Legendary rap artist Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace, has come back to life in a new gaming experience for hip-hop fans in The Sandbox metaverse, according to an announcement on Dec. 4.
Dubbed “Breakin B.I.G.”, the Brooklyn, New York-inspired experience pays homage to the late rapper who rose to fame in the 1990s with hits like ‘Hypnotize’ before he was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997, aged just 24.
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‘B.I.G. represents style of the ’90s’
‘Breakin B.I.G.’ is a collaborative effort involving Wallace’s estate, his label Warner Music Group, and The Sandbox, an open metaverse platform where users can create, play, and monetize their creations on the Ethereum blockchain.
The experience immerses players in a neighborhood where the Notorious B.I.G. is the dominant figure, a nod to the side-scrolling video games of the 1990s. Players can meet B.I.G.’s non-playable avatar likeness in a “2D, arcade-style world” set in the music-infused backdrop of Brooklyn from 30 years ago.
Once in the virtual world, players can take on the role of a rising rap star and complete quests key to earning B.I.G.’s approval, like assisting the online Brooklyn community, confronting the late rapper’s rivals, and helping him achieve even more success.
“No artist represents the style of the ’90s more than Biggie,” said Notorious B.I.G. Estate chief strategy officer Elliot Osagie in a statement.
“By bringing the appeal of the 90s style side-scrolling game, starring Biggie’s music, to an innovative Web3 platform, we are ensuring that the world he built will continue to be enjoyed by day-one fans and discovered by today’s new generation of fans in fresh, innovative ways that remain authentic to Biggie’s brand and goals as an artist,” he added.
🎤 @thenotoriousbig enters The Sandbox! 👑 Celebrate the rap legend with 1,500 unique avatars.
Join the allowlist for The Big Poppa Collection – inspired by Biggie's iconic style and legacy 💎 Starts Dec 5 pic.twitter.com/DhUu2B7TlI
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) December 4, 2023
More celebrities enter the metaverse
The Notorious B.I.G. is considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. His untimely death has been the subject of much controversy, adding to the aura of mystery surrounding his personality.
B.I.G. died on March 9, 1997, after he was shot four times by a man driving by in Los Angeles in what has been thought to be gang-related violence. Later evidence alleges the Los Angeles police department and music promoter Suge Knight were involved in his killing, but this has never been proven.
In its announcement, The Sandbox said that a new NFT avatar collection will be released as part of the B.I.G. voxel-style gaming experience as well as an update to Warner Music Group’s social hub.
“I’m excited for our players to explore a rich Brooklyn environment with an arcade-inspired feel unlike anything we’ve done before,” The Sandbox cofounder and chief operating officer Sebastien Borget said in a statement.
“Fans will interact with Biggie in entirely new ways as they immerse themselves in a throwback ’90s adventure.”
This is not the first time that Wallace’s estate has dabbled in Web3 and the metaverse. Last year, the estate revealed The Brook, a themed B.I.G. metaverse space. It also released non-fungible tokens (NFTs) inspired by the rapper.
Notorious B.I.G. joins a growing number of celebrities, dead or alive, who have already embraced the metaverse, including Snoop Dogg, Elvis Presley, Justin Bieber, and Paris Hilton.
In 2021, U.S. rapper Dogg recreated his real-life mansion in Diamond Bar, California, within The Sandbox and sold a piece of land to a fan who wanted to live next door to him for $450,000.
Last year, Hilton built ‘Paris Hilton World‘, a virtual world inside the online gaming platform Roblox. Visitors to Hilton’s metaverse can transport themselves to ‘an immersive fairytale island’ that’s filled with ‘unicorns, dazzling rainbow rivers, and forests made of cotton candy’.
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