Sunday, May 16, 2021

Bigge: I Got a Story to Tell (And a List of the Greatest Notorious B.I.G. Songs)

Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell is a new documentary on Netflix about Christopher Wallace (better known to all as Biggie, Biggie Smalls, and the Notorious B.I.G.) that in roughly ninety minutes will tell us "what rap planet this guy came from." That's fundamentally sort of the problem with the film. It's a fine documentary (or at least fine enough), especially for music fans and in particular rap and Biggie fans. But it's a documentary that wants to tell you everything. Biggie's music won world-wide acclaim; simply letting us hear more of it would have better accomplished the film's objective, and yet we hear surprisingly little of it.

Most of what we get instead are talking heads. Many of these are necessary, though, like when jazz musician Donald Harrison talks to us about how he recognized Wallace's talent for music early on. Faith Evans (Wallace's widow and collaborator) and Sean Combs also provide essential narratives of what the actual Christopher Wallace was like, not simply as an artist but as a person.

But the most compelling scenes feature Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace. An immigrant from Jamaica and a fan more of country and western music than gangsta rap, she has been protective of her son's legacy since his death, and her voice can be heard on several Biggie tracks and the final album he appeared in: The King and I, by Evans. Voletta's candor is almost slightly ironic because any criticism that has ever been issued towards Christopher Wallace (aside, I suppose, criticism of his lyrics) has been from his mother. Yet her discussion of her son further humanizes him in a way much of the rest of this documentary fails to do so. They are candid moments that help enlighten viewers on the narrative behind some of his lyrics.

Voletta's immigrant identity clearly had an impact on her son's music. One of his best songs ("Respect" from the album Ready to Die) takes heavy inspiration from Jamaican music. Being the child of an immigrant, we are told, also helped Biggie be established as an "outsider," and one wonders if this added to his natural shyness. However, one will likely be disappointed if they wanted more of a character study of Christopher Wallace, though the documentary certainly is a film for musicologists with its discussion of the musical inspiration for Wallace and his impact on the music world. 

But that can only take a film so far, and the essential problem with Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell is that most audience members (including critics) get bored easily by biographical films, as they can be quite dull and fall heavy on the telling side instead of showing us something new. Biographical documentaries are not much better. The usual elements are all there: a rags-to-riches story of a musical genius who also had a lot of tragedy and drugs in his life. Essentially, you've seen this before.

What fans of Biggie already knew—that his rap was a different kind of rap, that his music was loved around the world, that his collaborations with Puffy made them comparable to other brilliant artistic pairings (like Coppola and Pacino or De Niro and Scorsese, we're told)—they will be reminded of in this documentary. But if fans were hoping for something more, they are likely to be disappointed. It often simply feels like talking heads reminding us that he was a genius. Simply listening to his songs is a much more potent lesson than most of what is found here.


The Greatest Notorious B.I.G. Songs:

50. Real Love Remix
49. The Reason
48. Legacy
47. One More Chance
46. Just a Memory 
45. Memory
44. Suicidal Thoughts
43. Tryna Get By
42. Don't Test Me
41. Miss U
40. Tonight
39. Split Your Game
38. Hold Ya Head
37. 1970 Somethin'
36. Ultimate Rush
35. Hustler's Story
34. Beef
33. I'm With Whateva
32. Rap Phenomenon 
31. Another
30. Hope You Sleep
29. Come On
28. Going Back to Cali
27. Warning
26. Sky's the Limit
25. Somebody's Gotta Die
24. Ten Crack Commandments
23. Biggie
22. I Gotta Story to Tell
21. Unbelievable 
20. Dead Wrong
19. Who Shot Ya
18. Ready to Die
17. Would You Die For Me
16. Let Me Get Down
15. Notorious B.I.G.
14. Everyday Struggle
13. Notorious Things
12. What's Beef?
11. Gimme the Loot
10. I Love the Dough
9. Juicy
8. Things Have Changed
7. Living in Pain
6. Kick in the Door
5. My Downfall
4. Mo Money Mo Problems
3. Big Poppa
2. Respect
1. Hypnotize 

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