-- BIGGIE'S DAUGHTER SPEAKS --

HHNLive.com writer Quinton Hatfield sat down for a rare chat with 13 year-old T'yanna Wallace, the daughter of The Notorious B.I.G., on the eve of the 10th anniversary of her father's tragic death.

Quinton: Being Biggie's daughter, how do you feel about the impact he made on Hip-Hop?

T'Yanna: He made a good impact and he changed Hip-Hop for the better not for the worse.

Quinton: What's it like when you meet people and you tell them your Biggie's daughter?

T'Yanna: Some of them be like "oh that's cool" but they don't appreciate it as much as an adult who was around when my dad was alive. They seem to know more about him.

Quinton: Do people respect you for being B.I.G.'s daughter?

T'Yanna: Some give respect and some don't at all. Most of them do though which are the ones I hang out with.

Quinton: What do you miss most about your father and what are some of your favorite Biggie songs?

T'Yanna: I just miss him. I can't pick just one thing. I was so young when he passed away. One of my favorite songs is "Warning". I love that song.

Quinton: If he was alive today, do you think he would be the best rapper in Hip-Hop and why?

T'Yanna: Of course he would still be the best. It's because he was a great story-teller. He could tell a story so well and make you be like "wow that's crazy".

Quinton: Why do you think so many people love and respect your dad?

T'Yanna: Because he was great at what he did and he knew how to tell a story like no other. I haven't known a person yet that can do that. Some come close but they can't do it as good as he could.

Quinton: What do you like to call him? Notorious B.I.G.? Big Poppa? Biggie?

T'Yanna: Dad [laughs], but if I'm referring to something I'll be like "give me that Biggie shirt" or stuff like that.

Quinton: How is your relationship with Diddy?

T'Yanna: That's my uncle Puff, I love him. He's busy a lot though. When he doesn't get to talk to me or my brother as much as he can I know it's not personal. It's because he's really busy all the time, but I love him for that.

Quinton: You know Puff is a hustler!

T'Yanna: [Laughs] Yeah!

Quinton: Who are some of your favorite rappers today?

T'Yanna: I like Young Jeezy, T.I., The Game, Jay-Z, I like everybody I'm not a picky person.

Quinton: I appreciate the interview T'Yanna. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that love your father and his music?

T'Yanna: I just want to say thank you for all of the support. It's all been great!

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND ITS ARTISTS REMEMBER BIGGIE

Biggie is an inspirational artist that made a tremendous impact on the world with his music. Biggie's Legacy lives on forever through his music. I am honored to be a part of the BIG LEGACY with the launch of the new clothing line NOTORIOUS BIG and also the relaunch of Brooklyn Mint.

I am a BIGGIE fanatic and have the greatest amount of respect for the lyrical genius..

Rick Edwards
Director of Marketing
Notorious BIG clothing
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Well when you think of Biggie you think of pure greatness. Brooklyn was Brooklyn but it became BK when B.I.G. hit the scene, maybe it was timing maybe it was luck. Whatever it was he put BK on his back. The first time I met him was at the Outkast Southernplayalistic Picnic in the early 90's. It was around the time I heard "Unbelievable". At that point I knew what time it was with dude. As a student of hip hop you wonder what it would be like if B.I.G. lived through the Neptunes, Lil Jon, Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, Just Blaze era. He missed all of that era; he missed what made other MC's great. With all that being said it's still a wonder that he still competes. B.I.G was the best of all worlds, he went from ashy to classy...and we all respected him for that!
DJ MARS
THE PRESIDENT
THE EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
WWW.SUPERFRIENDSMIXTAPES.COM
WWW.WORLDFAMOUSSUPERFRIENDS.COM
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I had the opportunity to be a part of the Bad Boy street team. When Big first jumped on the scene, we would hit clubs all through NYC and hand out CDs, stickers and tees to anyone and everyone we could. I never met BIG, but I was at a 112 party and stood about 30 ft from the notorious one. And just like his impact on the rap game, Big was an incredible presence. Although I never met him, I felt like I knew him, almost like a best friend. Big's music represented some of the best times of my life growing up, various parties, friends, trips and of course certain shorties that passed through my life. If Big were alive today, I would kiss his ring like the true Frank White would only have it. He is a legend, an inspiration, and a friend through music. I remember the day he died like it was yesterday, I went out the night before, got drunk, surely danced to his records, slept late and when I heard my alarm go off to get me up for work, Angie Martinez broke the news to me via radio. I sat still for hours, never went to work, and just played BIG all day to show my appreciation for his gift through music. BIG Forever, never forget that!!!

J Hatch
CEO
Inasirkl Music Group
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BIG was especially important to me because he reestablished the dominance of Brooklyn in hip-hop music. My borough has a long and rich tradition in hip-hop and BIG will forever stand at the forefront of that movement.

As far as emceeing is concerned BIG was probably the best in terms of execution and clarity. He was very precise in terms of his flow and cadence. His wordplay was ridiculous but not too complex or "over your head". He knew how to get the ladies involved without losing the dudes. He made the other rappers from that era pay more attention to their lyrics. When the number one rap artist is also a great lyricist it raises the level of everyone else's music. BIG made that happen.

I can remember waking up Sunday morning on March 9th and hearing Angie Martinez crying on Hot 97. I was wondering why she was on air so early. When I turned the volume up I heard that BIG had died. It was crazy cause I was up taping music late Saturday night and had just caught some exclusives from the Life After Death album on tape. Then my phone started ringing off the hook. It was like one of your loved ones died. I can remember Fat Joe calling in to the radio station and blacking out. He delivered the classic line "I'm in a state of confusement!" To this day me and the homies still quote that line.

D.Shanks, HHNLIVE.COM Staff Writer
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I can still remember when I first heard "Party & Bullsh#t". He had a command over the mic like I hadn't heard since Rakim moved the crowd. I loved "Juicy", because while other emcees focused on the struggle and nihilism of ghetto life, Big nuanced it by including a description of triumph over tribulations. He ruled the summers, and even made the want-to-be thugs want to grab a shortie and pull her on the dance floor. When Pac died I was extremely sad and disappointed. When Big died I was angry. I think hip hop collectively cried "enough!" Enough of the media fueled and in some cases, created, beef and animosity.

Haysoos
Hazmatic Records
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Although B.I.G. left an indelible mark on the culture of hip hop, it is something that was lost on me 10 years ago. No one could have ever predicted that the music game would change the way it has, not just for a region but the culture as a whole. Only recently have I really come to realize how relevant and important he was to the culture. I say was because I think honestly as we move thru the years it becomes harder to make the younger generation realize what they are missing out on by not having him in the game or being able to experience Biggie, the way a fan should. A man that single handedly held down and revived a coast while personifying swagger and charisma, there will never be another.

AJ
Disturbing tha Peace Records (DTP)
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I think biggie meant a lot to the streets to hip-hop and 2me because as a fan and a child of hip-hop he gave me a different approach to doing this music thing. I wanted to write stories like he did. I think I tried 2 mimic his style in that sense. When big died apart of hip-hop died and its crazy when somebody gets killed in the streets it's easy 2catch him but in hip-hop the cases are unsolved...B.I.G. thanks my g..you will always be here in hip hop forever..baby..baaby!!!

Bathgate
Capital Gang Records
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I think that Biggie brought flamboyance to the game and you don't see that in a lot of East Coast artists now that he's gone. Biggie had a colorful, fun, radiance about himself. If it wasn't for Biggie, Coogie wouldn't have took of in the urban community cuz those were colorful.

Biggie was one of the first rappers I know that was doing verses without writing it down on paper. I know a lot of rappers that do that now and that's due to Biggie. When he died, the happy times died with him. Everyone is too serious now in the rap game. Biggie's aura was natural. Rappers now put girls in their video with almost nothing on and it seems like their trying to force the fun image on the audience.

Biggies gone but we'll always love Big Poppa.

Littles
Best Of The Block Inc.
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BIG, like Pac, too me was the greatest of all time. When it comes to inspiration, BIG is one of the reasons I talk about what I talk about in my music. BIG defines Hip Hop and was influential in my early days as an MC.

Romey
GET RICH RECORDS
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BIG is the greatest lyricist ever. He was incredible with the wordplay and incredible with storytelling.. Biggie was real and you could feel his music, from the gutter songs to the party records, I really felt him through his music. He has inspired me as an artist. A true legend.

CTE Recording Artist
Roccett
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The first time I heard Ready to Die (I was young and living in the Midwest, so this album was my first real introduction to Biggie) I just knew it was going to be one of those defining albums of our generation. Within a few months of its release, almost everyone I knew had that album. It didn't matter if you were a hip hop fan, rock fan, whatever. You knew Biggie and you liked Biggie. Even today, he's making news on everything from hip hop websites to indie rock sites like PitchforkMedia.com http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/37021/Biggie_Becomes_Action_Figure which speaks to how significant his impact was on modern music and pop culture. And his music STILL sounds fresh, even a decade later. Biggie's a constant on my iPod, and I still get Biggie songs stuck in my head.

Kimberly Trick
The Orchard
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I'm going to get straight to the point. I personally believe a man like Biggie would respect this approach if he were still with us. R.I.P.

For all of the true 'heads' that have been following him from the start, we know that Christopher Wallace paved the way for every single rapper that came after him. But, there seems to be a good handful of rappers these days that (I think) weren't paying attention to the flawless example he made of himself every time a verse passed through his lips. However, there are also some rappers that fully absorbed his lyrical genius, learned from it and are using it to their advantage to this very day. There are rappers that understood what Biggie was about and respect that he was damn good at his craft. If you know like I know about the Notorious B.I.G, you know that he was to Hip-Hop what Da Vinci was to art, what Einstein was Science, what Garret Morgan was to traffic. He was fundamental. He was, is and always will be the greatest rapper of all time. Period.

**For the readers, go pick up a copy of The Source (March) and XXL (April). Both magazines did a great job of keeping Big Poppas memory alive.

Chanel E. Blair
HHNLive.com Staff Writer
--

I was a big fan of biggie. I'm from Brooklyn, born and raised and I think any and everyone from the borough could relate to him because he seemed like such a real dude. That being said, I have a real good memory of when he died. My brother woke me with the news and I thought he was joking until I turned on the radio. Angie was on Hot 97 in tears over the whole thing, and fans from all over the city were calling in doing the same. I felt like I lost a member of my family. I realized the amount of love people in this city had for him on that day. The week that followed was rough too, with the procession through the streets of BK. I wanted to go, but I instead watched the whole thing on TV. It was a sad time, not only for hip hop, but for music on the whole. I really feel like his best work was in front of him. It's a real shame too that his murder is still unsolved, given so many witnessed it. Hopefully the years ahead will bring some closure to the whole thing. It's still hard to believe that the whole thing happened 10 years ago, because I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

Omar Ellis
Senior Project Manager, ICED Media
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Biggie is by far one of the most influential artists to ever do it. He gave birth to the Don MC. He paved the way for the more elite artists of today. His story, songs, his flow, word play and persona personify what it means to be a rap star. His presence is missed, but his legacy continues!

Willie The Kid
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Biggie was my very FIRST interview, so I guess you can say he started me off on this writing thing. What I most remembered about Biggie during the interview was one question that stood out when I learned he was killed. I asked him where did he see himself in 10 years and he responded, ‘Dead!'. When my mother told me she heard that he passed on Hot 97 (New York) I jumped out of bed and went to the magazine I wrote for, ‘One Nut' and checked the article again and there it was in black and white. Chills went through my spine. He said none of his friends lived passed 25 and he died at the age of 25! Otherwise, he was my favorite rapper and was one of the coolest artists I had the pleasure of knowing.

BIG CED
The Industry Cosign/TheSource.com