Original subtitles

- ♪ MTV ♪

[upbeat electronic music]

MTV has given fans unparalleled access

to the world's hottest artists...

Let us formally introduce ourselves.

- Brandy's in the house. - What's up?

We're the Backstreet Boys.

Notorious B.I.G. Don't move.

And created some of the most iconic moments

in music history along the way.

MTV!

Now our cameras are at it again...

Hey. Get in here.

- What's up? - Welcome.

Come on in. Let's take a seat.

As we get the inside scoop from the ones who know

these legends best and continue their legacy today,

their kids.

This the legacy right here.

We are the legacy.

It was definitely not a regular childhood experience.

My mom is a fucking rock star.

- Hold on. - Wait, what?

We had to make a grand entrance.

My pops changed the game forever.

That was the moment when I realized that my dad

was something else.

Because to them, they're not just music's biggest names.

They're also Mom or Dad.

- Why are you busting on me? - [laughing]

Oh, no she did not.

This is an insane moment for my dad.

It gives me goosebumps every time.

In this episode, once these two hit the scene--

They call me Diddy.

And this is my man, Notorious B.I.G. in the house.

CJ, man, that's family, for sure.

Hip-hop was never the same.

Music is in my blood.

all: This is our family legacy.

♪ ♪

What's going on?

Welcome to my crib.

My name is CJ Wallace,

and my dad is the greatest rapper of all time.

♪ To all the ladies in the place ♪

♪ With style and grace ♪

Biggie Smalls, Notorious B.I.G.,

Frank White, King of New York.

My mom is legendary R&B singer Faith Evans.

♪ You used to love me every day ♪

I also was raised by Todd Russaw,

my mom's second husband.

I've been blessed with two dads.

I didn't really get the explanation

of who my real father was until I was probably seven.

♪ ♪

I know they tried to explain earlier,

but I was just so oblivious to everything as a kid.

♪ Who the hell is this paging me at 5:46? ♪

Some of my earliest memories of really understanding

who he was, we would drive on Fairfax and Wilshire

where my dad was killed, and we would always

say a prayer at the light.

That's something I still do to this day.

Obviously, I wish I had memory of him.

So much of who I am is my dad, just natural.

I do a lot of the same fidgeting with my face

and rubbing my nose.

And we both have crazy asthma and sinus issues.

Can I blow my nose real quick?

[upbeat music]

Biggie's first MTV appearance was on "Yo! MTV Raps" in 1994.

And this is my man, Notorious B.I.G. in the house.

He's from do or die Bed-Stuy in the house.

What up, B.I.G.? - Chillin'

He looks green, like, just new to it.

He was always trying to be as comfortable as possible,

this shirt, the shorts.

He was cozy all the time.

You used to be a hustler.

Yeah, no question.

You had to get the thing on?

Were you deep into the hustling game?

Knee-deep, knee-deep.

But you always, like, wanted to be a rapper, or--

No, no.

I didn't really want to be a rapper.

It's just--it was just something to do.

♪ ♪

Other than, you know,

being on the block and hustling,

it was a gift that he couldn't even quantify.

Check it out. It's the Notorious B.I.G.

Don't move. You know what I'm saying?

We're keeping it real on MTV...

This moment was huge for my dad.

They didn't have social media and stuff like that.

"Yo! MTV Raps" was the pinnacle of rap at that time.

♪ ♪

♪ I seen the light, excite all the freaks ♪

♪ Stack mad chips ♪

♪ Spread love with my peeps ♪

♪ ♪

We're here on "The Grind," you know,

about to rip this.

See the crowd kind of a little, you know, kinda dead.

But we're going to fix all that when we get up out there.

You know what I'm saying?

So Biggie performed "Big Poppa" for the first time

on MTV in 1985.

♪ To all the ladies in the place ♪

♪ with style and grace, allow me to lace these lyrical... ♪

It's crazy.

I feel like his style was way ahead of time.

He just knew how to control the crowd.

♪ Mackin' hoes, my crew's behind me ♪

♪ Mad question askin', [...] passin', music blastin' ♪

I be seeing, like, small versions,

but never seen the full performance.

It's really, really cool.

♪ Forget a dollar and dream ♪

♪ Still tote gats strapped with infrared beams ♪

♪ Where you at? ♪

♪ Throw your hands in the air if you's a true player ♪

I feel like he always had that same cool, calm energy.

He was always way cooler than a lot of other guys.

♪ You gon' be here for a while? ♪

♪ I'm gon' call my crew, you go call your crew ♪

♪ We can rendezvous at the bar around 2:00 ♪

Even though he's rapping, it just still feels

like such a calming R&B type of style record.

♪ Junior M.A.F.I.A., represent, baby, baby ♪

Man, it's just crazy.

You never know when somebody's gonna be gone.

- Check it out! - Uh!

- Check it out. - 9-5.

Honestly, I used to be really scared of images of my dad

when I was really young because he just looked

really scary and menacing.

But the more I've grown and understood

who he was as a person, he was really a gentle person,

but he just had to play this character.

And he was very good at playing that character.

♪ Call the coroner ♪

♪ There's gonna be a lot of slow singing ♪

♪ And flower bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing ♪

♪ Notorious ♪

This is the remix.

D-Dot.

He was able to achieve success

in such a short amount of time.

He's like the American dream story.

You know what I mean?

Like, rags to riches, figuring it out,

coming from the bottom, making it to the top.

That's the story that everybody loves to hear about.

♪ Notorious ♪

And we won't stop 'cause we can't stop.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

Check it out. It's the Notorious B.I.G.

You're watching Yo!

So the last time my dad appeared on MTV

was "Yo! MTV Raps" with Cease in 1996.

You know how we doing it, you know?

So don't go nowhere because we'll be right back.

I feel like not a lot of people know

of just how funny he was

and how much of a comedian he was.

He really tried to make people laugh every day.

To all my enemies, mwah.

One love.

My dad was only 24 years old when he passed away.

It was just an unfortunate situation

that nobody was really prepared for.

[dramatic music]

Hi, I'm John Norris with an MTV News breaking story.

We're outside of Petersen's Automotive Museum

in Los Angeles,

where the 24-year-old rap artist

known as Notorious B.I.G. was shot early Sunday morning.

My mom was there.

A lot of the Bad Boy artists were there.

My car was in front.

Biggie was in the middle.

And I just heard shots ring out.

Somebody just pulls up to the side of the car

and just unloads shots at the passenger side door.

My dad was sitting in the passenger seat.

And they rushed to the hospital,

where he was later pronounced dead.

He was supposed to be in London that night,

but he wanted to stay in LA.

He just wanted to chill.

The body of rapper, the Notorious B.I.G.,

murdered in Los Angeles last Sunday morning,

was flown back to his hometown of New York on Wednesday.

[cheers and applause]

Family, friends, and fans of Biggie Smalls are here today.

The procession has just come through.

A lot of support, a lot of cheers for him.

It was a somber moment, but the fans are just excited

he came back home.

♪ ♪

I think that's one of the main reasons

why he's still relevant,

because just the stories he told,

the way he told them,

his legacy is gonna live forever.

♪ ♪

He was a beautiful person,

and what he brought to the music business

has made a very big difference in where hip-hop is right now,

although it was a short-lived career.

But in those few years that he was out as an artist,

he made a big difference.

You know, my mom, she's living proof

that the people you love can be taken away from you,

and not everything lasts forever,

so just to appreciate moments and just times with people

because you never know when you can lose somebody.

Yeah, man, it's really an unfortunate situation.

And I don't really talk about it often.

♪ Sicker than your average ♪

♪ Poppa twist cabbage off instinct ♪

♪ [...] don't think [...] stink, pink gators ♪

"Life after Death" was released on March 25 in '97,

weeks after my dad passed away.

It went platinum,

and "Hypnotize" won Best Rap Video at the '97 VMAs.

The Notorious B.I.G., y'all.

[cheers and applause]

♪ Sicker than the average ♪

♪ Poppa twist cabbage... ♪

I know if my son was here tonight,

the first thing he would have done

is say big up to Brooklyn.

- She did great, you know?

My grandma's always been very cool, calm,

even through tough situations.

♪ I can fill you with real millionaire [...] ♪

♪ Escargot, my car go 160 swiftly ♪

The fact that the album is titled "Life after Death"

is really scary.

It's like, how do you--you don't write stories like that.

Some stories just write themselves.

♪ Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see? ♪

♪ Sometimes, your words just hypnotizing me ♪

A lot of emotions that come up,

definitely sadness, curiosity, hope.

You know, obviously, you like to think

that he died for a greater cause.

He was able to push rap into a place

where nobody thought it would go.

So I feel like he was definitely one

of the driving forces for the genre itself.

The music stood the test of time.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

"I'll Be Missing You," the tribute song that Puff,

112, and my mom did,

using the sample from Sting, from what I know,

it was really tough to record that record.

I know my mom didn't want to do it.

She didn't want to go to the studio.

♪ So far from hanging on the block for dough ♪

♪ Notorious, they got to know that ♪

♪ Life ain't always what it seems to be ♪

♪ Words can't express what you mean to me ♪

I asked my mom, like, what does that session like?

She was like, it was a lot of crying, you know,

it was really difficult thinking about those memories.

And so Puff, my mom, and Sting all performed

"I'll Be Missing You" at the 1997 VMAs.

♪ Still can't believe you're gone ♪

♪ Give anything to hear half your breath ♪

♪ I know you're still living your life after death ♪

♪ Every step I take ♪

- ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ - Every move I make ♪

It's almost like they were grieving through the record,

you know?

It's very emotional.

It's tough for me to even listen to the record sometimes.

♪ I'll be missing you ♪

- ♪ Thinking of the day ♪ - ♪ Thinking of the day ♪

- ♪ When you went away ♪ - ♪ Oh ♪

♪ What a life to take, what a bond to break ♪

♪ I'll be missing you ♪

It was a beautiful performance.

♪ Somebody, tell me why ♪

♪ One glad morning ♪

♪ When this life is over ♪

♪ I know I'll see your face ♪ - Put your lighters in the air!

Put your lighters in the air for B.I.G.!

Everybody, clap your hands for Notorious B.I.G.

Clap your hands for everybody we lost.

We miss you.

[cheers and applause]

"I'll Be Missing You" won Best R&B video.

And the winner is Puff Daddy, featuring Faith Evans and 112.

[cheers and applause]

I wish we never had to make this record.

And I'd like to say, God bless my man, Biggie.

[soft music]

My whole life, I've been focused on family.

For me, it's always just been supporting the estate,

supporting my dad's brand.

And in that, I always knew I had a love for fashion,

a love for music, a love for creativity,

and just arts in general.

My acting career really started with "Notorious."

I got to play my dad as a kid in "Notorious."

And that was pretty scary, honestly.

It was fun.

I was 13 at the time, so the pressure

to really nail that role and portray my father

was a big one.

I felt like, not everybody gets to play their dad

in a movie, so...

but yeah, right now, I've been building my brand,

Frank White, a fashion brand.

[upbeat hip-hop music]

I named the brand that to honor my dad

because that was one of his many nicknames.

Everything behind Frank White

is really about creativity and family.

But we wanted it to speak to Black people

at the end of the day,

something that we could really get behind.

So this is one of my work stations.

Got some memorabilia of my dad,

of the only photo we have together.

That's kind of crazy that we only have this photo together.

♪ ♪

I had to take a bunch of my dad's clothes

from my grandma's house,

and this was definitely the biggest piece.

And it's got his name on it, Bad Boy logo.

I could fit in this arm right here.

[laughs]

This one is the Junior M.A.F.I.A. 5,001 jersey.

Like, I always look at these when I was like ten years old

and be like, oh, I can't wait to take these.

Poppa on the back.

Classic.

Seeing all this has also helped inspire designs

as far as the colors and just the cuts and everything.

The baggy look is definitely back in style.

♪ Bad boy ♪

Yeah, man, Frank White is my baby,

my way of continuing my dad's legacy,

celebrating the Wallace name.

I try to think about how would he feel about what I'm doing,

but I know he'd be supportive no matter what.

- ♪ Notorious ♪ - And we won't stop.

- ♪ I'm coming ♪

What's up, y'all? It's Just.

I'm the firstborn.

I'm an executive at Combs Enterprises.

What up, y'all? I'm Quincy.

I'm an artist, actor.

Yo, what's up, y'all?

This is King Combs, Christian Combs.

I'm a rapper, model.

And our dad is...

- That's the question. - Who isn't he?

Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, Sean John Combs, and Love.

Is that it?

I think we missing like two or three.

To everybody else, it might be something else.

But to us-- no one else can say this--

that's our dad.

P. Diddy.

[cheers and applause ]

♪ Shot callers, brawlers, who be dipping ♪

When I came into my stepdad's life,

I was calling him Puffy.

And that's what my mom called him.

And he let it rock for a little bit,

but he was not too happy after too long,

his son calling him Puffy.

[laughter]

♪ But still, everything's real ♪

When my pops first came in the game,

he was an intern for Uptown Records.

He got a chance because the producer

wasn't in the studio for Jodeci.

♪ Come and talk to me ♪

- He ended up just producing the track himself.

And that track actually became his first number one record

for R&B and hip-hop.

So he really, like, started the R&B hip-hop wave, low-key.

My dad started Bad Boy Records in 1994.

My dad helped cultivate artists such as Notorious B.I.G,

Faith Evans, 112, Mary J. Blige.

Everybody.

My dad's first time on MTV was "Yo! MTV Raps" in 1990.

That's a fun fact. It's crazy.

What's up, y'all? I'm Puff Daddy.

Yo, how old is he?

He looks just like Christian.

That's crazy.

We're chilling with Fab Five Freddy

and Oran "Juice" Jones on "Yo! MTV Raps."

You see how he winked? He winked like this.

Now his wink is way smoother.

Pops is huge on fashion.

I'm ready. What's up, Quincy?

What's up, Justin?

- Miami on the yacht. - Wow.

We look like little twin brothers.

- Yeah, for real. - Low-key.

♪ Come across, the more problems we see ♪

- Justin, Quincy. - Come here.

What y'all think about this? Should I wear this?

No.

Negative.

- Said no. - It's too preppy for us.

I need something with some more pizzazz.

Yeah, yeah.

Now, this is what I'm talking about.

This right here...

He always just set the tone and set the trends.

Suede suit.

He had to have five outfit changes for one award show.

Whoo!

That's it, that's it.

MTV awards, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

♪ Don't stop now, straight to the top now ♪

My pops definitely stayed fresh, stayed fly.

That's something he instilled in us from a young age.

I remember he took me to, like, fly boot camp

and made sure I knew how to dress, walk, and all that.

So... [laughs]

- Wow, this was 1997.

This was my pop's first time live at the VMAs.

Oh, they came out the sky?

Of course.

Sheesh!

Wow.

Come on now! Come on now!

I remember these rehearsals.

These suits and his hair.

I'm like, I've never seen this many women

with blue hair at one time.

The shiny suits.

Oh, look at pops.

♪ A team much stronger than yours ♪

♪ Violate me, this'll be your day, we don't play ♪

- ♪ DOA ♪ - ♪ Mess around, be DOA ♪

♪ Be on your way ♪ - ♪ Mess around with ♪

♪ 'Cause it ain't enough time here ♪

♪ Ain't enough lime here for you to shine here ♪

♪ Deal with many women but treat dimes fair ♪

♪ And I'm bigger than the city lights down in Times Square ♪

♪ Girl the eye, player, please, lyrically ♪

♪ [...] see B.I.G. be flossing ♪

♪ Jig on the cover of Fortune ♪

You know, Biggie always pushed my dad to be a rapper.

So I think, like, after Biggie passed, like,

that probably fueled my pops to follow that dream

that Biggie had for him and just, like,

keep the legacy and the Bad Boy music going.

♪ More money ♪

[cheers and applause]

[upbeat music]

♪ I'm the definition of half man, half [...] ♪

♪ Ask the clubs, Bad Boy, that's what's up ♪

2001 VMAs, our pops just took it over.

- Took it over. - Just took it over.

♪ We still here, you're rocking with the best ♪

♪ Don't worry if I write rhymes ♪

♪ I write checks ♪

Now, pulling up on an 18-wheeler is crazy.

No one else knew that was happening.

It just turned into the Bad Boy MTV Awards!

- Uh-huh, uh-huh. - Welcome, MTV, 2001!

Now, he always used to take over MTV.

We rented an 18-wheeler.

We had to make a grand entrance.

You know, we're promoting this new album,

"The Saga Continues."

By the way, "The Saga Continues,"

if you go look on that album,

we executive produced that album.

We was in the studio.

If we was nodding, it was something.

If we didn't, it didn't make the album.

♪ We ain't going nowhere ♪

♪ We can't be stopped now because it's... ♪

♪ Bad Boys for life ♪

I'm a Bad Boy for life, man.

Bad Boys never, ever, ever going to stop.

This officially was the new Bad Boy anthem after some time.

I think that really just set the record of what Bad Boy is.

This is my favorite song.

I was in the video in the Harlem Shake.

I was in the video. We all was in the video.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

♪ To the death, it's official ♪

♪ I survive what I've been through ♪

♪ Y'all got trauma ♪ all: ♪ The saga continues ♪

♪ We ain't going nowhere ♪

♪ We ain't going nowhere ♪

♪ We can't be stopped now ♪

And what we see constantly, jerseys was the thing.

Jerseys was something that the Bad Boy movement,

it represented that team, the squad.

♪ We ain't going nowhere ♪

♪ We can't be stopped now because it's Bad Boy for life ♪

Bad Boy Records was a family.

On Sundays, we had Soulful Sunday,

where everybody comes together.

- Fried chicken. - Mac and cheese and yams.

That's my best, like, family memories,

like, yearly because, like, it ain't changed much.

But it's, like, just--

it's got bigger and better within the same tradition.

When I was a kid, was spending

a lot of time in the office.

I think half my childhood,

I remember being straight office.

We made the office a playground.

The office was not too far from MTV,

so sometimes we would just be going down the street.

And then next thing you know, it's just all these people,

all this screaming.

[cheers and applause]

There was a crowd outside the whole building.

Like, it was crazy every single day.

I just dropped my third album.

It's in stores today. "The Saga Continues."

P. Diddy and the Bad Boy family.

TRL, I guess, was his favorite little spot

to go because he's all about the hype.

I guess, he's all about turning up the people.

[cheering]

TRL, y'all got to come back, so I could see

because I ain't get to see none of that.

Welcome to PD Request Live.

I'm your host, Puff Daddy.

He was always on TRL so much because he just had

so many hits and so many different things

to just promote.

My new album's in stores.

"We Invented the Remix." Make sure you all go get that.

And TRL was, like, a--

played a big role in the success

of just the music videos.

This is my new video!

♪ You ain't want beef, then why did you start? ♪

It was the place to go to premiere everything.

Today's the grand opening of the Sean John store.

[upbeat music]

Can you dig it, man?

- Vote or Die was a huge passion project for my dad.

Pops is into anything that gets the people involved.

MTV generation will decide who's the next president

of the United States.

So this is the time to really get involved,

get people to really understand the change that's needed.

This is all I'm about right this second.

All your heart's going into this?

All my heart is going into this

right here, to mobilize, educate.

And once again, we need you all to vote.

Let's register. - I know.

Let's get it cracking. Let's be about it.

And when Obama ran, it was that much more important

for him to really get up and get all the people to vote.

When Obama became president, it was all of our victories.

He took us out to dinner, and he blessed his whole team

with presidential Rolexes.

And they don't make them no more.

- Yeah. - So this is a true gift.

Thank you, Pops.

My dad was on TRL so many times,

they gave him the official legend award.

Got the banner, jersey signed up.

It feels good to be back.

There's no place like home.

TRL!

Now, hold up, Diddy.

You've been on TRL 39 times.

both: 39 times.

[laughter]

You got to understand that this

was the cultural epicenter of music.

You know, everything started and finished here in TRL.

It's so good to have everybody back.

Shout out to MTV.

We are officially retiring your jersey.

So if you want to walk over here with me,

we have this specialty Diddy jersey.

Wow, that's what's up.

And then 98 on there, and that's representative of...

I don't think they could give the award

to nobody else, right?

I think he was the only one that was fitting

for the Legacy Award.

TRL was such a huge moment in my life.

When I came here the first time,

you know, it was an honor to be on the show.

And it's still an honor coming back to be on the show.

It feels good to be home.

He has a saying, no sleeping in the trophy room.

So it's like, no matter what accolades, or achievements,

or just milestones you reach in your life,

you have to keep on going, and not get comfortable,

and just keep pushing forward.

Let me tell you something.

You all missed the TRL, brother.

I just think that shows his relationship with MTV,

it was a super healthy, strong relationship.

MTV always been rocking with us.

So I think that's dope.

[upbeat music]

Growing up in the music industry

has affected me by just showing me the amount of work

that it takes to be great and just showing me,

like, the level of excellence I should just upkeep

and hold myself to.

I kind of just naturally connected

with just the behind-the-scenes type of work.

Sometimes, I'll still be on the stage.

I still do my thing. - Uh-huh.

- Take that. - Take that, take that.

[cheers and applause]

The best advice my father has given me

is to always stay dreaming,

just that disciplined, focused hard work

and just knowing what it takes to be great.

Growing up with my family was very influential, I guess,

because everything was about the arts.

Everything was about the show, the lights.

♪ ♪

Just creating is my favorite.

An artist is what I like to label myself,

not a rapper, not a singer,

no, an artist, just because I'm taking my frequency

and really spreading that to the world.

♪ ♪

I kind of knew I wanted to be, like,

and artist and performer since, like--

my first memory is, like, I always

really wanted to do that.

♪ I just took that guap-anese ♪

♪ It's my language ♪

♪ I just put some Cartiers ♪

♪ On my main [...] ♪

I really started taking music serious

when I moved to Los Angeles.

When we were, like, 15, 16

is when I really told my pops,

this is what I really want to do.

I showed him a song I recorded.

And he told me it wasn't going to be easy

and that I had to really take it seriously,

and take it into my own hands,

and put in the same work he did.

♪ Valentino on my main girl ♪

♪ Bad Boy chain bussin' like the rainbow ♪

Now I got my new hit single out,

"Can't Stop Won't Stop."

♪ Can't stop, won't stop, Bad Boy ♪

Number one.

Oh, shit.

What's up? Number one!

Lit. "Can't Stop Won't Stop."

Got to move on. - What's up, baby?

We number one.

♪ Yelling out the window ♪

♪ Money ain't a thing though ♪

Seeing my dad perform, and making music,

and seeing the work it took, it really inspired me

to feel like I could do the same thing.

♪ Can't stop, won't stop, Bad Boy ♪

Yeah, this the legacy right here.

We are the legacy.

The legacy continues.

The legacy continues, baby.

Stay tuned.

[dramatic hip-hop music]

♪ ♪

- ♪ MTV ♪