Today we’re joined by Justin Tinsley, senior culture writer at ESPN’s Andscape and author of the new book It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him. We talk about the culture, legends, women, and controversies that shaped The Notorious B.I.G.’s life, and place his story into a greater context. Justin also shares how he worked on multiple projects while writing this book, and what he thinks comes next.

The Stacks Book Club selection for June is White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue … and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation by Lauren Michele Jackson. We will discuss the book on June 29th with David Dennis Jr.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

• It Was All A Dream by Justin Tinsley
• Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious B. I. G.
• Tupac Shakur
• Voletta Wallace
• Shine Bright by Danyel Smith
• Unbelievable by Cheo Hodari Coker
• The Beatles
• Elvis Presley
• John Lennon

• Bruce Springsteen
• Ready to Die (The Notorious B.I.G., 1994)
• Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A., 1988)
• “Alright” (Kendrick Lamar, 2015)
• J. Cole
• J. Cole performing “Be Free” on Letterman
• Young Thug & Gunna’s Complicated RICO Case, Explained (Steffanee Wang, Nylon)
• Bobby Shmurda
• Drakeo the Ruler
• Rap on Trial by Erik Nielson and Andrea Dennis
• Johnny Cash
• Life After Death (The Notorious B.I.G., 1997)
• Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs
• Ma$e
• Lil’ Kim
• Suge Knight
• Sean John
• “Rap Producer Testifies on Fatal Stampede at City College” (John Sullivan, NY Times)
• Travis Scott
• Astroworld Festival Crowd Crush
• “How the 1995 Source Awards Changed Rap Forever” (Paul Cantor, Complex)
• Dr. Dre
• Jermaine Dupri
• “Biggie & Puffy Break Their Silence – ’96 VIBE Cover Story” (Vibe)
• “Hit ‘Em Up” (2Pac, 1996)
• The Petersen Automotive Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
• Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Los Angeles, CA)
• In-N-Out Burger
• “Juicy” (The Notorious B.I.G., 1994)
• Drew Dixon
• Chubb Rock
• Faith Evans
• Charli Baltimore
• Afeni Shakur
• Andscape
• The King of Crenshaw (30 For 30 Podcasts, ESPN)
• Dwyane by Dwyane Wade
• “Episode 25 – ‘Takin Ova For da 99’ ft. Justin Tinsley” (Books Are Pop Culture)
• Alex Haley
• Allen Iverson
• Decoded by Jay-Z
• Woodford Reserve
• Nipsey Hussle
• Kobe Bryant
• Desus Nice and The Kid Mero
• “Ep. 133 Stacks on Stacks with Desus and Mero” (The Stacks)
• Justin Tinsley on Good Morning America
• Justin Tinsley on Sway’s Universe
• “Heather B.” Gardner
• C. J. Wallace
• Beyoncé
• Dave Chappelle
• Kanye West
• Dilla Time by Dan Charnas
• Most Dope by Paul Cantor
• Didn’t We Almost Have it All by Gerrick Kennedy
• The Queen Bee by Lil’ Kim and Kathy Iandoli
• Baby Girl by Kathy Iandoli
• The Movement Made Us by David Dennis Jr.
• “Ep. 217 Surviving in the Face of Death with David Dennis Jr.” (The Stacks)
• White Negroes by Lauren Michele Jackson

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