East Coast hip-hop royalty will be front and center with a new documentary about Notorious B.I.G.
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Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. is set to air on A&E on Sept. 4. The three-hour special will go deep on the GRAMMY-nominated rapper, with archival audio and video footage as well as interviews with rappers Jay Z, Nas and Sean "Diddy" Combs, among others.
A&E has described the doc as "the first biography to be authorized by Biggie Smalls' estate." The rapper's mother, Violetta Wallace, and his widow, Faith Evans, are the film's executive producers.
In a pair of just-released trailers, Jay Z and Diddy speak to how Notorious B.I.G. changed the game for hip-hop.
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"He used words that wasn't typical for the lexicon of hip-hop," said Jay Z. "His confidence gave so many guys confidence."
"B.I.G. was the greatest artist I ever worked with," added Diddy.
On March 9, 1997, Notorious B.I.G. — born Christopher Wallace — was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Considered one of the most influential rappers ever, he helped raise the profile of the burgeoning New York hip-hop scene in the '90s under Combs' Bad Boy Records umbrella.
Released just two weeks following his death, Biggie's double-disc album, Life After Death, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album would go on to earn a posthumous nomination for Best Rap Album at the 40th GRAMMY Awards.
