In 1992 Howie Green came to national attention as a painter and artist with the publication of his book 'Jazz Fish Zen: Adventures in Mamboland'. Recently one of Howie's album cover paintings won First Prize in the Absolut Vodka 25th Anniversary art competition in Boson, MA. Howie's portrait 'Madonna Smoking' was featured in the 2004 British Art book 'Madonna in Art' by Mem Memet. Howie's design and illustration work has won over 40 awards from regional and national design competitions. I have received several emails from folks who appeared on the album expressing their appreciation of the cover and Mick is having me do a very large version of the cover done that will be given to P Diddy to hang up in the offices of Bad Boy Entertainment.' Several days after the album came out I was very surprised to get a photo emailed to me by Mick Boogie of him and P Diddy holding the CD with my album cover artwork (see below). In addition to P Diddy the tracks include The Clipse, NAS, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Lil Kim, Lil Wayne, Mobb Deep, Kayne West and others. Before the album's release I got my pre-release copies and was surprised at the stellar lineup of talent on the tracks including none other than Sean 'DIDDY' Combs as the album's host. I was happy that my art would finally get some use so I agreed and the album, by LCMG Productions, came out in early April to great acclaim and is making a lot of noise among the hip hop community. About 6 months later I got contacted by a fellow named Mick Boogie who told me he was producing an album of Biggie's tracks and wanted to know if I would allow them to use one of my Biggie portraits as the cover artwork for the CD versions. I did paintings of both the photos I found and proposed them for the mural but for various reasons they were not used and I put them in my online gallery for folks to see.

I appreciate anyone who can wear a hat and no one in recent history looked cooler in a hat that Mr. Biggie was a style maven and when it came to his look he had it going on! I know that an accident made him have to use a cane to walk around but the man turned the cane into a cool accessory. Most rappers dress up in big sneakers and street clothes and cover themselves with all manner of accouterment, but not Biggie.

His musical contributions are public record but what most interested me most was the way he looked. I listened to a bunch of Biggie's tracks and I could see why he had become such a popular rapper and why he's become a legend since his death. I found two vintage black and white promotional images of Biggie that reminded me of the kind of old school look that the jazz cats of the 1950s and the Blues guys of the 1930 used to have - 'Cool' as they could possibly be. The mural, now located in Jacksonville, FL, needed to have a wide cross section of musical styles represented and I was looking for recording artists that were well known to most people. when I was researching possible images for a mural project I was working on - a 30' x 15' wall of my album cover paintings. I came across some photos of the Notorious B.I.G. Being of a certain age I wouldn't exactly call myself a rap or hip hop aficionado - but I do know a great face when I see one and Biggie Smalls was one cool looking guy. Howie Green: I always find it interesting when small personal projects, like my Biggie Smalls portraits, strike a chord with a public audience and go on to have life of their own. Original beats and special guest appearances, as well as plenty of crazy remixes, are abundant throughout the project. On the 10th anniversary of the tragic passing of Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace, Mick Boogie and newcomer Terry Urban of the League Crew team up to release Unbelievable: A Tribute To Biggie Smalls, a project that many critics are calling 'the best Biggie mixtape ever.' Hosted by Sean 'Diddy' Combs, this 100% creative mixtape features Biggie material remixed the way it was supposed to be done. Used on the cover of Mick Boogie's 'Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls', a 2007 release on Bad Boy records.

'Unbelievable', a mixed-media image created in 2006 by artist/illustrator Howie Green. 'Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls'Įditorial distilled news articles jubilees home brewed gig guide festival guide fests by countries linkograffiti audio files musicians ads press room press service

Ready to die biggie smalls face funny