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Another Biggie Mural Goes Up Near Key Food Where Rapper Worked as a Kid

By Alexandra Leon | December 7, 2015 8:53am
 Artist Vince Ballentine works on the latest Biggie Smalls mural that's going up near the Fulton Street Key Food where the late rapper worked.
Artist Vince Ballentine works on the latest Biggie Smalls mural that's going up near the Fulton Street Key Food where the late rapper worked.
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DNAinfo/Alexandra Leon

CLINTON HILL — Another Biggie Smalls mural has gone up near the Key Food Market where the late rapper bagged groceries as a young boy.

The latest piece, located on the shutter outside Fulton Bikes, was finished Saturday by artist Vince Ballentine.

Bold black and white letters read “THINK BIG” behind a geometric yellow crown against the shop’s metal grate.

Two other murals are already up by the intersection of St. James Place and Fulton Street in Clinton Hill where the legendary Notorious B.I.G., then known as Christopher Wallace, worked. 

A mural on the west-facing wall of the residences above the Key Food, created by David Hollier, molds the lyrics to “Sky’s the Limit” into the shape of the baby from the cover of Biggie’s 1994 album “Ready to Die.” 

 Artist Vince Ballentine and LeRoy McCarthy in front of the newest Biggie Smalls mural on Fulton Street.
Artist Vince Ballentine and LeRoy McCarthy in front of the newest Biggie Smalls mural on Fulton Street.
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DNAinfo/Alexandra Leon

The other, a mosaic created by artist Carlos Pinto, shows the rapper’s face in blue, yellow and red tiles with the word “RESPECT” spelled out in mirrored tiles below.

A fourth mural by Danielle Mastrion, originally slated to go up in March, is being planned for the wall opposite the Hollier mural.

Biggie was raised just around the corner in Clinton Hill when that part was still considered Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“He was a great person,” said Abraham Widdi, part-owner of the Key Food. “He helped a lot of kids.”

The murals are being organized by Leroy McCarthy, who is also fighting to have the street corner of St. James Place and Fulton Street named Christopher Wallace Way. 

“This could be the Brooklyn Abbey Road,” McCarthy said, noting that tour groups frequently roll through the area to see where Biggie grew up. 

McCarthy said local community groups and businesses have all shown their support for murals and the street renaming. 

He said local bakeries The Good Batch and Brooklyn Sweet Spot are even creating a cookie inspired by the late rapper to raise funds for projects like these, as well as his daughter T’yanna Wallace’s Dream BIG youth basketball tournament.

McCarthy said he’s received more than 1,000 signatures in his bid to rename the street corner, but the request has yet to be approved by Community Board 2, which has asked for letters of support from Council Member Laurie Cumbo and the rapper’s mother

CB2 District Manager Robert Perris said the board has yet to receive either letter.

McCarthy said he has had letters of support from Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace and his daughter T'yanna Wallace since 2013, and that what's missing is support from Council Member Cumbo. The City Council would have the final say in renaming the street. 

"Where [Biggie's] from, he should receive more support from his representatives," McCarthy said. "New York could do a better job."

Cumbo did not immediately provide comment.