Biggie Smalls

The Fascinating Last Photographs of Famous People

This week marks the 32nd anniversary of Rolling Stone’s famous cover featuring a portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. It was the last professional photo captured of the iconic musician, who was killed hours later outside his apartment in New York City. We’re discounting the chilling image fan Paul Goresh took of Lennon and Chapman that fateful morning.

“What is interesting is she said she’d take her top off and I said, ‘Leave everything on’ — not really preconceiving the picture at all,” Leibovitz told the magazine. “Then he curled up next to her and it was very, very strong. You couldn’t help but feel that he was cold and he looked like he was clinging on to her. I think it was amazing to look at the first Polaroid and they were both very excited. John said, ‘You’ve captured our relationship exactly. Promise me it’ll be on the cover.’ I looked him in the eye and we shook on it.”

Leibovitz had only planned to photograph Lennon, but the image of the couple turned out to be one of her most famous portraits and would define one of the most talked about relationships in pop culture history. We scouted for other fascinating photographs that perhaps offer some insight into the final days of famous people. See more photos after the jump. … Read More

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What's on at Flavorpill: Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we judged poets by the thickness of their beards. We wanted this Harry Potter theme/Biggie remix to be Flavorwire’s official song. We were excited by the news that Spike Jonze is working with Arcade Fire on a short film. We feared the Twitter wrath of Ice T and… Read More

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Daily Dose Pick: Emily Wells

One-woman band Emily Wells marries classical composition to hip-hop and jazz, using her loop pedal to cement the union.

Wells has released two albums to date, but gained the most notoriety for her loving interpretation of Biggie Smalls’ “Juicy,” featured on her new EP Dirty. Live, Wells recreates her elaborately layered studio constructions by playing and looping herself on multiple violin, keyboard, and vocal tracks, constructing full, lush symphonies from just a handful of materials. … Read More

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Why Notorious’s Hip-Hop Nostalgia Could Equal Box Office Gold

Standard restroom conversations snippets after biopics include “it wasn’t like that” and “tell me something I don’t know.” Notorious (which opens this Friday), the new film recounting the life and death of rapper Chris Wallace aka Biggie Smalls, strikes a balance between these two complaints while remaining lively and fair. Free of speculation about the mystery of the rapper’s death, and the inner realms of his psyche, Notorious is a love letter to hip hop’s good old days, and seeks to explain why they got so bad. … Read More

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