Tweet
Voletta Wallace bashes Sean "Diddy" Combs and Lil' Kim
In the hip-hop world, verbal shots are sometimes answered with gunshots.
But that doesn't frighten Voletta Wallace.
In her new memoir, the mother of late rapper Notorious B.I.G. is taking shots at some of the genre's heavyweights, including entertainment mogul Sean ''Diddy'' Combs and the now-incarcerated rapper Lil' Kim -- even hip-hop itself. Combs discovered her son, Christopher -- and, she says, went on to take financial advantage of him. Lil' Kim had a relationship with him and, she says, later made up lies about the way he treated her to create hype for her albums.
We spoke with Wallace about the book, Biggie; about the movie in the works about Christopher's brief life and still-unsolved murder; and about why she couldn't care less if Combs is mad about what she's written.
Q: The most recent time the general public saw you was on Hip-Hop Honors on VH1 (in September). You were sitting in the balcony with Combs and some other people, smiling and looking proud. And word was out at that time about how you'd written that you feel Combs has, and continues to, exploit your son. It looked weird.
A: I have a very good relationship with Puffy (Combs), but what he did was wrong, and there's no hiding it.
Q: Has he tried to talk to you about what you've written since it was published?
A: Oh yes, he has. But I said what I said, and I bite my tongue for no one.
Q: In fact, you write that you told your son when he was alive you were suspicious of him.
A: It was just something on my heart. Mother's intuition. That was my only child. And when I saw him starting this rap career, all I could see [in B.I.G.'s videos] was Puffy, Puffy, Puffy. [I said] ''Who is he? Get him out of your music.'' And my son would say, ''Aw, Mom, he's my record label president. He's my producer.'' And I would say, ''Well, let him be your producer and you stand alone as an artist!'' But everyone exploits his music now. You name one artist who uses my son's lyrics ''only because I loved him!'' and I'll point back at that artist and call him a liar.
Q: All right, on to another artist -- Lil' Kim. What is your relationship with her now?
A: I had a great deal of respect for her. I know she struggled, and I'm sure she had a beautiful relationship with my son. But then [after his death] I let her do an interview in his house, and she took these pictures with his mink coat on. And his hat. And said some very derogatory things about Faith [Evans, Christopher's ex-wife and the mother of one of his children]. She hasn't apologized to me yet. Her assistant did. I haven't talked to her in about three years.
Q: From the book, one would gather that hip-hop in general has left a bad taste in your mouth.
A: Hip-hop sells unrealistic dreams. [Record labels] loan [acts] the money, and then when they loan them the money they give the world the impression that these young people don't have to work for it. Then these young people buy this jewelry and they lease these cars, and in the end, the albums don't sell and they're up to their neck in debt.
Q: That doesn't sound like it's all hip-hop's fault though.
A: No, but hip-hop is so focused on lifestyle and showing off. Luckily my son was smart enough to only take $25,000 in the beginning. Because he knew he would sell millions. And when Christopher passed away, he was not in debt.
Q: What's the status of the movie (Training Day director) Antoine Fuqua is doing on your son's life?
A: We start production in February 2006.
Q: Are you pleased with the script, how Hollywood plans to tell your son's story?
A: The first draft, the Voletta-Christopher part, I am pleased with. The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie, part, I don't know about yet.
Q: It's funny that you say that because in the foreword of Biggie, Faith Evans writes that it is ''a mother's perspective on her beloved son's life, representing only a fraction of the whole that was Christopher's rich and dramatic life.'' Would you agree with that?
A: I agree with that. There were certain parts of my son's life I never knew. I never knew the rapper. I never knew the person who was out there dealing drugs. I would ask him about certain things in his raps, like ''My mom pimps with an Ac with minks on her back.'' I thought he was saying something about me showing off and that is never who I've been. I was a hardworking preschool teacher, for goodness' sake. Then I learned it meant, ''My mom drives an Acura and wears minks.'' And I said, ''But Christopher, I don't have an Acura. I don't even drive!'' Finally I stopped asking about my son the rapper, and feeling stupid, and just focused on my son.
Source: Miami Herald
But that doesn't frighten Voletta Wallace.
In her new memoir, the mother of late rapper Notorious B.I.G. is taking shots at some of the genre's heavyweights, including entertainment mogul Sean ''Diddy'' Combs and the now-incarcerated rapper Lil' Kim -- even hip-hop itself. Combs discovered her son, Christopher -- and, she says, went on to take financial advantage of him. Lil' Kim had a relationship with him and, she says, later made up lies about the way he treated her to create hype for her albums.
We spoke with Wallace about the book, Biggie; about the movie in the works about Christopher's brief life and still-unsolved murder; and about why she couldn't care less if Combs is mad about what she's written.
Q: The most recent time the general public saw you was on Hip-Hop Honors on VH1 (in September). You were sitting in the balcony with Combs and some other people, smiling and looking proud. And word was out at that time about how you'd written that you feel Combs has, and continues to, exploit your son. It looked weird.
A: I have a very good relationship with Puffy (Combs), but what he did was wrong, and there's no hiding it.
Q: Has he tried to talk to you about what you've written since it was published?
A: Oh yes, he has. But I said what I said, and I bite my tongue for no one.
Q: In fact, you write that you told your son when he was alive you were suspicious of him.
A: It was just something on my heart. Mother's intuition. That was my only child. And when I saw him starting this rap career, all I could see [in B.I.G.'s videos] was Puffy, Puffy, Puffy. [I said] ''Who is he? Get him out of your music.'' And my son would say, ''Aw, Mom, he's my record label president. He's my producer.'' And I would say, ''Well, let him be your producer and you stand alone as an artist!'' But everyone exploits his music now. You name one artist who uses my son's lyrics ''only because I loved him!'' and I'll point back at that artist and call him a liar.
Q: All right, on to another artist -- Lil' Kim. What is your relationship with her now?
A: I had a great deal of respect for her. I know she struggled, and I'm sure she had a beautiful relationship with my son. But then [after his death] I let her do an interview in his house, and she took these pictures with his mink coat on. And his hat. And said some very derogatory things about Faith [Evans, Christopher's ex-wife and the mother of one of his children]. She hasn't apologized to me yet. Her assistant did. I haven't talked to her in about three years.
Q: From the book, one would gather that hip-hop in general has left a bad taste in your mouth.
A: Hip-hop sells unrealistic dreams. [Record labels] loan [acts] the money, and then when they loan them the money they give the world the impression that these young people don't have to work for it. Then these young people buy this jewelry and they lease these cars, and in the end, the albums don't sell and they're up to their neck in debt.
Q: That doesn't sound like it's all hip-hop's fault though.
A: No, but hip-hop is so focused on lifestyle and showing off. Luckily my son was smart enough to only take $25,000 in the beginning. Because he knew he would sell millions. And when Christopher passed away, he was not in debt.
Q: What's the status of the movie (Training Day director) Antoine Fuqua is doing on your son's life?
A: We start production in February 2006.
Q: Are you pleased with the script, how Hollywood plans to tell your son's story?
A: The first draft, the Voletta-Christopher part, I am pleased with. The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie, part, I don't know about yet.
Q: It's funny that you say that because in the foreword of Biggie, Faith Evans writes that it is ''a mother's perspective on her beloved son's life, representing only a fraction of the whole that was Christopher's rich and dramatic life.'' Would you agree with that?
A: I agree with that. There were certain parts of my son's life I never knew. I never knew the rapper. I never knew the person who was out there dealing drugs. I would ask him about certain things in his raps, like ''My mom pimps with an Ac with minks on her back.'' I thought he was saying something about me showing off and that is never who I've been. I was a hardworking preschool teacher, for goodness' sake. Then I learned it meant, ''My mom drives an Acura and wears minks.'' And I said, ''But Christopher, I don't have an Acura. I don't even drive!'' Finally I stopped asking about my son the rapper, and feeling stupid, and just focused on my son.
Source: Miami Herald
Comment