Prije dvadeset godina, 9. 3. 1997., svijet je izgubio jednog od najvećih repera svih vremena: hicima iz jurećeg automobila u Los Angelesu je ubijen The Notorious B.I.G.
Iako je imao svega 24 godine i snimio samo dva albuma, Ready to Die (1994.) i Life After Death, koji je, ironično, izdat petnaestak dana poslije njegove smrti, Big Poppa, kako su ga još zvali, postao je glavna ličnost hip hopa Istočne obale i ostavio trajni trag u rap muzici.
Tokom kratkog vremena, koliko je bio apsolutno u centru pažnje, Biggie je pomogao učvrstiti karijere mnogih danas velikih zvijezda žanra, kao što su Puff Daddy i Jay Z, bio je predvodnik i mentor za Lil Kim, Mase, The LOX i svoju suprugu Faith Evans, ostvario je danas kultne saradnje kao što su Method Man ( “The What”), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ( “Notorious Thugs”) i Jay ( “Brooklyn’s Finest”), iznova i iznova dokazujući da je bio jedan od najživopisnijih rap ‘pripovjedača’.
Dakle, ne čudi da je tokom svih ovih 20 godina od njegovog preranog kraja Christopher Wallace ime koje se pojavljuje se u desetinama reperskih tekstova, a izdvajamo samo nekoliko primjera sa liste takvih pjesama koje je, uz 20-godišnjicu smrti The Notoriousa priredio američki Billboard.
“I’ll Be Missing You” – Puff Daddy feat. Faith Evans and 112 (“Seems like yesterday we used to rock the show / I laced the track, you locked the flow / So far from hangin’ on the block for dough / Notorious, they got to know / That life ain’t always what it seem to be / Words can’t express what you mean to me / Even though you’re gone, we still a team / Through your family, I’ll fulfill your dream”
“Doing It Way Big” – Lil Kim (“Anything we do we do it B.I.G. / Every move we make is always B.I.G. / And the No. 1 rule, think B.I.G. / And the best rapper’s still B.I.G.”
“The City Is Mine” – Jay Z feat. Blackstreet (“I’m the focal, point like Biggie in his prime / On the low, though, shh, the city is mine”)
“What More Can I Say” – Jay Z (“I’m not a biter, I’m a writer for myself and others / I say a B.I.G. verse, I’m only bigging up my brother / Bigging up my borough, I’m big enough to do it / I’m that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish”)
“Till I Collapse” – Eminem feat. Nate Dogg (“I’m at the end of my wits with half the sh-t that gets in / I got a list, here’s the order of my list that it’s in / It goes Reggie, Jay Z, 2Pac and Biggie / André from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me”)
“Nasty” – Nas (“I am the dragon, Maserati / Pumpin’ Biggie, the great legend, blastin’ / I’m after the actress who played Faith Evans”)
