I Got A Story to Tell: A Review
“I love it when you call me Big Poppa!” Might be the first thing you think of when you hear rapper’s name Biggie. Just recently, Netflix released a documentary about the Notorious B.I.G titled “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell”, which teaches you all the things you might not have known about Biggie, like the fact that he went to Catholic school. The film sheds light on some of the rapper’s upbringing and his personal struggles and battles that he went through whether he was on the streets of Bed-Stuy or building upon his music career. We get a crystal clear look at his life through his mother’s eyes, Puff Daddy, and all the influences in his life. We get a look at his friendships, his influences from the unforgiving streets of Bed-Stuy, and the impact of Jamaican culture on his music.
Diving into the nitty gritty of the film, we are brought to the setting that Christopher Wallace was introduced to and thrived in. We are immediately introduced to his mother, his friends and his Bed-Stuy environment. Biggie grew up when HipHop was still in its toddler years, being perfected and spreading like a small fire all over the world. The film does an excellent job of pointing this out and making the viewer aware that Biggie is one of the BIG reasons why the ever so notorious HipHop is where it’s at today. The film shows how many times hiphop could have failed or been ever so different if an artist was not surrounded by the right crew of people. It makes one think and appreciate HipHop and those who pushed it to where it is today.
The film points out multiple reasons as to what separated Biggie from the rest of the HipHop crowd. Biggie unlike most other rap artists at the time was not afraid to share the reality that he and the rest of his friends were going through during his time recording music. He along with most of the people that he was around were hustlers, living day to day in the streets of Bed-Stuy selling drugs to make ends meet. The drug scene going on in the states at the time was what Puffy described as having only one path, “jail or death”. Let’s not forget that Biggie was around the age of all of the Rap Clash members, when he would rap and do interviews about his hustle. From everyone’s stories to Tupac to Biggie there will always be phrases that would ring in black youth’s ears even to this day. “Jail or death.” “Hustle or death.” The same still applied to The Notorious B.I.G. Up to the day that he tragically passed away Biggie was out there trying to make a name for himself while at the same time providing for his close friends and family.
This brings another characteristic that the film brought up that made Biggie stand out compared to the other rap artists, his emphasis on giving back to those close to him. In his early adulthood, Biggie experienced what’s described as ‘growing tf up’, in which he realized that if he continued with the drug life, and hustlin as a side he would end up dead or in jail, and so he started to take his musical talents seriously and started rapping about the lucrative industry that he found himself a part of. His first album, “Ready to Die” detailed a lot about what he, his family, and his friends went through growing up in Bed-Stuy. It was an eye-opener to the public and it really shed a light on what the majority of Black youth were going through. His impeccable word play captivated the minds of millions of people and with him came the money and success that he always dreamed of to take him, his mother, and his friends out of the hood. He saw himself as a father figure to the younger generation of his crew, Junior M.A.F.I.A, and fans alike. He wanted to give back to his community in as many ways as he could because he knew that he was more than just a rapper to them, he was their savior and inspirations to get out of the hood and do better for themselves.
The biggest draw from this documentary however, was how we as listeners of this constantly growing industry that is Hip-Hop choose to remember those artists that have come and gone. This is no different when it comes to The Notorious B.I.G. His impact on the rap game is still being felt nearly 24 years after his death. His illicit lyrics about his childhood upbringing, his setting, and his personal struggles are still hard hitting to this day and have inspired many people in not only New York, but also around the world to keep going and strive for something better. The subject matter he raps about in his songs usually are rarely given the full treatment that they deserve, but with Biggie, it just feels different. It represented Christopher Wallace, the human, the young man from Bed-Stuy, New York wanting to ma ke it out the hood and live a better life. That is something that millions of people around the world connect with and will never forget about. When these connections are forged, a legend is created and for that, legends never truly die, they live on for the brightest future of HipHop yet to come and generations to come.
“Considered a fool ‘cause I dropped out of highschool. Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood. And it’s still all good.”