Christopher Wallace Jr. was just 3 months old when his father, the Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down in L.A. back in 1997. But CJ has learned — through family, friends and the media — just how great his dad was.
While he never got to know his pops, he has gotten the chance to work with him. The "One More Chance" remix, featuring CJ, is one of the must-hear records from the soundtrack to the Biggie biopic "Notorious." The preteen's voice is nowhere near as husky as his dad's endearing tone, but CJ shows his hip-hop pedigree by mimicking Biggie's flow and taking over some of the lyrics on the song.
"I stay Coogi down to the socks/ Rings and watch filled with rocks," CJ raps over the original beat. "And my jam knock in your Mitsubishi/ Girls pee-pee when they see me/ Navajos creep me in they teepee/ As I lay down laws like Island Carpet/ Stop it, if you think you're gonna make a profit."
The more adult material from the song is still handled by the senior Wallace.
Later, CJ returns with some of the song's signature lines: "Once ya grin, I'm in, game begin/ First, I talk about how I dresses this/ In diamond necklaces, stretch Lexuses."
Both father and son close the song out with the lines: "Lyrically, I'm supposed to represent/ I'm not only the client, I'm the playa president."
"CJ was 3 and a half months when Christopher died," Voletta Wallace said of her son and grandson over the weekend in New York. "We watched his father's work. We talked about it. Of course, I discussed his father a lot. He saw his father's pictures a lot. I talked. The love is there. There's no question asked."
While father and son get top billing, let's not forget Big's widow and CJ's mom, Faith Evans, who sings the hook on the record. It's a historic family affair.
Evans' soul-stamped vocals also help Jadakiss articulate his emotions to the late King of New York on "Letter to Big." 'Kiss raps as if he's talking directly to Biggie. "Dear Christopher 'Frank White' Wallace/ In your memory, I keep a Coogi in my closet/ Kangol on the rack and fresh pair of Wallys."
Kiss also updates him on how Jr. M.A.F.I.A. broke up and puts Big up on the state of hip-hop. "Everybody is 'the king' now, you ain't gotta be nice/ Getting shot is the thing now," he raps. "Game has got cheaper, rappers are more commercially successful now/ But the heart's a lot weaker."
As 'Kiss nears the song's ending, he addresses Puff Daddy and Biggie's children: "I ain't on the label no more, but I'm tighter with Diddy/ ... T'Yanna is so pretty/ CJ turned into little Biggie/ Just a little lighter, but so witty."
Faith sings somber sentiments laced with hope: "We try so hard to understand why you had to go away/ ... We just keep our heads to the sky, 'cause we know we're gonna see you in the next lifetime."
The soundtrack includes a bevy of Biggie's greatest musical accomplishments, such as "Juicy" and "Warning." Three demo records are also included in the set. One is called "Love No Ho," on which the Brooklyn mic hero tells his girlfriend to take a long walk off a short peer.
"This bi--- is in the back of my mind," Big says on the song intro before telling one of his boys he wrote a rhyme about her. "Thinking what this ho said, she called me a thief/ She said I stole her heart and didn't leave a trace/ ... Walked out my door with my Walkman in my pocket/ Playing 'Love Is a House,' and thinking how she jockin'."
Apparently, the lady was upset Biggie spent more time in the studio making music than chasing females. Thank goodness for us.
"Microphone Murderer" which was re-created for "Notorious," displays a rookie Big who even back then was a better rapper than a lot of veterans. In the film and in real life, the freestyle turned out to be a major part of getting him signed to Uptown Records by Sean "Puffy" Combs. Puff was later fired from Uptown and started Bad Boy with Biggie and Craig Mack as his crown jewels.
"The B.I.G. moves swifter than a ninja," Big raps over a sample of the Emotions' "Blind Alley." (The sample has also been used on tracks such as Wrexx n Effects' "Rump Shaker" and Big Daddy Kane's "Ain't No Half Steppin'.") "Even on stickups, I'm the masked avenger/ Keeps my eyes open and the case closed/ No eye witnesses or names exposed/ ... It's the heavy-set one, with the big gun and the sweet tongue/ Shaking down everyone/ Loot like Michael Jackson, kicks like Bo Jackson, bi---es like Freddy Jackson."
The soundtrack to "Notorious" is scheduled for January 13. The film will be in theaters January 16. MTV News has some B.I.G. things on the horizon surrounding both releases — stay tuned for more in the coming days.
Smuggled from MTV.com
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