holds up his dad’s jersey that almost eclipses Wallace and the entire computer screen. “It’s a 5XXL,” Wallace tells. On the back of the jersey, ‘POPPA” is stitched in bright yellow letters against the hunter green fabric., was killed. Now 23, Wallace has finally done something he says he was “very scared of for the longest time”: releasing his own music, inspired by his dad’s. “I just avoided it because you don’t wanna mess up anything great,” says Wallace.
Under the Think BIG Umbrella, Wallace, Mack and Russaw also created 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 apparel -- and now, music. “All of the work and the products sold under the Frank White brand benefit the charities that Think BIG supports,” adds co-founder and marketing veteran Willie Mack.
Releasing a collection of hip-hop tracks would’ve been the obvious choice. Why did you decide to make a house and dance album?I’ve always wanted to do something with my dad’s music, but I’ve been very scared of it for the longest time. I just avoided it because you don’t wanna mess up anything great. There’s only two albums, so there’s not a lot you can take from and recreate.
When we started doing research for this project, we found that house and hip-hop were happening at the same time. They were coming out of the 70’s, and were both inspired by disco and turntablism. These two genres were growing in the underground at the same time through the 80’s and 90’s, but never really crossed over.