On March 9, 1997, Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls, was gunned down in LA. Arguably the greatest lyricist of all time, he has inspired not only myself, but countless other visual artists, especially in the street art form that is graffiti. Looking at the images below, I don’t think it’s a stretch to state that cartoons and animation had a little bit of influence as well.

I know there are differing thoughts on the role of graffiti in society, so I’ll leave that heavy issue for another post, but I will say this: Your tagger name and/or initials scribbled on a wall does NOT mean it is art! Have some inspiration or meaning behind anything you put up for goodness sakes. Plus, everybody’s scribbled their name on a wall at some point, be original please.

RIP Biggie Smalls