I Remember BIG

Yesterday marked the 11th anniversary of the still-unsolved murder of Christopher Wallace also known as The Notorious B.I.G.

BIG is still often referred to as the greatest of all time (even by Jay-Z). His reputation continues to loom large - and I’m sure it always will.

I was one of the lucky one’s to meet BIG before he “blew up” and after the world knew his name. He was a big guy who liked to laugh, and loved just being in the rap game. His lyrical flow was sick with no one even coming close to touching him on the mic.

It saddens me that after 11 years there is still no resolution in his murder case, but I'm not surprised. A black man killed in LA outside a party with about 100 witnesses standing around….. Come on. The day BIG died I got a page about 5am (2am LA time) saying he was dead. I had to come into work and just take call after call from listeners who didn’t believe it, or just needed to cry. It was a sad day I will never forget.

His Ready To Die album is still one of my favorite albums to this day, in part because of the good times I was having and the memories it brings me. When the album dropped, I was young, in college, and partying too much for my own good. When BIG rhymed, it felt like he was sitting right across from you.

If you are not a member of the hip hop generation you won’t get it… To most people who didn’t get BIG he was just another rapper that lived by the sword and died by it. But every culture, every generation has someone that just speaks to them. He laid his flaws on the table, let everyone know how he felt about the game, made me understand that as a black youth, I was valid, no matter what anyone else would have me believe. He talked about struggling. Me and a lot of people I know are struggling right now, hustling in our own ways to get by.

I often wonder what his music would be like today if he was still alive.