As former label mates in the ‘90’s with Bad Boy Records, R&B group 112 and Notorious B.I.G. spent a good amount of time together touring and recording in the studio. Collaborating on the hit singles “Only You” [click to read] and “Sky’s the Limit,” it pained the four-man crew to see Biggie go at the peak of his career.
With B.I.G.’s legacy resurrecting through the new biographical movie, Notorious [click to read], former 112 member Michael Keith spoke to HipHopDX about one particular gesture from Biggie Smalls that has stayed in his memory to this day. “There was a show that B.I.G. and we were doing together, but because 112 was new to the game, the promoter wanted to reduce our show time. We weren’t happy to say the least,” Keith noted.
Frustrated, the group seemingly had no choice but to take the shorten performance slot, until Biggie stepped in. “We passed by B.I.G. on our way to the stage and told him how the promoter was trying to play us, and B.I.G. (who was the headliner) told the promoter that unless he gave us our regular show time he wasn’t going to perform, period! We got our time back and B.I.G. even preformed ‘Only You’ with us. That’s the kinda dude he was; he had a really big heart.”
Notorious is currently playing in movie theaters, while Keith’s self-titled solo disc is available in record stores now.
