Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, has now been honoured in his hometown of Brooklyn with a street being renamed after him.
The Fulton Street intersection between Gates Avenue and St. James Place, just down the road from where Biggie grew up, was renamed “Christopher Wallace Way” yesterday.
A Brooklyn street was renamed Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace Way, in honour of the late hip-hop icon yesterday.
During an event held on Monday, the Fulton Street intersection in Brooklyn, NY was renamed “Christopher Wallace Way.” Friends, family, and fans braved the rain to attend the street naming ceremony, including Notorious B.I.G.’s two children and his mother, Voletta Wallace.
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This particular area was chosen as it was where Notorious B.I.G, also known as Biggie Smalls, grew up. There have been numerous tributes to him in this area, including the Christopher “Biggie” Wallace Courts located nearby, as well as a new graffiti piece that was put up recently to mark the street renaming.
📍 St. James/Fulton 🔜 Christopher Wallace Way
Out here for the Notorious B.I.G. Street Naming 👑 pic.twitter.com/D1Bh6jMLun
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) June 10, 2019
The idea to rename the area after Biggie was first proposed in 2013 by cultural advocate LeRoy McCarthy, who has been involved in the city’s tribute to many other local musicians such as Aretha Franklin and Wu-Tang Clan.
The effort to pay tribute to Biggie was initially rejected by the community board due to objections over his lyrics, claiming that he was a bad role model for the local youth. The co-naming was finally approved last Autumn by the city council.
“Honoring Biggie symbolizes more than just one man,” McCarthy commented “it symbolizes a culture. It symbolizes a borough. It symbolizes a people, and hip-hop is worldwide.”
The renaming comes just weeks after Wu-Tang Clan were honoured with their own district in their hometown borough of Staten Island. A Brooklyn park was also named after the late Beastie Boys founding member Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch back in 2013.
Earlier this year, McCarthy stated that he was “happy that NYC officials are finally giving the city’s indigenous ‘Hip Hop’ music the respect and recognition that it deserves. It took a long time and lots of hard work to advance the Christopher Wallace Way & Wu-Tang Clan District street co-naming, but ya know what, Hip Hop Don’t Stop.”
