Biggie's 50th Birthday: How To Celebrate In Brooklyn And Beyond

BROOKLYN, NY — This year is an important one for Brooklyn's own Biggie Smalls.

In March, family and friends marked 25 years since the late rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was tragically killed in a still-unsolved murder when he was just 24 years old.

This week, New Yorkers in Biggie's home borough and beyond will celebrate a more joyful milestone for The Notorious B.I.G.

The music icon would have turned 50 on May 21, 2022.

The celebrations will extend far beyond Biggie's former neighborhood in Bed-Stuy, including commemorative MetroCards, a lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building and the national release of a new biography about Wallace.

Here's what to know:

Empire State of Mind

The Empire State Building will wish Biggie a happy birthday "from one icon to another" with a life-size photo exhibit, a pop-up merch cart, a tower lighting and a special ceremony with the rapper's family, according to a release.

Here are details:

• ESB Lights for B.I.G. On May 21 – what would have been Wallace's 50th birthday – the Empire State Building will shine its world-famous tower lights in a dynamic red and white flashing light show, with a crown and the number "50" rotating in the building's mast. The building will host a special lighting ceremony with his children T'yanna Wallace and Christopher Wallace, Jr., his mother Ms. Voletta Wallace, and close friends James Lloyd (Lil' Cease), Kimberly Denise Jones (Lil' Kim), Faith Evans, and Jason Terrance Phillips (Jadakiss) on May 20.
• The Empire State Building Observatory Experience will feature a life-size, photorealistic avatar of B.I.G. on the 80th Floor on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21. The avatar photobooth will be available for guest viewing and photographs from 4 p.m.–9 p.m. each night.
• Only at ESB – On Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Empire State Building will host a pop-up cart to feature exclusive Notorious B.I.G. merch sold only at the Observatory. The pop-up will offer limited-edition hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts. The cart will also allow an exclusive pre-order opportunity for the Notorious B.I.G. 8-LP Box Set – slated for release on June 10 – and Biggie's 11x platinum album Life After Death cassette for purchase.

Card-Carrying Fan

The MTA has put together its own celebration of the rapper with commemorative MetroCards that New Yorkers can grab from four Brooklyn subway stations on Saturday.

The cards, which feature a portrait of the Notorious B.I.G., will be up for grabs in vending machines at Lafayette Avenue station, the Clinton-Washington Avenue G station, Clinton-Washington Avenue A/C station and the Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center station starting at 12:01 a.m. that day.

Only 50,000 will be made.

Live the Dream

Want a more thorough tour through Biggie's life? Pick up a new biography about the rapper that hit the shelves earlier this month.

The new book, titled "It Was All a Dream," was released by Abrams Press in celebration of the milestone birthday.

The Brooklyn Way

Though the neighborhood has certainly changed since Biggie Smalls held rap battles in its barbershops, New Yorkers can still stop by some remnants of the rapper's upbringing in honor of his birthday.

The St. James Place block where Wallace grew up was formally named "Christopher Wallace Way" in his honor in 2019. In a sign of those neighborhood changes, his apartment on the street was recently on the market for $4,000.

The co-name, which extends from Fulton Street to Gates Avenue, marked the end of a years-long initiative led largely by mural artist LeRoy McCarthy and the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation.

Neighbors can also stop by Christopher "Biggie" Wallace basketball courts that were named in 2017.