08 May I’ll be missing you…
(standfirst) This an article surrounding the anniversary of hip-hop legend the Notorious BIG’s death which was 20 years ago this year. It includes information on the pop up shop in Camden that was held earlier this year and contains an interview from a fan that was there.
20 years on since The Notorious B.I.G was tragically murdered, the world remembers.
By Hannah Turner
The Notorious B.I.G, or Biggie, is known as one of the greatest, most influential rappers of all time. He was described by AllMusic as “the saviour of East Coast hip-hop” and his lyrics are still quoted by a mass amount of artists today including: Eminem, Michael Jackson and Alicia Keys. The 9th of March 2017 marks 20 years since his tragic death and all across the world tributes have been made. In his hometown of Brooklyn, basketball team the Brooklyn Nets held a “Biggie Night” at their arena, the Barclays Centre. People from his life including his widow Faith Evans and collaborator P Diddy, celebrated his life at the event. A permanent banner was also revealed with the quote, “Spread the love, it’s the Brooklyn way.”
Courtesy of Jason Colmer
However, more close to home in the heart of Camden Market, a pop up shop opened for the weekend to mark the anniversary. The shop included rails of B.I.G merchandise, from t-shirts to jackets to baseball caps. The loft style shop also featured a giant screen where the rapper’s music videos were playing on repeat and a DJ was on hand to make sure the room was filled with his much loved music. But, if you wanted to feel like you were in the legends shoes, a thrown and crown were on hand to make you feel like a royal rapper too. Notorious B.I.G super fan Emily Warman said at the shop, “I found out about this on secretlondon.com, I just had to be here, its just the perfect pop up with all the clothing and the music, it really shows how amazing he was. Juicy and hypnotize are my favourite songs, I used to listen to them in the car when I was young.” She went onto say that “If you didn’t get to come today, you really missed out, it was just the perfect way to celebrate his death, 20 years ago today.”
Courtesy of Georgia Webb.
Biggie, real name Christopher Wallace, started rapping in his teens. In 1992 he was featured in The Source’s unsigned hype column after they heard a demo tape that he’d made. He was soon signed by Uptown Records A&R and there you have it, a star was born.
Biggie died on 9th March 1997 in LA, California, in a drive-by shooting. He was just 24 years old. There are many theories to who actually shot B.I.G but many assume it has links to the death of rapper Tupac Shakur who was also shot, 6 months prior. It was reported at the time that the main suspect was a Crips gang member. However, 20 years later, the case remains officially unsolved.
Eerily, his second studio album was named “life after death” and was released two weeks after his death. The album went on to sell over 10 million copies. It makes the phrase “no one appreciates your art until its dead” often used by rapper Jay-Z, appear even more accurate.
It doesn’t matter what age you are, where you’re from or what your music preferences are, people need to know who The Notorious B.I.G was and what he did for the rap scene. He will forever be remembered and respected by people across the globe.
Creative Commons.
