Biggie was the face of East Coast rap, representing Brooklyn, New York.
They didn't have much interest until 1997, with the murder of Biggie Smalls.
Tupac responded by releasing Hit Em Up, which targeted Biggie, Combs and members of Biggie's Junior Mafia crew, as well as the prominent east-coast outfit Mobb Deep.
After that came the Biggie memorial, with Mr. Combs lost in a reverie until the D.J. began playing some of Biggie's biggest hits — "One More Chance (remix)," "Juicy," "Hypnotized" — which turned into rap-alongs, opportunities for full-room catharsis.
Immediately I heard a clip of Biggie Smalls hollering, "Where Brooklyn at?" looped on the arena's sound system.
Juicy was a loose autobiographical account of Biggie's rise to the top of Brooklyn's hip-hop scene.
"When you think about Biggie, you gotta say Tupac," said Josh Du Love, 27, a Bed-Stuy resident who came in the guise of Biggie's foe, Tupac Shakur, complete with shaved head and bandanna.
His popularity has long outstripped that of Biggie – as well as the other New York rappers mentioned above – both in terms of record sales (he's sold twice as many albums as Biggie) and passionate fandom worldwide.
8.47pm / 1.47am: Cornel now onto religion and how the death of Biggie "unsettled" Jay-Z's faith.
The video, itself described as infamous, includes impersonations of Biggie, Puffy and Lil Kimm.
