The infamous mural that honors the late Notorious B.I.G. was recently vandalized on the corner of Fulton Street and St. James Place in Brooklyn.
The mural was defaced with red paint with the words “East Coast” tagged across it. Vincent Ballentine, the artist who painted the mural in 2019, reacted to the vandalization of his artwork and promised to fix it as it was created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the rapper’s death.
Ballentine went on his IG and said in a video, “Oh the disrespect. The disrespect is real. Damn shame. Why did they do that?”
During an interview, the artist expressed that not only is the mural important to him but it also symbolizes something bigger to the community. “I think the neighborhood really saw it as he was one of ours, and he made it out and made something of himself. That’s the story that people hold on to,” Ballentine said.
He added, “So for this to happen, people are coming by saying ‘Damn, they did it dirty.’ It’s bigger than me. It’s big period, I don’t know what else to say.
The Notorious B.I.G. was fatally shot on March 9, 1997, at the age of 24. What are your thoughts on this?