Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy will live on forever, but a mural of the livest one in his hometown borough will be destroyed soon.
A two-story mural in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, at Bedford Avenue and Quincy Street, depicts the iconic photo of Biggie wearing a crown. The piece has been an attraction since it was painted in 2015, but the landlord of the building said he plans to remove it to add windows to the property.
“Let me rephrase the question: Why should I keep it?” said landlord Samuel Berkowitz on a phone call with DNA Info. “I don’t even see the point of the discussion. I could demolish the building if I wanted to, I don’t need no permission from anyone except the DOB.”
Spread Art NYC – an art collective that is affiliated with the mural creators Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott “Zimer” Zimmerman – said that Berkowitz had originally offered to let the mural stand if he could be paid $1,200 per month, but the collective couldn’t afford the costs.
Sunday (May 21) would have been Biggie’s 45th birthday. Read REVOLT TV’s story with the famed photographer who took a picture of Biggie on his 21st birthday, and listen to REVOLT’s birthday playlist for the rap legend. Diddy also paid homage to his legacy at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.
The King and I, a duet album featuring a posthumous Biggie Smalls and his wife Faith Evans, is available now.