About a Zoom video interview, Christopher “CJ” Wallace, Jr. keeps his father’s jersey on which Wallace and the entire computer screen almost endured. “It’s a 5XXL,” Wallace says Billboard. On the back of the sweater, ‘POPPA’ is embroidered in bright yellow letters against the hunter green fabric.
The young entrepreneur was only five months old when his father, The Notorious BIG, was murdered. No. 23, Wallace has finally done something he says he was “very afraid of”: releasing his own music, inspired by his father. “I just avoided it because you don’t want to confuse anything terribly,” Wallace says.
Born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, Wallace has been in the process of building his own legacy with Think BIG – a social impact company he co-founded with business partners. Willie Mack en Todd Russaw. The company advocates for legalization of cannabis, reform of criminal justice and the reinvestment in communities most affected by the excessive policing of marijuana.
Among the Think BIG Umbrella, Wallace, Mack and Russaw also made the Frank White brand, named after one of Biggie’s aliases. The brand is an outlet for the team’s creative endeavors, such as cannabis and wellness products, fashion clothing – and now, music. “All the work and products sold under the Frank White brand benefit from the charity that Think BIG supports,” adds co-founder and marketing veteran Willie Mack.
The first music project, Ready to dance, is a house and dance album reinterpreting some of Biggie’s most iconic tracks, without using original examples. The first single from the collection, ‘Big Poppa (House Mix)’, debuted on Tuesday.
In a Billboard exclusively, Wallace and Mack discuss their advocacy, making Ready to dance, and why the album is dedicated to black, brown and queer creatives. And as for CJ Wallace, the emerging executor shares how his projects are subtle nods to his late father, but insists his own ‘musical background will come as we build it.’
Before the pandemic, you went to Governor Cuomo’s office in Albany to lobby for cannabis legalization. How was that experience?
CW: That was crazy. I have never lobbied. It was intense. It reminded me that I was on a set for the first time, but with fewer cameras. Everyone watched and listened to what I had to say. I was super nervous, but it was fun. It helped me realize where we were fighting on a larger scale.
WM: Growing up through white supremacy, injustice from policing, and all these things, we got a real sense of how our government is working and what our government is doing to address these issues. Jason Ortiz, the president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, was part of our team that traveled to Albany. Since Think BIG is so focused on legalization, we’ve had the opportunity to dive in and talk about the link between police violence and legalization of cannabis. We need to talk about how these things are made to control our people and population.
Did your projects have to pivot during the pandemic when everything shut down?
CW: Our office space was closed. We had an office space in downtown LA, but that whole coworking space thing just didn’t exist.
WM: Yes, a little. Supply chains have changed for CBD and THC products. Retail is changing and changing and there was so much uncertainty that we decided to work harder on our music project to avoid sitting down and doing nothing. Making an album also did not require that we have anything physical in the stores. As a company and brand, we thought about what the world needed at the moment, and that was music.
What is the inspiration behind Ready to dance?
CW: Before we met our producer Jonathan Hay [of R.U.S.H. Music], the question was: how does Frank White sound? I always wanted to do little sketches and little stories I had in mind, so I imagined what background music those scenes would soundtrack to.
WM: We started thinking about our music project last year. First, CJ started making a list of all the music that inspired his father and the music where his family grew up. We then started thinking about the impact of music in black culture and what that looks like. And then we started thinking about cannabis and how it affected every style of music from jazz. How do we talk about it? When this project came along, it just made a lot of sense. It checks all boxes. It crosses so many different lines and lets us do something like a brand that celebrates black culture and music.
Releasing a collection of hip-hop tracks was the obvious choice. Why did you decide to make a house and dance album?
CW: I always wanted to do something with my dad’s music, but I’ve been afraid of it for the longest time. I just avoided it because you do not want to confuse anything terribly. There are only two albums, so you can not take many and re-create many. When I got older and turned 21, I took a step away from music, because a lot of people expected me to jump right in and get faster and follow in my parents’ footsteps. I wanted to challenge myself before I ever touched on any of his music, so I decided to get into cannabis. I just wanted my own tribe. I did not think I would be a proponent and go out to lobby at the state capital. I never thought of that in my life. Even before I met Willie, I was like, “How can I shake the world?” Doing this music project with Jonathan was a creative project that I never thought I would do. Especially since it’s house music – a genre I’m never great at as a kid. I really only discovered home, EDM, and techno when I started going to Coachella with the kids where I went to high school.
That you got into house and dance music by going to Coachella?
CW: Yes.
That’s a very California answer.
CW: [chuckles] I will not even suffer and say that I sat in there first. It was not what I was into, but I have evolved and it has become one of my favorite genres.
Willie, how did you first discover house music and why does it make sense to mix it up with hip-hop? Ready to dance?
WM: When I was growing up my sister would cut out the house and go to parties with my cousins and I was like, “You have to take me or I’ll tell you about your boys.” They were going to cut out the house on a Sunday night, so I knew there had to be some fire if they were going out on a Sunday night. That is one of my earliest memories of discovering the genre.
When we started researching for this project, we found that house and hip-hop happened at the same time. They came from the 70s, and were both inspired by disco and gymnastics. These two genres grew simultaneously in the underground through the 80s and 90s, but never really came across. Now that hip-hop and house are two of the most mainstream music genres in the world, we want people to celebrate and remember that these genres were started by marginalized black, brown, and queer people who are just trying to have fun and to express themselves. That’s what Frank White is about.
What were each of your roles in production?
CW: We are all executive producers. I have a few focal points in there. My brother does some vocals there too, so we are both technical artists. My younger brother also did some production on some of the tracks. We were all about this s – t. Managers, producers, and artists.
WM: Same for me. As a producer, we wanted to balance house, hip-hop and techno. I also have a few focal points about it.
Even though CJ is the son of Biggie, did the Frank White team still have to pay the record labels and publishers for using his sampled tracks?
WM: We did not use any of the original samples. The tracks on the album are covers of his music. Based on that, we still had to ask permission from the estate, which is standard. On the project as a whole, we first had to get approval from the estate. Once that was done, we went through the standard rights license. The process varies by song and by company, some of which include Warner Chappell Music, Sony / ATV, Cobalt, and others.
Besides “Big Poppa”, what other Biggie covers are your sampling?
CW: Some of his most popular albums are featured on it, such as “Sky’s The Limit.” That’s one of my favorite records. I have an enormous emotional bond with it. I still wish I could be old enough to be in that video, but that’s another conversation. ‘One more chance,’ too. And, “More money, more problems.”
Will there be no unreleased tracks?
CW: Unfortunately no. Just on this album. We can put that in the universe. I would like someone to come out of nowhere to tell me, “I have three verses that have not been published.” I just do not know yet.
Can you share one of the artists featured on the album?
WM: Not yet. It will be a surprise.
Ready to dance is described as a “love letter dedicated to The Notorious BIG and all that black, brown, [and] queer ”creatives who fought to put their music into the world. How do you think the album is particularly relevant in today’s cultural climate?
CW: Man, as a young, black child of an artist who just did not get his, I think this conversation is still held in the music industry today. I feel like the artists are everything. The labels try to flip that on the artist and make it all look like the artist. If all artists, especially in the 90’s, had the power to be independent, they would not have to sign all their rights on one label or another. Now we are in a position where we can choose who we want to work with and who agrees with us.
WM: This year, the culture has shifted in a way that none of us expected. This album is very timely. It is dedicated to every person who has not earned it and still fights to be recognized as creatives and innovators of the many genres we listen to and love. Since we released the album independently, the conversation opens up about the ownership of the creativity in which one puts their heart and soul, and then commoditating it, because that’s how the company works. Technology has allowed us to sell directly without going through the label system.
CJ, when you launched the company, you were combing your dad’s old possessions – specifically his old clothes. What did you learn from that process?
CW: I’ve been looking at those sweaters since I was 13, and I was waiting for the day my grandmother would let me take them home so I could look after them every day. Last year she finally called me and said she had all his stuff and wished I had it. I’m so glad she did, because those sweaters will be the basis for the designs we do for our first fashion project. Of course, it will not be as big as that of my father. [laughs] Many of his clothes have been the real inspiration for us visually and we have used them as a guide on how he can be a participant without having to show his face explicitly. It’s much more subtle.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the legacy that Biggie leaves behind?
CW: As a child, it was hard to understand how serious it was. When I was 18, I had to sit down with all the lawyers and accountants and sign all the paperwork for all the fines. That was when I realized how serious it was. My parents always reminded me, ‘You’re in a different position. You are not like your brothers. You are not like your sisters. You have a very unique situation where you have to deal with, and it’s not really honest. “I have a strong support system with my parents and siblings, so I always feel like we’d make it together. The pressure will always be there. It’s really about how you respond to the pressure and what you do. If I were to start rapping and telling my story at a young age, I do not think there was much to tell. Or, even an interesting story to tell. It’s not like I grew up in Brooklyn and had to. really invent it. I certainly did not. My musical story, my musical background will come when we build this.
