Over twenty years after the murder of The Notorious B.I.G., the musical pantry is bare and fans will take any new crumbs they can get. It’s in the spirit of feeding the hungry that we offer you a previously unreleased freestyle from 1997, which has now come to light in a (sigh) Pepsi commercial.
Via TMZ, Biggie laid down the lyrics in an appearance on the New York radio station Hot 97. Afterwards, it pretty much disappeared — until now. In defense of the makers of sugar water, it really is a whole entire verse about Pepsi. He raps, “Big slam, quick slam, tin can, whatever/ Whether too cold or too hot/ You got to keep Pepsi in the freezer/ I keep a 3 liter for my crew/ My girl like them diet joints too.” Ask not why Biggie Smalls keeps his soft drinks in the freezer, and instead enjoy a vintage rhyme scheme with a carbonated flow.
The animated commercial features faceless creatures dressed in color blocks who patronize a corner store called B.I.G.’s Bodega. Inside, somebody’s cooking a “T-bone steak, cheese eggs,” but no sign of the mandatory Welch’s grape, as Biggie rapped in “Big Poppa”. In another nice touch, the address is 546, which is a reference to the Ready to Die classic “Warning” (“Who the fuck is this?/ Paging me at 5:46 in the morning?”) We also see street signs for the corner of St. James and Fulton, which was recently renamed Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace Way. Finally, the advertisement gives B.I.G. a shoutout as a member of the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hunt for more easter eggs yourself in the commercial below.
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In further proof that legends never die, Notorious B.I.G.’s plastic “King of New York” crown recently fetched $594,000 at auction.
