Eddie Gibbs expected to be the first state legislator who served time in prison before getting elected. Gibbs, 53, is a political operative who has been a Democratic district leader since 2017. Gibbs talked to City & State about wanting to inspire ex-offenders, his thoughts on bail reform and rapping with the late great Notorious B.I.G. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. He won the Democratic nomination in December to replace Robert ...

The Rant interviewed The Expanse star Frankie Adams about her experience playing Bobbie Draper and her character's signature moment in the series finale. During the interview, Frankie revealed she was a B.I.G. fan. She actually brought her own speakers to the set and spent her last day filming with her crew dancing and listening to the late great Notorious BIG. Checkout the interview below for the interview and you can hear at 8:23 mark for Biggie reference. ...

Mary J. Blige has once again collaborated with Harlem rapper Dave East. However, this time it’s for her own single titled “Rent Money,” co-written and produced by D’Mile. Easily a standout amongst the other two tracks already released from Good Morning Gorgeous, “Rent Money” finds Blige scratching off a winning interpolation of a classic (“F**k You Tonight”) from The late great Notorious B.I.G.’s classic Life After Death album. ...

"Maybe I’ll sing something with someone,” Klum recalls suggesting. “They were like, ‘Well, who would that be?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, Snoop Dogg, of course!’ And they’re like, ‘Snoop Dogg, why Snoop Dogg?’ And I’m like, ‘Because I love Snoop Dogg, I’ve always loved Snoop Dogg, and I think he’s so cool.’ I love hip hop, by the way — Biggie Smalls and P. Diddy and Ice T, I’m just, I’m born in the 70s. So when I first came in ’94 [to] New York, this was like what we were listening to…I love the whole hip-hop scene and everything.” ...

“It was all a dream,” were the Notorious B.I.G. lyrics that paced through Jared Aubel’s mind as he sat in front of a blank canvas in his Phoenix studio. Brushstroke after brushstroke of acrylic and oil paints, Aubel heard those five words from the rapper's 1994 hit, "Juicy," and painted a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “It was a trigger hearing that song, and then thinking of Martin Luther King’s speech, ‘I Have a Dream,'” he said. “It’s a powerful piece because they were both speaking about the same struggles and oppressions and, unfortunately, this is all still happening, it keeps rearing its ugly head.” ...

A “rap report card” written by rapper Kool Moe Dee back in the 90s is being recirculated on Twitter and it’s sparked quite a conversation. For the report card, the Manhattan-bred rapper used 10 categories to give emcee grades between A+ and C+. Kool Moe Dee’s report card assessed some of the hottest rappers of the 90s like JAY-Z, DMX, Snoop Dogg, and Keith Murray while artists like Lauryn Hill, Diddy, Biggie, and Tupac were amongst the highest trending artists on the scorecard. Surprisingly, only Lauryn Hill and Biggie secured an A+ in all categories, including vocabulary, articulation, creativity, originality, versatility, voice, records, stage presence, sticking to themes, and innovating rhymes. Unfortunately, Master P, Too Short, and Mase landed nothing but C+s. ...