The Notorious B.I.G.’s famous mural in Brooklyn has been restored after being painted over by a weed dispensary.
On Sunday (February 18), it was announced that the Bushwick mural, which features Biggie as a child, would be restored.
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The trouble began earlier this month when the tribute, by artist Huetek, was painted over. The dispensary’s co-founder Christina De Giovanni told the New York Post that advertising regulations from the New York Office of Cannabis Management had forced them cover it, and that they “didn’t want to take it down.”
It turns out, though, that only advertisements “enticing” civilians were not allowed by the Office of Cannabis Management.
Biggie mural restored after being painted over by Brooklyn weed dispensary pic.twitter.com/p2uUSOQRH5
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) February 20, 2024
This crucial caveat led the way to the mural being restored.
“New York Cannabis Law does not regulate murals or artwork that don’t advertise a cannabis business or entice youth to enter an adult-use dispensary,” said a statement, which was viewed by the paper.
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Upon hearing the news of the mural being taken down, Huetek posted a pair of Instagram stories in response.
“At the end of the day the n-ggas with money pushout the culture and the essence of what the streets and brooklyn IS ALL ABOUT…. FOR WHAT? …another dispensary…EVERYTHING I PUT OUT INTO THE WORLD IS APART OF MY BROOKLYN BORN AND RAISED DNA…LOVE FOR MUSIC ..LOVE FOR MY CULTURE..LOVE FOR MY CRAFT…BROOKLYN RAISED ME …SO I WILL ONLY PUT OUT [fire emoji] IF N-GGAS CLAIM TO BE ABOUT THE CLUTURE AND ABOUT BK..u fight 4 that shit.”
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In a second story, Huetek added: “n-ggas claim they about brooklyn love and let this go down.ha nice job. Anything for the $.”
The dispensary founders claimed the wanted to keep the mural and that the Management Office’s official decision pained them.
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Co-founder Christina De Giovanni went on the attack.
She told The Post: “it’s really unfortunate that we haven’t had the opportunity to get an honest start before getting backlash for something that wasn’t our decision…our next move is to work with regulators to try to change this.”
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Her co-founder Ray Roman took a more apologetic tone.
He said: “I’ve been living in the neighborhood all my life, 45 years, and I didn’t want to do it. I was kinda scared doing it. It hurts. It’s so sad. People keep asking, ‘Why did you do that?’ And we have to explain to them over and over. We had a lot of backlash on Reddit. I don’t even want to read it.”
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It’s no secret that Biggie is one of the most legendary figures in rap, but his figure looms largest in New York.
In fact, last month Cam’ron revealed he was starstruck the first time he met the “Juicy” MC.
The “Hey Ma” rapper shared the story on an episode of his show with Ma$e, It Is What It Is.
His comments were prompted by co-host Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson bringing up LeBron James’ recent confession that he thought Michael Jordan was “Black Jesus” the first time they met.
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“Maybe not Jesus Christ, I’m not going that far,” Cam said. “But I’ma be totally honest with you: when Ma$e took me to Biggie Smalls’ house, I was like, ‘Yo. We did it.’”
