To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Biggie Smalls' debut album 'Ready to Die', Optimo Cigars has spread his love for Brooklyn in honor of the great MC.
Earlier this year, the company launched the Biggie Inspires art contest, in which 170 artists submitted illustrations inspired by BIG's music and style. Among the winners was Hoa Hong, who had a chance to see her artwork unveiled as a mural in Biggie's hometown of Brooklyn. Hong, a Seattle high school art teacher, was inspired by watching documentaries about The Notorious BIG and his rival friend Tupac Shakur.
"I wasn't even born when he passed away, but I grew up with a lot of hip-hop influence and watched all the Biggie and Tupac documentaries ," the 23-year-old artist told the New York Daily News. BIG's mother, Voletta Wallace, attended the event and attended the inauguration of the life-size mural located at 176 Flushing Ave. in Bedford - Stuyvesant neighborhood at the end of the rapper's Brooklyn.
"It's beautiful," said Wallace. “It gives me the creeps just knowing he's not here to see it all. It's sad, but it's also cool, nice to know that he's remembered in such a, very beautiful way. ”A second mural of Biggie Inspires, by Cinque Smith contest winner, was presented in Williamsburg, NY, and another was presented in Atlanta by Brian "JEKS" Lewis.
In addition to the murals, Optimo Cigars held a Biggie Inspires exhibition party at the William Vale Hotel in Brooklyn. At the event, several Biggie-like artworks submitted for the contest were on display. Guests at the star-studded event included Wallace, Lil 'Kim, Faith Evans, Rick Ross , Lil Cease and Biggie's sons Christopher Jordan Wallace and T'yanna Wallace, among others.
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