This Biggie thing is personal for me.
I was standing in my mom's kitchen when I heard Hot 97’s Miss Jones
shouting from the radio that Biggie was dead.
Big had a new baby boy. A 4 yr. old daughter, and a career that was about to BLOW!
It was crazy and numbing and unbelievable!
I watched Big's funeral on Eyewitness news.
The hardest dudes on the block were screaming. 'Hypnotize' was blaring.
Fans filled the streets. Mary was holding Lil Kim. Queen Latifah was there.
I will never ever forget.
Big was laid to rest on my birthday.
I moved to Los Angeles 2 days after the "Life After Death' c.d. dropped.
One of my first stops was the Peterson Museum on Fairfax.
I wanted to see where he was killed.
Riding down Wilshire listening to Theo play "Going Back To Cali"
in the very city of his demise, was surreal.
It’ll be 12 years this March since Big was gunned down.
When I heard that there was going to be a movie about his life, I was nervous.
Initially, I thought NOTORIOUS was going to be like a made for t.v. movie.
Bad acting. Horrible lighting. The wrong cast.
But fortunately that isn’t what happened…
What happened was I got an inside peek,
a deeper appreciation for Big and the people who loved him.
Angela Bassett is intense. Though, her jamaican accent threw me off.
But really, who else would you want to play you in a movie? I understood the choice.
I felt Lil Kim. I felt for Lil Kim. I cared about her. I knew that girl.
I wanted it be better for her. She was Big’s ride or die chick.
And Naturi Naughton IS the next big thing. She simply ripped that performance.
Anthony Mackie and Derek Luke are both phenomenal actors.
But it would be difficult for anyone to capture the complexity and beauty of Pac.
So I can’t be mad at Anthony. It wasn’t his fault.
And I wasn’t able to get into Derek Luke as Puff.
So what I did was just appreciate him as Derek Luke.
A handsome guy, a great actor, who has his own swag.
At times, I thought that he was putting too much on it.
But maybe that’s really Puff or maybe that’s just me.
Antonique Smith did a decent Faith.
And I was pleasantly surprised when she began to sing.
Jamal Woolard had his work cut out for him.
But he exceeded my expectations.
He. Was. Big.
I honestly could not tell that this was his first time acting.
Other than me wanting to hear Big’s voice, When he performed,
he was more than convincing.
Woolard did him justice. Big would’ve been proud of his performance.
The movie was well cast. It looked great! The characters were believable.
Overall the film reminded me that Biggie was a rock star!
He was magnetic.
He was flawed and hilarious and fun.
There was substance in this story. I cared about these people.
And even though I knew the end of the story, I cried anyway.
Cause it reminded me of all we’re missing now that Big’s gone.
We hadn’t really gotten to know him well.
We were just sinking our teeth into who he was.
This was definitely not a made for t.v. movie.
It was a beautifully done biopic.
It was about a dude in the struggle,
trying to grow, and change and live his dreams.
It was about one of the dopest lyricist to ever do it, that died way too soon.
But I love Big Poppa, so...
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