Notorious B.I.G’s Daughter Talks Living In Father’s Shadow, Dad’s Beef w/ Tupac

B.I.G’s Daughter On Living In Father’s Shadow, Tupac

T’yanna Wallace, the daughter of the late New York rapper Notorious B.I.G, is stepping out from her father’s shadow and making a lane for herself in Brooklyn as a fashion designer. In a new interview, she dishes about her about her father’s legacy, her clothing line Notoriouss and her thoughts about her father’s beef with Tupac. Peep the excerpts below.

On how she feels living in the shadow of her father:

It comes with the name. It’s like your dad is Biggie you can’t really knock that. But I was like I don’t want to be Biggie’s daughter for the rest of my life. I want people to know me as T’yanna Wallace the fashion designer not just Biggie’s daughter and I feel like I’m finally getting to that place.

On growing up as Biggie’s daughter:

I didn’t grow up in Brooklyn. I was born in Brooklyn and moved when I was 3-years-old and grew up in Pennsylvania in the Poconos. It’s country and chill and not that much hip-hop out there. I moved back to Brooklyn when I graduated college I stated getting more recognition.

On becoming a fashion designer:

I don’t know how to rap. I don’t know how to sing. I’m sad about that, I wish I had the talent but I don’t. And I was also into fashion so by the time I got to my sophomore year in college. I was like ‘I want to start a clothing line’ and I did it.

On why she named her clothing line Notoriouss:

Notoriouss wasn’t even the first name of my fashion line. My middle name is Dream so it was named Kissed by Dream, Notoriouss Dream. I was trying to mix a bunch of different stuff, but I feel like Notoriouss is a strong word and it describes how I feel about myself and how I want my clothing line to be. I didn’t want people to see Notorious and be like oh it’s a Biggie line. That’s why I added the extra “S” I wanted to separate i a little and show that it’s original, it’s me it’s inspired by my dad, but it’s still me it’s still mine.

A post shared by T’yanna Dream Wallace?? (@tyanna810) on Nov 27, 2016 at 9:10am PST

On the style of the Notoriouss fashion line:

I like doing street wear stuff. I like doing stuff that girls can wear dressed down. That’s why I have the Moschino Hottie Versace Hottie crop top. Bodysuit, you can dress it up and wear heels or sneakers and dress it down. My longer term vision for the brand is to open a Notoriouss store in Brooklyn by the end of the year.

On her father:

That’s the best thing about my mom and my stepmom Faith [Evans] and being about [Lil] Cease and all my dad’s friends I get to hear stories and get a the idea of who he was. He was funny person, he was jokey. I get that he was a big bundle of joy to be around and everyone loved him and loved being around him. People tell me all the time I’m just like my dad, which is crazy to me because he wasn’t even around to raise me because I was so young when he passed away, but people are like you’re just like your dad I see it in you. You have his personality.

A post shared by T’yanna Dream Wallace?? (@tyanna810) on May 21, 2016 at 8:41am PDT

If she listens to his music:

Yes, definitely. Hot 97 plays it all the time. And I just went to Cali and they were playing his music. It’s just one of those things were people respect my dad. They respect his craft, they respect his music he made great music and the fact the still want to play it in 2017 that’s amazing you have to respect that.

Her favorite song by her father:

“Machine Gun Funk” that used to be one of my favorite songs. Then when I went to college and going to parties it became “Hypnotize” and “Party and Bullsh*t” because I didn’t think you could play songs like that with 18 an 19 year old they start going crazy and get to see the reaction from people who were in diapers when this man was making music. They’re definitely rocking to it like it’s Drake so I’m fine with that.

How she celebrates her father’s life:

I make it a celebration too because my dad passed on March 9 and everyone knows that every year for my clothing line I do a special collab or limited edition t-shirt. I make it a party too and just celebrate him as a person and everything that he’s done.

Tupac Shakur

Her feelings about her father and Tupac beef:

I think it was the media I think they were truly friends and people were behind them and amp things up and saying things that weren’t true and people got involved and it didn’t go well.

By: –@OctaviaNakia