My beef is I did not hear that awesome Jay-Z/Santogold song in the movie!

Karen71 said:

Answer #1: The folks who rationalize the whole "selling dope" bullshit. Take your pick.

Answer #2: Because he looked like a humanized pig - god rest his soul and all - but he does. I don't wanna hear about him "selling dope because he was hungry"
[Edited 1/17/09 22:15pm]

Harlepolis said:

I always thought his line in "One More Chance": fat, black, ugly as ever was very funny because it was so true yet he was getting girls like *that*. I'm sure he had more girls than just Kim, Faith and Charlie that were just "groupie loves". BIG sure got around by the time of his death at 24!

Timmy84 said:

I don't mind fat, some fat brothas are fine(yes, I DO love a lil' thick meated man myself).

But Biggie looks like the character Evillene from the movie Wiz I've always had issue with that.

Harlepolis said:

OMG! He DOES look like the Wicked Witch of the West! God rest his soul but you ain't never lied!

SCNDLS said:

She had been in an abusive relationship before,so I imagine she set herself upfor a pattern of sorts.

They did by the way, date MUCH longer than 9 days...okay, not 9 months,but they were running around Bad Boy together for a minute .While everyone knew they were an item, the marriage did come as a shock to a lot of folks around them. He ain't even tell his momma he got married till after the fact.

MsMisha319 said:

This is exactly that point that I was trying to raise. I too agree that drug dealing is a very bad thing, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I don't care how much of an education one has or how much money, today or tomorrow, that could all go up in smoke. Is it right for some to tell me how to survive?
[Edited 1/18/09 6:46am]

SCNDLS said:

SCNDLS said:

damn you have enlightened me on this shit because I always thought he sold drugs to survive, I didn't know he just did it for sport...he actually didn't HAVE to sell drugs at all, it was like a hobby? that's crazy.

missfee said:

I know MANY middle class kids who sold dope on the side.

Some of them actually do it as a way to prove they're "down" whateva the hell that means.

Peer pressure is a bitch on the kids,,,,,esp when its coming from the wrong crowd.

shorttrini said:

Wow! we have people on the org justifing drug dealers now? Okay, i've officially seen it all on the org now.

missfee said:

At one point I think he did do it to survive. When he was a kid, it was just to be "down".

Harlepolis said:

Yes you are right that is true....sort of forgot about that.

Karen71 said:

Oooh, I like you. Why is it that I have failed to notice the brilliance that is Karen71?

MsMisha319 said:

You see, I totally disagree with the bolded statement. If you have children in your home, drugs shouldn't be there. If they are, you should have your children taken away from you, because you clearly don't give a rat's ass about their best interests.

Karen71 said:

WOW, what ignorance You have no idea what race I am and YOU just stereotyped quite a bit. I'm not the one who's angry. I have nothing to be angry about. I give a damn that people like you and soooo many others are frowning upon what others do to support themselves. If you haven't been there, then you are only talking out of your ass about what you wouldn't do and what you think is wrong. Tell someone who's in need of diapers that they're wrong for selling a dime bag. That dime bag paid for diapers. No one is saying that it's right, but it's what they had to do. True is, biggie didn't have to.

As for LiquidGold's comment, I didn't grow up around drugs and crime, so it's not all that I know...but I have definitely seen it. Again, you people are so quick to jump to conclusions about someone. Get a clue. Gain some EMPATHY. Look it up.

As for the film, if you have read my earlier comments, you would've seen that I did in fact see the film and thought it was decent. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either.


You all need a reality check. I now see what some of the old school orgers mean and why they stay away. The moment someone expresses a different view or perspective, everyone jumps down their throat and begin to personally attack them. It's ridiculous.

Smooches;)

GetAwayFromMe said:

Where in my paragraph did I say anything about drugs being in the home or children being around drugs?

Smooches;)

MsMisha319 said:

If you're presumably selling drugs to take care of your family, then the children come into the picture somewhere, don't they?

Interesting article. I didn't realize he only released two albums...

"Was B.I.G. really influential enough to deserve a biopic?"
http://www.baystatebanner...2009-01-15

mcw00 said:

This is why I don't get why BIG and 'Pac get the stats they do. Their careers only lasted about 4 and 5 years respectively of each other when they died and they both were in their early 20's when they passed away ('Pac was 25 and BIG was only 24) and yet because of their deaths, they've been getting all the accolades that sometimes I don't even think EITHER of them deserve especially when legends like Rakim, KRS-One, Chuck D, Kool Moe Dee and Melle Mel are still alive. Calling BIG and 'Pac the "greatest rappers ever" is serving a disrespect to the overall picture of hip-hop.

And this is why so many men my age believe 'Pac and BIG were the best because they have this blurred picture of what hip-hop is or was really about.
[Edited 1/18/09 11:54am]

Here's the full article:

Was B.I.G. really influential enough to deserve a biopic?

Perhaps the most highly anticipated film of the new year, “Notorious” chronicles the life, times and death of hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G. (played by Jamal Woolard, pictured). Writer Fanon Hutchinson looks at the hype surrounding the film and asks: Does B.I.G. merit such treatment? (Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

“The most important film of our time,” reads the tagline for the biopic “Notorious,” a much-publicized film that tells the story of the life and death of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a. Biggie Smalls.

Really?

This is a more important film than “Malcolm X”?

It’s more important than the films about Martin Luther King Jr.? Or films like “Cry Freedom” or “The Great Debaters”?

It might not even be the most important hip-hop movie of our time. What about “Krush Groove” or “Beat Street”?

I’ve loved hip-hop ever since I first heard “Rock Box” by Run DMC back in the early ’80s. In the early days, artists like Kurtis Blow, the Sugar Hill Gang, Whodini, the Fat Boys, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys got the ball rolling. Later in the decade, the likes of EPMD, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Compton’s Most Wanted and Dr. Dre revolutionized the art form and brought it to the masses.

These are the legitimate pioneers of rap and hip-hop.

Now, granted, I can’t stomach much of what passes as hip-hop nowadays; it seems like it’s geared more toward a segment of the population that wear “skinny jeans” and Mohawk hair styles — in other words, little kids and adolescents.

This brings me back to “Notorious.” His entire career spanned two albums. Two albums! His first, 1994’s “Ready to Die,” is labeled a classic, but I would have to disagree. Can you really compare it to Public Enemy’s legendary 1988 record “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” or to Ice Cube’s 1991 album “Death Certificate,” or Tribe’s “The Low End Theory,” also released in ’91?

These albums defined a generation and helped to revolutionize the way hip-hop was viewed. These albums made you think as well as made you move. While the three albums are as different from one another as President-elect Barack Obama is to the late Ronald Reagan, they are lyrically and musically on point.

On the other hand, “Ready to Die” is mostly filled with the usual tales of hustling, sex, standard rap braggadocio and party songs. It is no different than anything that has come before it. The only thing that set this album apart is the beats, which deviated from the mid-’90s grimy East Coast sound that permeates the albums of such contemporary New York artists as the Wu-Tang Clan, Black Moon and Onyx. But that difference should be attributed to P. Diddy and his Hitmen production team, not to Biggie.

“Ready to Die” paints Biggie as a sort of hard-luck case who was able to pull himself up out of a bad situation and become a winner. This might have been inspirational to a lot of people, but the whole “rags to riches” story was nothing new or innovative. Neither was the whole “I had to sell drugs to feed my daughter” song and dance, which was supposed to make his actions seem honorable without any remorse on his part. At least when NWA or Ice-T wrote tales about drug hustling, there were some kind of repercussions for the pushers included within the song.

The content remains largely the same on Biggie’s second album, “Life after Death,” though the tone is less bleak, because now he has “made it.” There are fewer hard luck tracks and more songs dedicated to the credo, “Let’s party, drink champagne and sleep with random chicks.” He even has the good sense to include a how-to song on the rules of selling drugs (“Ten Crack Commandments”). This is just what black youth need. There are, however, a few notable songs on “Life after Death,” such as “Notorious Thugs,” which pairs Biggie with the rapid-fire delivery of Bone Thugs & Harmony and showcases his impressive ability to go toe-to-toe and bar-for-bar with the nimble-tongued Cleveland rap quartet.

Don’t misunderstand: I don’t think that Biggie was without talent. On the contrary, I think he was a very skilled wordsmith. But to label him as “the greatest rapper of all time,” as a lot of people has done, is a slap in the face to all of the great MCs that came before and after him who have had more of an impact in the development and evolution of hip-hop.

What about KRS-One? Or Big Daddy Kane? Or a man who I think should be in everybody’s top-five, a person who revolutionized hip-hop music and in my opinion truly took rap to a new level — Rakim? When are the movies about their lives coming out? That shouldn’t be a notorious question.

Fanon Hutchinson is the editor and publisher of “The Truth,” a Los Angeles-based hip-hop and sports blog. For more, visit bighutchbaby.blogspot.com.

Timmy84 said:

Perfect case of being there in the right place @ the right time. It got nothing to do with their talent.

90s was a golden era for hip-hop, commercially. 90s also gave birth to the "hype machine", so there u go.

Harlepolis said:

Exactly. I may be only 24 but I remember vividly at 5 looking at the first episodes of "Rap City" and at 4 "Yo! MTV Raps", which was a big deal at the time, I remembered seeing it fully for the first time at 5 or 6. And this was before hip-hop really became this global phenomenon it is now. I just hate that the true rap legends/pioneers don't get looked on with the same respect that was given to Tupac and Christopher.
[Edited 1/18/09 12:06pm]

shorttrini said:

wow. really? i mean, really?

ok mr "it's excusable to engage in reprehensible behavior so long as the ends justify the means," when somebody robs (and perhaps injures or kills) your child and uses the excuse that they had to do it because their child would go hungry otherwise, i suppose you will excuse this monster and even sympathize with their reason.

i hope you never have to eat your words.

sassybritches said:

If you were to go back and read my post, you will see that I do not agree with that kind of behavior, but I can understand why someone would resort to selling drugs to get money. Let me asked you a question, Do you always make the right choices? Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a choice that you were not proud of? It seems to me that you as well some others on this board have the attitude that "that can never happen to me". To that I say....."WOW!! REALLY??"

I think the situation is different for everybody. I live in a predominantly black housing community district just west of my hometown and there were drug dealers in our neighborhood but thankfully I had parents who geared me the right direction and didn't allow me to get involved in it. Funny thing was I was (and in many ways still am) an introvert so I never left my gates because I was aware of some of my surroundings, it wasn't all bad and even when I was around people who dealt with it, I never saw it around me as much, it was often hinted about but never talked about. There was a house that you come through at the beginning of the district that was a crackhouse at one time. So I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Not everyone is gonna think the same way that people like BIG was thinking. Let's not forget BIG was only 12 when he started to get involved with drug dealing.

GetAwayFromMe said:

Well, if you are selling drugs to take care of your children, then yes, they come into the picture. You're doing it to support them. However, you don't have to have your children around it. I was in a relationship for 2 years and didn't know that my ex was selling drugs. He never brought it in our home...or atleast, I NEVER saw it. No one ever came to our home to buy it and we lived in the city. I never even suspected such a thing. I was SHOCKED to say the least, when I found out. And though he was an extremely smart guy, like many black men, he did some things in his past. Therefore, no employer was eager to hire him, so he did what he had to do. He provided everything that was needed for our son and, like I said, I never knew he had this side thing going on.

And though I was working and more than able to provide my son, I appreciated every bit he did to help. Regardless. I know he never put our son in any danger. Though he may have put himself in danger, he did it for a reason.

Smooches;)

MsMisha319 said:

I don't mean to get in your business but I wonder if your boyfriend at the time couldn't get a job BECAUSE he had been arrested for offenses before... If that's the case, I guess then he had no choice... but I guess that's what happens when people put themselves in positions that they can't escape from because it still leads to death and/or prison and that sucks but then again so is life and the hands we're dealt. That's when I'm glad Jay-Z turned his life around and decided to stay away from trouble that BIG unfortunately didn't or couldn't escape from.

shorttrini said:

please...i can speak on the matter because i've been jobless and broke. not with kids, no, but i've still had to go hungry some nights. and i worked my ass off to get out of that situation. i've never sold drugs and lord knows the option has been there and lord knows i could have justified it. but i dont want to benefit at the expense of others and only those disgusting creatures disguised as men, like biggie, would find it within themselves to justify it.

MsMisha319 said:

Errrr....

Smart and drug dealer don't go together in the same sentence, sorry. He wasn't smart, he was lucky. Had he been found out, he would've been in jail and you would've lost your kid. He DID put your son in danger, you just weren't aware of it. Although, just HOW you were that blind I have no idea. It's sad to me that can justify that situation, because if a man put me in that position, while hiding it from me, I would be ashamed of myself. And then I'd kick his ass out.