Brooklyn paid tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. in a major way on Monday (June 10).
The “Hypnotize” rapper was posthumously honored with his own street after the City of New York renamed the Brooklyn intersection where he grew up—St. James Place between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue—to Christopher Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace Way.
Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and his children, oldest daughter, T’Yanna, and son, Christopher Wallace Jr., attended the public ceremony and spoke in remembrance of the beloved artist. “I’m sure he’d use some of his saying: ‘Yo, that’s cool, Brooklyn. We did it!’ Maybe this sign and the crowds here today will show they really loved him,” Ms. Wallace told ABC7NY.
Biggie’s son, Christopher, who goes by CJ, also spoke with the local news outlet. “If I wanted to do music, I obviously could have,” he shared. “But I felt that was the easy way out.”
Instead, CJ launched his own company, Think Big, as a way to tribute his dad. “I just want to be as passionate as he was and inspire other young black, brown men like me,” he said.
Lil Kim, who was romantically linked to Biggie and worked with him as part of the hip hop rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., was also at the street-renaming ceremony despite the inclement weather. “He always had a vision,” the 44-year-old declared. “And I feel like today was part of his vision.”
Biggie (real name Christopher Wallace) was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. He was 24 years old at his time of death. Since then, the beloved rapper has been posthumously honored with awards and celebrated for the impact he left on the hip hop community.
In August 2017, a Brooklyn basketball court was renamed in dedication to Biggie. The news came months after a landlord decided not to remove the late rapper’s mural located on Bedford Avenue and Quincy Street.
Keep reading to see footage from the long overdue ceremony that honored the late, great Notorious B.I.G.