Music, musings and miscellanea

It’s a crime that a film about an MC widely regarded to have had one of the greatest flows in the history of hip-hop is completely devoid of any. Notorious, a biopic showcasing murdered rapper Notorious B.I.G.’s rags to riches tale, is a cut and paste mess adding nothing to the slain star’s legend.

The film opens the night of Biggie’s fatal shooting then quickly rewinds to a young Chris Wallace (played by Biggie’s real-life son) dreaming of hip-hop glory on the schoolyard. Soon we see him honing his rap skills while hustling on neighbourhood corners, eventually adopting the Notorious B.I.G. moniker.

Newcomer Jamal Woolard does an admirable job portraying Wallace, even stepping into his shoes on the mic for some scenes, and Angela Bassett delivers a typically overwrought performance as his mother Voletta.

But it’s former R&B singer Naturi Naughton who eats up the screen as firebrand MC Lil Kim. Soul Food director George Tillman Jr.’s inability to maintain the film’s pacing denies viewers the context needed to understand Biggie’s place in the hip-hop pantheon.

This review originally appeared in the January 16, 2009 edition of Metro News Toronto.