Notorious Big Music Essay

Over the years, African Americans have significantly impacted music through their daily struggles and failures. When slaves were emancipated their music and culture came along with them. African Americans have created different genres of music such as blues, Jazz, Rock N Roll, Hip-Hop, and Rap. They used music to express themselves and communicate with each other, as well as a mode of physical survival. They have marked history for the legacy of music by relaying a powerful message in the form of a musical story and all music today captures your attention in the form of a story. In the film Notorious BIG, the musical story helped explain the culture and life stories of African Americans. African American music influences the black culture, …show more content…
Notorious is defined as being legendary for bad qualities. Biggie Smalls, the main character in Notorious BIG, grew up in a poor community and an unstable home, but Smalls was an A student. When Smalls started listening to rap music he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and selling drugs to make money. He was no longer as serious about school, but more focused on making money by participating in those illegal actions because the cool kids were looking flashy and living lavishly in his perspective. Getting caught up in the fast life placed him in jail several times. While in jail, Smalls spent long days and nights on his music. He focused on a way to tell his music in the form of a story by relating it to his life experiences. Biggie Smalls music has a sense of humor and relatability to his audience because he rapped about “the average nigga from Harlem.” He participated in rap battles on the streets for fun which first got him recognized locally. The people saw a lot of potential in him, but he did not have the right foundation to launch his career. When Smalls was introduced to Puff Daddy is when his life changed. Puff Daddy was the main one to thank for his success because he launched his music career from a local to global standpoint by giving him the sources he needed to make a lasting impact on the world. Puffy made it clear when he told Smalls “you can be the average nigga from Harlem or you can rap about the average nigga from Harlem.” This motivated Smalls to give up the streets and focusing more on his music. When the fame got prevailed, everything changed. Smalls temper got worst, his love life got more complicated and his friends turned against