The Notorious BIG Comes Back to Life Through The Metaverse

Over the weekend, the hip hop world celebrated one of its pioneers, Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious BIG. May 21, 2022, officially marked what would have been the late rapper’s 50th birthday and served as not only a way to remember Wallace, who was gunned down at the age of 24 but also as a way of preserving his legacy into the future. 

Fans of the Notorious BIG now have even more reason to celebrate as it was announced that a new metaverse ecosystem would be released that memorializes the rapper and also lets fans ‘interact’ with him.

This comes just months after it was announced that an NFT collection would be released to coincide with the 25th anniversary of his passing. 

Back to Life

This new metaverse will be called ‘The Brook’. Named after the rapper’s hometown of Brooklyn, the Brook will feature a digital rendering of the Notorious BIG as, well as other staples of metaverses like events and digital locations. 

Those who want to interact with the metaverse need to set up accounts on the official website for the Brook. Once they have done this, they will be able to attend virtual events like concerts, trade NFTs, and even buy real estate.

The Brook can be accessed on desktop or mobile devices and there are also plans to incorporate VR headsets into the mix at some point.

In the years following his death, the Notorious BIG has retained his status as a hip hop icon and a pop culture fixture. There continues to be public fascination about his life and death, as well as demand from fans for all things Notorious BIG. 

With this new metaverse project, his estate is hoping to help fans connect even more to the rapper. 

As his mother, Voletta Wallace has said in a statement, “Technology continues to create opportunities that are beyond one’s imagination and I’m excited that we are stepping into the future with a beautiful rendition of a hyperrealistic avatar of my son Christopher. I’m thankful for our wonderful team of creative partners for their work to deliver Biggie into new media for his fans to enjoy.”

To bring the digital image of the Notorious BIG to life,  Remington Scott, the CEO of Hyperreal, drew inspiration from images and videos of the rapper when he was alive. The result of this is a hyperrealistic digital rendering that this new metaverse project is hoping can offer fans as close of a connection as possible. 

Metaverse Life

One of the most fascinating parts of NFTs is the way in which they can be used to power the metaverse. 

The metaverse, on the other hand, is fascinating because of its limitless potential. There seems to be so much we can do with it in terms of interaction. From its humble beginnings, we now see ourselves attending concerts, forming communities, and yes, even bringing late hip hop legends back from the dead.