Notorious B.I.G. & Jackie Robinson Legacies Stand Tall, Unite In New York City

Written By S. Samuel

Diehard Notorious B.I.G. fans outside of New York should start planning a summer trip to the Big Apple as a huge High Line billboard remembering the late rapper is now up for public observation.

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Along with Biggie Smalls, the must-see billboard also pays homage to late baseball icon Jackie Robinson.

Today marked the debut of the latest High Line Billboard commission, for which redoubtable Twitter force and artist Raymond Pettibon has turned in a billboard-sized version of his 2010 drawing “No Title (Safe he called…)” showing a dramatic baseball scene at home plate rendered in his characteristic style with thick lines and handwritten notes. The drawing captures one of Brooklyn Dodgers legend and notorious base-stealer Jackie Robinson’s many times stealing home base, as indicated by the text on the right. To the left, with the quotation “Where Brooklyn At?,” Pettibon references a legendary Hot 95 freestyle by late Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G. Below, the words “Moses: ‘Out!'” are a play on baseball terminology, but also an allusion to Robert Moses, the infamous New York City chief of parks, roads, and public housing, who was largely responsible for the Dodgers’ relocation from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. (Art Info)

The artist responsible for the creation will reportedly have his artwork on display through July 1st.

Though far less summery than Ryan McGinley‘s billboard, which brought a refreshing and cool blue silhouette to the park-adjacent billboard at West 18th Street, Pettibon’s work (which is on view through July 1) is nonetheless seasonally appropriate, with its focus on America’s national pastime just as New York’s climate cranks up the heat. This isn’t Pettibon’s only major project in West Chelsea: his next solo show at David Zwirner, slated for the dealer’s 519 West 19th Street location, will launch the gallery’s fall season in September. (Art Info)

There is also a Notorious B.I.G. mural in the late rap star’s New York borough.

More than a decade after his passing, the Notorious B.I.G. is still making an impact on people, especially in the New York borough he came up in. The late rapper is at the center of a little controversy over a mural piece of the legendary hip-hop figure at a Brooklyn restaurant called Habana Outpost. Sean Meenan, owner of the solar-powered restaurant, commissioned a mural of Biggie that re-painted over a previous piece of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, complete with the restaurant’s “H” logo in place of the red star on the guerilla’s cap. (Baller Status)

Along with paintings and artwork, B.I.G.’s legacy lives on through his daughter T’yanna Wallace who recently launched a clothing line.

I love it when you call me … BIG CLOTHING MOGUL — at least, that’s what Christopher Wallace’s daughter is aspiring to become after launching a fashion line named after her dad. 19-year-old T’yanna Wallace has officially hit the market with “Notoriouss” — a line of shirts and other fashion items. One interesting point — one of the t-shirt designs has imagery of guns on the front — an odd choice considering the manner in which Wallace died back in 1997. (TMZ)

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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