Rappers pay last respects to notorious B.I.G. at funeral service in Manhattan

Jet, April 7, 1997

Noted rappers as well as admiring fans recently paid their last respects to slain rap giant Notorious B.I.G. in New York.

A who's who list in the rap world paid condolences to the family of the late Christopher Wallace, known to the music world as Notorious B.I.G./ Biggie Smalls, at the posh Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan, NY, during a peaceful service. Dr. Dre, Treach of Naughty by Nature, (Deacon) DMC of the rap group Run-DMC, members of Notorious B.I.G.'s Junior M.A.F.I.A., Foxy Brown, Sister Souljah, Arista Records Chief Clive Davis and former mayor of New York David Dinkins were among the 350 people who attended the private ceremony.

Fans were also given an opportunity to bid their last farewell to Notorious B.I.G., who was gunned down after he left a music industry party (JET, March 24), and they did so causing great havoc as a motorcade carrying Notorious B.I.G.'s body rode through the Brooklyn neighborhood where he grew up.

Filled with excitement, the overzealous fans cheered wildly, some jumping on the tops of parked cars, as the procession drove by with riders holding pictures of Notorious B.I.G. from windows. police used pepper spray to disband crowds when skirmishes broke out. Ten people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, seven officers suffered minor injuries and seven vehicles were damaged, according to police.

The late 24-year-old rapper was dressed in a double-breasted white suit with a white matching hat, a cream-colored silk shirt and a blue-gray tie. His mahogany coffin, estimated at $15,000, was lined with white velvet.

Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G.'s estranged wife with whom he recently had a son, sang a gospel tune at the funeral. Notorious B.I.G.'s uncle sang a song, and the rapper's mother, Voletta Wallace, read Bible passages. Sean "Puffy/Puff Daddy" Combs, president and CEO of the New York-based Bad Boy Entertainment, the company for which Notorious B.I.G. recorded, delivered the eulogy.

The service ended with the rapper's instrumental Miss U.

The best-selling rapper reportedly was scheduled to be cremated later.

No arrests have been made in the rapper's murder at Jet press time.