The Notorious B.I.G. would’ve been 47 years old on Tuesday, May 21, and he was given a huge gift.
To honor the New York rapper for his musical accomplishments and to celebrate him for being a prominent Brooklynite, he’ll have an intersection named after him in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Plus, the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation announced that a name changing ceremony will take place on June 10.
The intersection sits on Gates Avenue and Fulton Street, and it’ll soon be known as Christopher Wallace Way, after the rapper’s birth name.
B.I.G’s mother Voletta Wallace is supposed to be in attendance, as will his children C.J. Wallace and T’yanna Wallace. Plus, other family members and the rapper’s close friends will be there too.
“Honoring Biggie symbolizes more than just one man. It symbolizes a culture. It symbolizes a borough. It symbolizes a people, and hip-hop is worldwide,” said advocate LeRoy McCarthy in November, who led the name change.
The initiative to make the switch was approved in November by the Brooklyn Community Board 2 in a 33-1 vote. Some, however, weren’t so open to the idea and opposed it because of the profanity in the rapper’s music.
According to Billboard, the ceremony will be open to the public and should begin around noon.
In 2017 The Notorious B.I.G also had newly renovated basketball courts named after him. The courts are located in the Crispus Attucks Playground on Fulton and Classon Avenue in Brooklyn, where Biggie played as a child. Today that area is known as the Christopher “Biggie” Wallace Courts.
The Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, in a crime that’s still unsolved. Despite his legendary status, the Bad Boy artist only dropped two studio albums in his career: “Ready to Die” in 1994 and “Life After Death” in 1997.
