Diddy and Mary J Blige honour the Notorious B.I.G
- 00:01:48
- ITN
Diddy and Mary J Blige honour the Notorious B.I.G
Mary J Blige and Sean 'Diddy' Combs hit the red carpet in the Big Apple New York to honour their friend Notorious B.I.G. The rapper, whose real name is Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997 and a feature film about his life, Notorious, has just been released. Combs first met Wallace after signing him to his record label in 1992 and said the movie reveals things about him most people do not know. "It's important that people get a chance to see who Christopher Wallace was. This movie makes you dance. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry but it makes you respect life," he said. Wallace grew up in Brooklyn with his mother and was a crack dealer before he tapped into his talent as a rapper. He went on to achieve tremendous success thanks to his beats and rhymes but throughout his short life violence and the remnants of gang life followed him. In the movie, Notorious B.I.G, who also went by the name Biggie Smalls, is played by Brooklyn rapper Jamal Woolard. Woolard was cast by Wallace's mother Violetta who said she instantly knew that he was the one who had to play her son in the movie.
ITN | January 8, 2009
