Thirteen years ago, one of the greatest rappers of all time died. This was a tragic thing for so many different reasons. First this was a seemingly, random act of violence. Then there was the children, that were his children, that were left behind to be raised without their father. Next, there is the grieving family left with unanswered questions. Lastly, the void left by his lyrical prowess in the world of hip-hop. All of these things are unfortunate side effects of the death of one Christopher Wallace, b.k.a. The Notorious BIG, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls.
I can still remember the day that Biggie died. It was 1997 and at that time I worked at a car rental company call center. I had a boyfriend, of sorts, and he hit me on my hip. Those times were still big for beepers and I kept my pager on my hip. So I went to use the phones cause it was weird for him to page me when he knew I was at work, he told me that Biggie was shot in California and died. I never knew him personally but I felt like someone just told me my favorite cousin was just killed. Wow, Biggie is gone.
Just six months earlier I received the news of Tupac dying after being gunned down in Las Vegas, and though I wasn't a Tupac fan the violence was just heartbreaking for me. Another black man murdered in cold blood. Why is this a problem that just keeps on escalating. Though he wasn't the first, Biggie's murder is proof positive that this violence thing can happen to anyone no matter the socioeconomic status of the person. A violent end is not a nice way to go.
There were children and family that would never be able to say goodbye to or see alive again, their father, son, husband, and cousin. These are the biggest losers in this situation. Those people who had a personal, loving relationship with him and can not get closure, except to know that he is in his final resting place. A place, I'm sure they felt like he was placed in too early.
When Biggie came along it was at a time in hip hop were it was beginning to get a little stale. For the past 4 or 5 years the music had become a little predictable. There wasn't much innovation on the rap scene until the notorious one. Dolly My Baby, was the first time I remember hearing this guy and falling in love with him lyrically and vocally. He was Big Poppa, black and ugly as ever, however, he was super duper fly on the mic. This all happened in 1993. For the next four years, Biggie rocked hard. Who didn't love the music of Biggie? It's hard for me to say which one of his songs was my favorite but I know for sure that One More Chance was the summer anthem of 1994 and that summer my bestie and I stayed in the NCO Club on the Charleston Air Force Base. Actually we rocked Ready to Die the whole summer and into the winter and spring of the next year and the summer again of 1995. That was a great time, musically.
With his death, for me, came the demise of great hip-hop lyricists. Sure there have been those who have come along and given us good music but we can only imagine what Biggie would have bought to the game had it not been for someone doing the wrong thing. This one is for Biggie fans. I truly miss what I think could have been musically, for Biggie Smalls.
I can still remember the day that Biggie died. It was 1997 and at that time I worked at a car rental company call center. I had a boyfriend, of sorts, and he hit me on my hip. Those times were still big for beepers and I kept my pager on my hip. So I went to use the phones cause it was weird for him to page me when he knew I was at work, he told me that Biggie was shot in California and died. I never knew him personally but I felt like someone just told me my favorite cousin was just killed. Wow, Biggie is gone.
Just six months earlier I received the news of Tupac dying after being gunned down in Las Vegas, and though I wasn't a Tupac fan the violence was just heartbreaking for me. Another black man murdered in cold blood. Why is this a problem that just keeps on escalating. Though he wasn't the first, Biggie's murder is proof positive that this violence thing can happen to anyone no matter the socioeconomic status of the person. A violent end is not a nice way to go.
There were children and family that would never be able to say goodbye to or see alive again, their father, son, husband, and cousin. These are the biggest losers in this situation. Those people who had a personal, loving relationship with him and can not get closure, except to know that he is in his final resting place. A place, I'm sure they felt like he was placed in too early.
When Biggie came along it was at a time in hip hop were it was beginning to get a little stale. For the past 4 or 5 years the music had become a little predictable. There wasn't much innovation on the rap scene until the notorious one. Dolly My Baby, was the first time I remember hearing this guy and falling in love with him lyrically and vocally. He was Big Poppa, black and ugly as ever, however, he was super duper fly on the mic. This all happened in 1993. For the next four years, Biggie rocked hard. Who didn't love the music of Biggie? It's hard for me to say which one of his songs was my favorite but I know for sure that One More Chance was the summer anthem of 1994 and that summer my bestie and I stayed in the NCO Club on the Charleston Air Force Base. Actually we rocked Ready to Die the whole summer and into the winter and spring of the next year and the summer again of 1995. That was a great time, musically.
With his death, for me, came the demise of great hip-hop lyricists. Sure there have been those who have come along and given us good music but we can only imagine what Biggie would have bought to the game had it not been for someone doing the wrong thing. This one is for Biggie fans. I truly miss what I think could have been musically, for Biggie Smalls.
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