Diddy has paid tribute to the legendary Notorious B.I.G. on what serves as the 26th anniversary since the Brooklyn rapper was tragically gunned down in Los Angeles.
The Bad Boy mogul championed Biggie as the “greatest of all-time” in a tweet on Thursday (March 9) accompanied by a rare interview from the “Hypnotize” rhymer.
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“There will NEVER be another,” Diddy wrote. “The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME. Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!”
The clip finds Biggie saluting individuality and those daring enough to blaze their own path rather than follow along with the crowd of what’s trending.
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“Don’t be a fool and sit back and do it because somebody else is doing it,” he proclaimed. “Because only thing you gon’ do is follow in somebody else’s footsteps and you gon’ be a shadow. Who wants to be a shadow for the rest of they life? You know what I’m saying.
“If you got a lil’ something that you know how to do, progress that and keep trying. God knows what could happen, you know what I’m saying? That’s what I did. I kept on rapping and it happened to get to the right ears.”
The rapper born Christopher Wallace was in Los Angeles to promote his sophomore album Life After Death on March 9, 1997 when he was gunned down at the age of 24. The Brooklyn MC, who was signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records at the time, was shot four times in a drive-by shooting.
Biggie released just one album while he was alive, his 1994 debut Ready To Die. The project spawned several Hip Hop classics, including. “Juicy,” “Big Poppa” and the DJ Premier-produced “Unbelievable.”
Life After Death arrived just 16 days after his murder, lending the entire project an ominous vibe. Not to mention the fact it picks up where “Suicidal Thoughts” left off on the first album. Guest contributors included 112, JAY-Z, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Too $hort, D.M.C. of Run-D.M.C., R. Kelly, The LOX and Diddy.
At the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, the project was nominated for Best Rap Album, while “Hypnotize” was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance and “Mo Money Mo Problems” earned a nod for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
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Additional posthumous releases include Born Again (1999), Duets: The Final Chapter (2005) and The King & I with his widow Faith Evans (2017). Biggie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2020, while numerous documentaries have been made about his life.
