March 9 will forever be a day of mourning for the hip-hop community, as it marks the day that one of the greatest emcees to ever touch a mic, Brooklyn's own The Notorious B.I.G, lost his life due to a fatal shooting sparked by the infamous East Coast/West Coast beef of the '90s. Even 23 years laters his presence is deeply missed, as fellow rap vet T.I. made perfectly clear through a quick Instagram tribute yesterday.
T.I. captioned his photo slide tribute by simply writing "RIP BIG," following up with "Gone But Never Forgotten" while also adding a few fitting crown emojis in-between his words. The King of the South paid tribute to the King of New York with a series of flicks, including a promo still from BIG's Ready To Die album era, the classic VIBE Magazine cover shot with wife Faith Evans sitting next to him in a drop top, photos of him wearing that signature COOGI sweater and Versace shades and photos where he's just cooling out in the borough that loved him dearly. As you can see in the iconic photo above, Biggie was given a final drive through his old St James Place neighborhood on the day of his funeral (March 18) in a manner fit for a king. "Shit'll Never Be The Same!!!" T.I. wrote as a final line in his caption, and we couldn't agree more.
R.I.P. forever, BIG. Take a look at T.I.'s tribute post to the Brooklyn icon below: