Jay-Z speaks of Notorious B.I.G.'s influence (1998)

MTV went into their archives this week as part of the commemorations of the 15th anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.’s death, to re-release a 1998 interview with fellow Brooklynite and friend of the deceased rapper, Jay-Z. Hov speaks of how Biggie’s passing affected him and the subsequent change of direction his sophomore album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 took as a result.

“A lot of different songs were influenced by what was happening. ‘City Is Mine,’ the first verse, you could just hear it. I think two hooks on there came from songs that he had previously recorded” – Hov speaking of the LP that he released eight months following B.I.G’s fatal shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.