The Notorious BIG's mother Voletta Wallace has criticised some prominent players in the hip hop world in a memoir of her late son, amongst them Sean 'Diddy' combs and Kimberly 'Lil Kim' Jones. She also raises more questions about Biggie's murder, suggesting the possible complicity of record company executives, and also writes about that alleged police cover up. "My son was part of a high-stakes game and didn't know the rules," she writes in the book, which is on sale now in the US, "I'm glad he does not have to witness that the very people that he thought he could ride and die with wouldn't think twice about using his mother. I'm glad he doesn't have to know that they wouldn't think twice about exploiting his children."
She also describes hearing Big's voice on the radio for the first time, having had no idea that he had any talent for music: "Earlier, I told him, 'You never knew music, and I thought, 'How is he going to be a musician when he never knew music? But when I heard the music behind his voice, it sounded beautiful and I was proud of him. I thought, 'Okay, this is the beginning of his life. Maybe he had something - maybe he knew something that I never knew."
Elsewhere, Voletta Wallace is contributing to upcoming Bad Boy Records release 'Duets: The Final Chapter'. The two disc set, out in December, features a host of guest vocalists and MCs. Wallace says "I'm very, very happy about the CD. The artists that I wanted came on. Ever since my son passed away I wanted Jay-Z to be a part of it and Jay-Z came forward. There's a lot of energy on it and it's going to be good."
She also reached out to Tupac's mother for a contribution to the album, despite the fact that he and Biggie were rivals during their lifetimes. Asked if the rappers had anything in common, she replied "they were musicians; they were artists; they were poets; they were family people. So yes, they had a lot in common."