Biggie’s buzz at Sting
ON Boxing Day, 1996, superstar rapper Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) made his way on stage for Sting, at Jamworld in Portmore, St Catherine.
The occasion was memorable for two reasons: Sting was a hard-core dancehall show, and the rotund Biggie delivered his set in a wheelchair as his broken leg was in a cast.
Isaiah Laing, founder of Sting, explained the reason behind having the rapper on dancehall’s biggest show.
“Rap and dancehall are like cousins; notice how rap music came out of dancehall. Biggie, at that time, was the biggest rapper in the world. We went and talked to him about it and it was not hard like people thought it would be,” Laing told the Sunday Observer. “It was actually easy, especially since he has Jamaican connections. We flew him out on the morning of the 26th and he did the show in the night at 2:30 am. He brought out the Get Rich Crew as well. It was a good 15-minute performance.”
According to the LA Times, the Brooklyn-born rapper broke his leg in three places in a car accident on September 13, 1996 and was hospitalised for over two months.
Notorious B.I.G. (given name Christopher Wallace) had Jamaican ties through his mother Voletta Wallace, a Trelawny native. He was murdered in a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997 at the age of 24. This month marks 20 years since his death.
Laing said Sting was Biggie Smalls’ last international performance.
Regarded as the greatest rapper of all time, Notorious B.I.G — through his partnership with Bad Boy Records CEO Sean “Puffy” Combs — is known for songs like Juicy, Big Poppa, One More Chance, Get Money, Hypnotize andMo Money Mo Problems.
