DESPITE its hardcore dancehall fan base, organisers of the Boxing Day concert Sting were keen on having American rapper Biggie Smalls (aka Notorious B.I.G.) as part of the line-up for its 1996 staging at Jamworld in Portmore, St Catherine.

“At the time, Biggie was dubbed the number one rapper in the world, and we brought him and he delivered,” Isaiah Laing, event conceptualiser, told the Jamaica Observer.

“We didn’t have a problem in getting him on the show. He was one of the easiest foreign artistes mi ever get to come to Jamaica. Biggie’s only concern was that his foot was broken, but I said: ‘Come anyway’. He was in a wheelchair and him jus’ come, and we signed him for the show,” Laing continued.

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.

Laing believes his Jamaican roots made the rapper’s decision to come to Jamaica a bit easier.

“Biggie believed he was Jamaican, so he wanted to come here and perform. The first thing he asked for when he came was ‘the good ganja weed’,” Laing said with a chuckle. “He arrived in Jamaica on the day of the show, stayed overnight at the Pegasus hotel and flew out the following day,” Laing continued.

Biggie Smalls’ given name is Christopher Wallace. His mother was Voletta Wallace, a Trelawny native. Today marks 25 years since the American rapper was murdered in a drive-by shooting in California on March 9, 1997 at the age of 24.

American acts Kris Kross, Busta Rhymes and DMX have all appeared on Sting. But, Laing feels Biggie’s set was the most memorable.

“Sting always bring the artistes when them at number one and Biggie was the best. He was at the top of his game then and what made the show so special was that he did it in a wheelchair,” said the former ace crimefighter.

Laing said he is confident that Sting was the American rapper’s last concert before he passed.

“He left Jamaica on the 27th of December, 1996, and he died in March 1997. For a 24-year-old youth to be dubbed the greatest rapper the world has ever seen, is not normal. That youth was special and one of the best human beings you could ever find,” he added.

Sting, first held in 1984, was last staged in 2015.

Notorious B.I.G. — through his partnership with Bad Boy Records’ CEO Sean “Puffy” Combs — is known for songs such as Juicy, Big Poppa, One More Chance, Get Money, Hypnotize, and Mo Money Mo Problems.