A Behind The Scenes Look Into the Murder of Biggie Smalls From The NYPD Detective Leading The Investigation
When I first heard Biggie’s music I took to it because he was a great lyricist and he was from New York. At the time, you heard from a lot of West coast rappers but Biggie was talking about real life problems and was from the East coast.
He was ours. And Tupac was theirs.
Biggie’s music really spoke to me. He was one of my favorite rap artists. He had all the potential of becoming bigger than ever. I remember thinking, “I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Fast forward a few years. After his death, I was now leading the Rap Intelligence Unit as a Detective in the NYPD. Once Biggie died, I knew it was about to go down. I was a fan first, so I knew all about the East Coast/West Coast beef. My gut told me that this was the start of something bigger than our city had ever seen.
I told one of my supervisors, the inspector admin, my gut feeling. And you know what he said?
“What does that have to do with us? They don’t kill people in rock & roll.”
The next thing I know, I am handling Biggie’s funeral and I’m on the phone with the LAPD’s Police Commissioner, teaching him the ins and outs of the east coast/west coast rivalry. “I told you” so couldn’t have been more apparent in my voice.
On the day of Biggie’s funeral, I will never forget sitting in my police car as part of what could only be described as a parade for the late artist. I’ve never seen anything like it.
They drove Biggie’s body from Manhattan to Brooklyn. It was madness. Fans were watching from the windows, trying to throw themselves at the hearse for just one touch of Biggie Smalls.
The chief sat from borough to borough in utter disbelief.
And the funeral wasn’t just a security risk because of the fans. We had death threats and bomb threats coming in. I mean, Puffy, Lil Kim and Faith Evans were all facing death threats at the funeral. This was a big security detail. Luckily, nothing occurred.
The end of the funeral signaled the beginning of the investigation.
Here’s what I’ll say about it.
In May 2021, retired FBI agent Phil Carson, who worked the case for two years, spoke to The New York Post and unleashed a bombshell. He claims Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight financed the hit on Biggie Smalls. And, to my personal knowledge, this is true. Again, “I told you so” running through my mind as I read this news brief.
Even so, it’s sad that his life ended so quickly. He is yet another example of a hip hop artist being silenced before their time.
He was truly a fantastic artist and to this day is one of my favorites. RIP Biggie Smalls.