Today is a day many of us will never forget...for me it's always been the day my baby sister was introduced to the world, and eight years later it also became the day that Christopher Wallace was gunned down in my hometown. There are many speculations, was it revenge from Death Row, revenge from Pac's people, a crazy fan, or some folks that Puff or BIG hadn't paid yet. Either way, the incident was the perfect backdrop for the East/West beef. The man was 24, which I thought was old at the time...and now I look back and realize he had way more life to live. The man didn't even get to see his biggest success happen. He's not my top rapper, but he is definitely one of the greats...though I was bangin' Death Row and my coast in general (being young and caught up in the hype) I was and still am a BIG fan, period. The man's wordplay, storytelling ability and overall charisma made him a perfect product, something rappers are still trying to mimic to this day. He was a game changer like his friend/rival 2 Pac, and like his death, BIG's death changed the hip hop game forever. Ironically what still gets me to this day is that I was almost at that same party. All of 16 years old, I still had some connects back then. I was at another party that night and saw the tension between Death Row & Bad Boy street teams...and something in the air wasn't right. 2 hours after I get home, I heard Biggie was shot. My first reaction was rather disgraceful...I was telling folks; "told u they'd shoot that fool if he was gonna stay out here like he run this city". But after learning he died I felt dumb and ignorant for even glorifying the stupidity that fans and media hyped up and ate up as entertainment, when at the heart of the matter it was something serious that had brewed between 2 former friends. No one knows why they died, but it is most likely they died over some bullshit that my and older generations cheered on. R.I.P. 2 B.I.G. Your legacy remains and your music then is still better or as good as 88% of what's out now. If you're a Biggie fan or a fan of Hip Hop in general...light one up for Mr. Wallace and knock ya favorite Biggie track.
One of my fav B.I.G. songs/videos.
1 comments:
Well written post, almost pullitzer worthy lol, but seriously nice write up. I remember coming home from basketball practice when hearing the news, and even at a young age I was shocked. That's all the kids talked about on the playground the following week, even my generation was caught up in the hype...but that's because we repped the West to the fullest. Plus I remember all the "old heads" talking about it. Tensions were really that high.
Post a Comment