Big entered the game as a fully-formed great rapper, with seemingly no blemishes on his track record. This foundation building is made even more impressive when considering that for most of his career, he composed lyrics in his head with no pen or pad.Įqually mind blowing is how these skills came to be, borne practically from nothing. On “Gimmie the Loot,” Ready To Die’s standout heist track, he runs down the five Ws in the opening bars: Who? My man Inf. Where many of even the greatest storytelling rap songs were usually driven by a single protagonist and the string of events he or she encountered, Big presented multiple scenes and intertwined characters with a journalistic eye for the specifics. What else could account for such precision? For Biggie, every blunt ash was immaculately documented in rhyme. But make no mistake, there was a meticulousness to his craft. In late interviews, before his death at age 24, Big was one of the first rappers to vocally run the “I don’t really care about rap, I’m in it for the money” line. Big is much more complex and unknowable than the ubiquitous T-shirt portrait of him as a sullen king, wearing a crown. And that, too, is just one version of a composite of characters that in his passing have been made use of, dumbed down and commodified.
Later, though, he bestowed himself with perhaps a more appropriate nickname: “Rap Alfred Hitchcock.” The boast may have been a simple comment on how Big’s rotund figure projected a silhouette similar to the filmmaker, but there’s a deeper spiritual bond between the two-the detail obsession of full-blown perfectionists. Christening himself Black Frank White, Big gave a nearly oxymoronic nod to Walken’s King of New York drug lord. The collection will expand to select retailers on May 21st.Despite being mythologized and simplified as fat, cockeyed, dark skinned and draped in Coogi, Notorious BIG’s best-known alter ego was a play on a Christopher Walken character. The FILA x Biggie Collection drops today, exclusively on. FILA says the shoes will be distributed to schools and summer camps in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where Biggie was born and raised.
To further honor the late rapper’s memory, FILA is donating a pair of children’s sneakers to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, for every collaboration sneaker sold. “Partnering with the estate was key for this collaboration,” he stresses, adding that “Everyone involved is thrilled and excited about the collection as it honors Biggie’s legacy.” Colon III, VP of Heritage and Trend at FILA North America. “We created this exclusive collection to honor a groundbreaking album, artist and pop culture icon who has left a lasting impact in the music world and beyond,” says Louis W. FILA says it worked directly with the Christoper Wallace Estate to get permission for the project. It then partnered with the branding and licensing agency, Merch Traffic, which owns the rights to the use of Biggie’s image.