Fat Lace Magazine

BIG #1

Our first BIG post today is dedicated to the Notorious one. We’ve not seen the film, nor do we particularly want to see it. Really, what’s the point? Maybe we’ve grown up and have zero interest in a modern portrayal of BIG, we felt his records in ’94, by ’96 we were done. He was a dope rapper and will always be remembered for that but it’s hard to intellectualise him as an artist. Despite his greatness, let’s face it, the real story behind his death is actually more intriguing than Biggie as an individual. We’ll stick to nerding out with some obscure vinyl only highlights or as we more famously did in Issue #2 of Fat Lace Magazine, perform an autopsy on him. Before he was killed might we add.

OK, maybe we’ll probe a little deeper in his defence. In our comments section we were alerted to this article from The Guardian online. The piece obviously written from a ‘Eurocentric’ view point does raise some interesting issues but misses the point entirely, that rap is entertainment. Biggie is often placed on a pedestal but Biggie as a character was portrayed by the actor Christopher Wallace. He was probably an occasional drug dealer at worst before he rapped, nothing more. He was then exploited like most artists, only then enabling his lyrical fantasies to become reality. Scarface was put on a pedestal but we’ll bet money that the Harlem born Al Pacino was a small time hustler of sorts at some point in his life before the papes came. When Rudy Giuliani became mayor of New York we’re certain the Mafia didn’t suddenly stop their prostitution rackets because they had a high profile role model. The Guardian piece just demonises Rap. It’s no better than a tabloid headline about Snoop. Sure, the self-esteem of many African Americans and beyond just got a shot in the arm and that will reap dividends but you can’t blame the actions of Biggie and the generations of young Black men before him on the fact that America didn’t have a Black President. America has a Black President now so suddenly people won’t shoot each other and health care will be free. Yeah right. Notorious is an appreciation of a great entertainer, a fairly poor appreciation by all accounts but an appreciation nonetheless and as we all know martyrdom amplifies the achievements of all great human beings. The 2Pac feature length will no doubt come. Now if Obama’s position manifests real societal change that will be welcomed by all but we’ll still want to be entertained. We’ll still take De La Soul and Geto Boys in equal measures.

Now the nerd-out…

Party & Bullshit (Album Version)