B.I.G. Returns to a Familiar Glory
The rap slayer, the hooker layer returns in movie form, and we give you a Ratatat remix.
Even if you aren’t all into hip-hop you still have to respect Notorious B.I.G. and the success he had during the relatively short life he led. Yeah we know - hip-hop and HEAVE don’t really mesh at this point in time, but consider this a start. Let me begin with one of the best MC’s of all time that you already know and heard, the late Biggie Smalls.
You may have a pretty loose idea of the man’s life, seen a trailer for Notorious, or have simply wonder how a dead man can still go platinum long after his death (think Tupac). But for those who don’t I am hoping the release of Notorious will do a good job of telling the story of Biggie Smalls (real name Christopher Wallace).
Notorious will be in theatres this Friday. You heard me. The big man meets the big screen on the 16th of January. The film is supposed to be a Hollywood biography of the rapper’s rise to fame, leading to his eventual death. I’m really pulling for this to be a well-told story, but you never know what can happen when a real life story goes to Hollywood. At the very least it seems the nailed the actor portraying Biggie with Jamal Woolard.
Watching the videos on the movie’s blog (notoriousblog.net) has calmed my fears at least a bit. It seems like a lot of work went into filming right where Biggie grew up and maintaining the look of the 90’s New York City. I can’t wait to see some old school cell phones and beepers.
If you have no desire to see this, then at least check out the soundtrack that released January 13. The album is full of Biggie hits, and if you aren’t familiar with his work to begin with then this is a pretty good place to have a taste. It also has a couple tracks for other artist like “Brooklyn Go Hard,” which is a pretty fresh Jay-Z and Santogold track - plus a couple unreleased tracks.
I’ll leave you with a Biggie classic from 1993 remixed in 2007 by Ratatat that reminds you to “always ask if you can bring your gat to where tha party at.” Sure it would be logical to leave a track from the Notorious soundtrack but that’s what you were expecting, right? Check the soundtrack for the original recording of “Party and Bullshit.”
Posted by Andrew Macnider on Jan 14, 2009 @ 7:00 am