Biggie Gets a Street Named After Him in Brooklyn 22 Years After His Murder

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It’s been over 2 decades since rap legend Biggie’s untimely death but he’s now being commemorated in his neighborhood with his very own street. In the middle of a downpour, community leaders, elected officials and even Lil Kim stood outside at the corner of St. James Place and Fulton Street, now known as Christopher Wallace Way. And just steps away at 226 St. James Place was where he was raised. “I always knew this day was gonna come,” Kim said, reminiscing on their time together in the 90s when the late rapper discovered her. “I used to dream about a street being named after Biggie, because it was only right.”

The street renaming was first proposed by fans in 2013 but was shot down by civic leaders who stated he was a bad role model for youth at the time. It wasn’t until the fall of 2018 that it was passed by city council according to City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo. “[Gentrifiers] want to erase the history, they want to put up new cafes and boutiques and push us out of our community. That’s why this sign is important today — so that the history of this place is told to our children and our children’s children,” she said.

BIG’s mother Voletta Wallace said “This street is going to be a love street. People are going to come here and they’re going to know that a young man, my son, was living here.” She went on to say “My son was well loved” and that the street renaming brought about “happy tears.”

His son, CJ Wallace, who was in attendance recently created his own cannabis company that just launched in April has said his father was the inspiration behind his entrepreneurial decision. “I know he would want to go further, you know. He would have definitely been way ahead of this back in 2012, when it was still black market. He would have been out there,” he stated. “And I feel that whenever I’m—whenever I’m working on projects and stuff. I just feel his energy and his spirit all throughout me.” One of the items he’s selling are pre-rolled joints called “Frank White,” meant to inspire creativity but also helps those affected by the war on drugs.

“In California, we came out with a very exclusive pre-roll pack with Lowell Farms. And 10% of the proceeds of each pack sold go to the California Prison Arts Project, which helps bring arts into the prisons and once—incarcerated people—when they’re out of prison, that have something that they’ve been working on and can get a job,” said Wallace.

For the newcomers in Brooklyn who have sought to keep CJ’s father’s legacy out of their neighborhood, it’s good to see that he’s been able to take what some have seen as a negative and attempted to right the wrongs of history by helping the community legally doing something his father should have been able to do.