Biggie Smalls’s remembrance begins again to live on within the genre’s culture, with gratitude in part to his two children: son CJ, 26, and his eldest, daughter T’yanna, who turns 30 years old today (Aug. 10) and celebrated the milestone with a sexy photoshoot.
“Dirty 30! Happy birthday to ME! The biggest BO$$,” the birthday girl captioned her Instagram post, which featured three shots of the beauty in a latex and mesh bodysuit with fishnets and high heels, her hair in a high ponytail.
The carousel also included a clip of her holding a pendant featuring a still of her father kissing her on the cheek as a baby, taken from his iconic 1994 “Juicy” video. “My jeweller comes through ALWAYS,” she wrote of the necklace in her Instagram Stories. “I called him 7 days ago and he got it done just in time for my b-day!!”
She also added a clip of Britney Spears flicking off the camera to Sexyy Red’s “SkeeYee.”
T’yanna welcomed well wishes from several enthusiasts, households and pals, including rapper Nas’ daughter, Destiny Jones, and Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Nino Brown, who was sure to shout out his “niece” on his page.
“Ok Ok Its Turn up Time for Ms Shot a clock herself, Happy Birthday to my mutha f**king niece, TT aka T Dubb Aka Ms Shot, ok but y’all can call her @tyanna810 TT we lit tonight IG can y’all wish TT a Happy Birthday with me.”
“Thank u !!!!,” she replied to her unc. “U know I’m getting u extra drunk tonight.”
In a 2020 conversation with The New York Post, T’yanna uttered of stepping out on her own and out of her father’s legendary shadow.
“I don’t like when people say, ‘Oh, that’s Biggie’s daughter,’ because that’s not my name,” Wallace shared during the runway show for her Notorious clothing line at the time. “Now everybody knows Notorious Clothing by T’yanna Wallace. I barely hear ‘Biggie’s daughter.’ I hear T’yanna first, and I like that.”
In the meantime, her brother C.J. is tilting more into their father’s heritage with a new documentary exploring Biggie’s life through his lens, despite only being five months old at the time of Big’s demise.
“Over the past few years, I realized my personal journey is connected to understanding who Christopher George Latore Wallace was outside of his big rap persona,” C.J. said in a statement via THR. “I am on a journey to fully understand the world he lived in and the massive impact he had on American and Black history and by doing so, I can ensure that I honor his hopes and dreams while I build and create my own legacy for future generations of Wallaces.”
© 2023 • Story By Edem Latsu Nukafu
