BIGGIE, “IT WAS A DREAM”
The Doc 'I Got A Story To Tell' on Netflix
Most recent film and television projects about the Brooklyn-born rapper Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie) focus on his death (still unsolved) in a 1997 Los Angeles drive-by shooting.
In the 2009 biopic film Notorious, director George Tillman Jr. (The Hate U Give) opens with Biggie’s murder and then uses flashbacks to tell his life story.
Biggie was part of the East Coast/West Coast feud with hip hop musician Tupac Shakur. Their music and pop culture history were cemented after their unsolved murders in the mid-to-late 90s. Notorious’ star Jamal Woolard reprised his role as Biggie in the 2017 Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me, which ends with Shakur’s 1996 murder.
And on the small screen, in 2018, the USA Network’s true crime anthology series Unsolved devoted its entire first season to The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.
However, Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell shares his story in a different way. This film avoids the true-crime angle to focus on the rapper’s life.
According to USA Today, the documentary uses rare footage from Biggie’s life. It was shot by Damion “D-Roc” Butler, his former manager and a close friend.
The film features Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Biggie signed with Combs’ Bad Boy Records label upon its launch in 1993. Combs was an Executive Producer for the documentary along with Mark Pitts. Pitts also produced music with Biggie. Biggie’s mom and advocate, Violetta Wallace, is also credited as an EP. Combs, Pitts, and Wallace were among the producers of the 2009 film Notorious.
“Biggie” features his wife, Faith Evans (recently seen in the film Girl’s Trip and Netflix’s Luke Cage). In 2018, Evans married Stevie J., who produced Combs’ debut studio album No Way Out, which also featured Biggie.
This music doc comes from director Emmett Malloy (one-half of the sibling directing duo “The Malloys,” with his brother Brendan). The Malloys are best known for producing videos for a wide range of metal, indie, and alternative rock artists. They include Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” Vampire Weekend’s “Holiday,” and Metallica’s “St. Anger.”
Malloy has helmed a few documentaries on the feature side, including 2009’s Under Great White Northern Lights, which provided a look at the Canadian tour for The White Stripes’ album “Icky Thump.” He also co-directed the surf documentary Thicker Than Water with his film school friend, the singer/songwriter Jack Johnson.
Biggie’s influence continues in countless songs across genres. Last year, Biggie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
