Long Live the King! (of New York) · 9:01pm Mar 9th, 2017
20 years ago today, Rap lost one of its biggest (no pun intended) and most talented artists. Christopher George Latore Wallace, better know as 'The Notorious B.I.G.' or 'Biggie Smalls' was killed in a drive by shooting at age 24 in Los Angeles after attending a party. Biggie at the time had become one of the biggest names in Rap after only one album, Ready to Die (1994), and had become involved in a highly-publicised feud with California rapper Tupac Shakur. This feud would go on to be seen as a feud between the East Coast and West Coast in rap and would end up costing both rappers their lives with Tupac being killed six months before Biggie. Shortly after his death, Biggie's second album, Life After Death, was released and would later go on to become one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed albums in Rap.
This means a lot to me as Life After Death is one of the first albums that got me really into Rap. Biggie's wordplay, dark lyricism, storytelling, and smooth flow gave me the incentive to explore the genre further and lead me to find some absolutely incredible artists that I listen to on a frequent basis. His first album, Ready to Die, is impressive in its own right as well; gems like "Juicy", "Everyday Struggle", and "Suicidal Thoughts", show off some of Biggie's greatest abilities. Still, I think his second and last album showed that he had a huge amount of potential that was sadly cut short. It's impossible to say what would've happened had Biggie not be slain, but I think it's undeniable that a great deal of talent was removed from the world on that tragic day 20 years ago.
Rest in Peace, Biggie. You were somebody even before someone else killed you.
The King of New York was Alex the Lion, AKA Alakei or however you spell his birth name.