he were still alive, the rapper would have been 48-years-old. It’s crazy to imagine how things would be if he was never murdered on that fateful day in 1997. Would he still be releasing music? Would he have helped some new rappers come up? We’ll never know.

As we celebrate one of the all-time greats on his birthday, Snoop Dogg came through by showing us a dope chain and pendant that he’s got in his collection, tributing the legend.

Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The West Coast rap icon shared an image of his pendant, which shows Biggie wearing a crown and looking stoic. The gold version of the rapper is wearing a chain himself, stunting a Jesus piece in a little bit of chain-ception. 

Snoop Dogg is one of many that has been thinking of The Notorious B.I.G on his birthday. Having come up at the same time as the rapper, Snoop has stories for days about his work ethic and his relationship with Tupac Shakur. 

Take a look at his chain below and let us know if you would rock this. It’s definitely pretty unique.

The Notorious BIG remains one of hip-hop’s most celebrated figures, a legend beyond hyperbole. Though he only provided us with two albums during his tragically short life, Ready To Die and Life After Death, the impact of Biggie’s artistry remains felt to this day. A master of flow, of charisma, of storytelling — the young man had the mind of a genius wordsmith, one that left a profound impact on those within his circle. As such, rappers like Diddy, Lil Kim, and The Lox have continued to honor his memory at every turn.

Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Today would have been his 48th birthday, and former Junion M.A.F.I.A. collaborator Lil Kim took a moment to send him some love. “Happy Biggie day guys!!!! Today we celebrate the King!” she writes, prompting flashbacks of tracks like “Get Money.” Jadakiss, who also grew close with Big during The Lox’s Bad Boy tenure, fired off some well wishes — as well as a poignant reminder. “Happy birthday to B.I.G the REAL/ ONLY KING of New York !”

Of course, the sad reality remains true — Big is no longer with us, at least not in the physical form. His music, however, has only grown stronger in time. Young hip-hop fans have eagerly discovered his catalog, while OG’s have grown wistful losing themselves in nostalgic return trips. In truth, we could all benefit from a reminder of Big’s legacy, so show some love to late, great Notorious one on his birthday. Happy birthday B.I.G! 

FILA’s bringing back a dose of the mid-90s in honor of the late Biggie Smalls with their latest collection. The brand unveiled FILA x Biggie collection in collaboration with the Christopher Wallace Estate. The collection includes a t-shirt and visor that FILA bought back from their archives along with a new sneaker that comes in two colorways that pay homage to the Ready To Die aesthetic.

“We created this exclusive collection to honor a groundbreaking album, artist and pop culture icon who has left a lasting impact in the music world and beyond,” Louis W. Colon 3rd, vice president of heritage and trend for Fila North America, told WWD about the collaboration. “The era’s most iconic hip-hop stars embraced the Fila brand, with memorable looks. In 1993, Biggie took the stage in Philadelphia wearing the T-shirt and matching visor that are part of the collaborative collection today.”

In addition to launching the new collection, Fila and the Christopher Wallace Estate will also be matching each purchase of the Biggie sneaker by donating a children’s pair to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation. The sneakers will be distributed in Biggie’s home turf of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.

Check out the Biggie x Fila collaboration below. 

If you've been a diehard Drake fan for the last decade, the list of his favorite rappers ever may not be too much of a shocker. After all, the name that most are pointing out on here has been big in Drake's world for the longest time.

The global music superstar took to Instagram to reveal his Top 5 Dead or Alive, turning heads with his initial selections.

"My top 5 is Biggie, Hov, Wayne, Young Tony, and 3000 since nobody asked," commented Drake on somebody's post. Many of the names make sense on here. Some, like The Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne, are regular culprits on lists like these. However, the admission got many people wondering the following: "Who is Young Tony?"

If there’s one thing Snoop Dogg‘s Instagram page is good for, it’s reminders of hip-hop history. Well, that and memes. But on the former topic, Snoop has made it clear that he’s all about paying homage to the legends in the game. As one of those very same, many of those very same legends happen to be his friends and collaborators.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Today, Snoop took to Instagram to show some love to a gang of hip-hop royals, made up of six essential figures in the game. Of course there’s Dr. Dre, Snoop’s mentor and frequent partner in crime, having connected on over a dozen tracks — many of them undisputable classics. 2Pac Shakur is next up, another of Snoop’s homies and collaborators. Same goes with Ice Cube, a pioneer of west coast lyricism and contributor to Snoop’s Last Meal cut “Set It Off.”

On the bottom row is Eminem, with whom Snoop worked on “Bitch Please II”; though they never connected on another track, the pair did recently join forces in the studio back in 2018. In the center stands the lone rapper Snoop never actually collaborated with — the Notorious B.I.G, though Faith Evan’s “When We Party” sort of captured what that particular team-up might sound like. And of course, rounding out the set is Snoop Dogg himself, one of hip-hop’s most valuable players — literally beloved by all. “Remember we are royalty,” he captions, confident in his assessment and rightfully so.

The Notorious B.I.G., beloved hip-hop figure and general G.O.A.T, passed away on March 9, 1997 at the young age of 24. He left two young children behind, C.J. Wallace and T’yanna Wallace, each with different mothers, Faith Evans and Jan Jackson respectively. Each child has gone on to do their own thing, while continuing to carry their late dad’s memory with them. C.J. Wallace, for his part, actually portrayed his father in the film Notorious, and he’s become a successful entrepreneur with a cannabis brand. 

Earl Gibson III/Getty Images

T’yanna also has the entrepreneurial spirit (which may or may not be a trait passed down from their hustler father). She began a clothing brand, Notorious Clothing, in 2013, which clearly references and remembers Biggie. She also went to college, pursuing a degree at Penn State– so it’s safe to say Biggie would be proud, and T’yanna has her shit together. Still, she doesn’t want to just be known as Biggie’s daughter, as she told NY Post, “I don’t want to live off of my dad’s money. I want to make my own money. I worked in the cafeteria for a year while I attended Penn State.”

Take a glimpse at how T’yanna Wallace is living her life these days, from Notorious Clothing and beyond, in the Instagram Gallery below.

Owning the runway and repping her dad at the same damn time

Putting in work 

Father and daughter

Celebrating her 25th year 

Uncle Cease in the cut

Peep the hoodie 

Blocking out the haters 

T’yanna’s pre-school graduation must have been lit

Sibling love

Biggie and his baby girl

Well here’s a pleasant surprise. Out of nowhere, NYC producer Statik Selektah decided to come through and drop a bomb on us in the form of a new Biggie verse. The NYC producer revealed the record on his Instagram page Sunday night, acknowledging that even the biggest Biggie stans probably don’t know this verse.

Over some sampled production from Statik, Biggie lays down his signature flow and delivers his story-tellin’ rhymes, rapping “steps out the pad with a duffle bag, all the guns I had/ Sippin grandad, ‘bout to make these mamas sad” to kick off his verse. Released on his Audiomack, fans can listen to the unreleased verse (below).

The unreleased verse looks to have derived from creative director Joe Lyons, who will be putting on a special Biggie Smalls live show on Instagram on May 14th featuring some rare & unreleased verses & songs. “I’m excited to announce that on May 14th, here on #Instagramlive I will be doing a session of my most rare #biggiesmalls aka #notoriousbig demos and freestyles. I have one of the most complete collections of his #recordings that exists and I will be playing early versions that many people have never heard before. If you are a huge fan and collector of Biggie’s music you likely have heard most of these tracks, but tune in for a trip down memory lane to the early 90s when #nychiphop ruled,” he wrote. See below.

Instagram Live sessions, with a partner or solo dolo, are becoming more and more rampant these days. When you check your IG feed, it’s often a sea of purple-red circles indicating various IG Live sessions in the works. Smoke DZA has been doing his thing on Instagram Live too, apparently, with a new clip showing the Kushed God rapper speaking with fellow New York MC and OG Lil Cease. 

Cease was a member of the Biggie-helmed group Junior M.A.F.I.A, and not only the late rapper’s friend but cousin.

 Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The clip from their conversation centers on Biggie and Jay-Z, with Cease revealing that Biggie had apparently admitted that Hov was a “nicer” MC than he was.

“Once Big met him at the Palladium, and they bonded on some g-shit. Cause they respected each other as men and they respected each other as artists,” Cease says in the IG Live chat, “Big wasn’t afraid to tell him…Big thought he was doper than him, that’s what he used to say, like, ‘yo that n*gga nicer than me.'”

“These are straight facts,” Cease continued, adamant that he was not lying. He even went on to point out a singular moment that Big felt Hov one-upped him, referencing his line on “Dead President.” 

“When Jay-Z said that line on ‘Dead Presidents’ — N*gga take a freeze off my kneecap/N*gga believe that— Big was like ‘Yo he got me.'”

Check out the clip below. If it’s a debate between Hov and Biggie, who do you have? Let us know in the comments.

Legendary hip-hop photographer Chi Modu is suing the estate of Biggie Smalls following a court dispute that resulted in the estate calling him a “parasite.”

Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

In 2018, Modu says the estate wanted to use a 1996 picture he took of the Biggie posing in front of the Twin Towers, in New York City. Modu wanted $100,000 a year for the estate to license various pictures he took of Biggie. 

“I basically asked for a living wage for my work,” Modu told The New York Post. “Up until then, they were paying much, much less, so you see what’s going on.”

“The person who presses that shutter is the owner” of the picture, Modu said. “As copyright holder, I’m the person with the first right to exploit it. This is a fight for the artist, because artists aren’t earning a living wage.”

Notorious B.I.G. LLC sued Modu in California. The estate claims Modu used images of Biggie to sell snowboards without permission. Modu says less than two-dozen were sold.

Modu has taken iconic photos of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dog, Q-Tip, Ice Cube and others throughout his career. You can check out a full gallery of his hip hop pictures on his website.

[Via]

The adolescent half of the Stranger Things cast are quite familiar with 90s hip hop thank you very much, even if none of them were born yet at the time. All six of the Netflix series’ teen stars—Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, and Sadie Sink—appear in an upcoming episode of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke together. In a preview for the episode, the cast of youngsters did not hold back on dipping into various iconic decades prior to their birth, including the 1990s, which saw the reign of hip hop as rappers like Notorious B.I.G. dropped hits on hits. Among them was “Big Poppa,” and you better believe these kids tackled that timeless jam.

The cast also played a guessing game in which they don mind-reading helmets similar to the one worn by Eleven in the show, as each of the two contestants try to say the same word at the same time. They also try their hand at regular summer jobs that they wouldn’t normally attempt due to their massive star status.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

While the fourth season of the beloved sci-fi horror series was expected to be released sometime this year, production had to be shut down recently due to coronavirus. This filming hiatus means that fans may not be able to stream Strangers Things 4 until 2021. However, the cast’s Carpool Karaoke episode, which was filmed last summer, is available to watch in full on the Apple TV app now.