Even the youngest hip hop fan will know what today means: the eighteenth anniversary of Biggie Smalls’ death. Listen, I’m not here to deliver some long dissertation about his legacy, his influence, his life and times, and anything else I haven’t either written about or read numerous times over. Rather, I’d like to give my own personal toast to Christopher Wallace by revisiting an old mixtape: the “mixtape” version of his seminal debut album, Ready To Die, featuring unreleased demo cuts, the original versions of others, and more.
Last night in Brooklyn The LOX, Faith Evans, Lil Cease and a couple hundred friends toasted to the life and times of the Notorious One with a special gathering that included his daughter, Tyanna Wallace, and his original DJ, Mister Cee, watching on.
Peep this rare footage of scenes from Biggie’s 21st birthday party, which also features an appearance from Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
Finally, Hot 97 spun nothing but his joints during their mid-day mix.
We miss you, Big.
