Today, New York City is going all-out to honor the Notorious B.I.G. on what would have been his 50th birthday. Mayor Eric Adams has formally announced today as Big Day and tonight the Empire State Building will be lit up red and white with a crown spinning in its mast designed to pay homage to Biggie’s instant-classic blockbuster debut album, Ready To Die. The Empire State Building is also hosting a ceremony today in partnership with Bad Boy, Atlantic, and Rhino Records and the Christopher Wallace Estate, featuring his mother, Violetta Wallace, as well as his children CJ and Tyanna plus Lil’ Cease, Lil Kim, and other friends and collaborators. Meanwhile the MTA is releasing Biggie-themed MetroCards at three Brooklyn subway stations near his childhood home: Lafayette Avenue, Clinton – Washington Ave., and Atlantic Ave. – Barclays Center. Amazon will also have a tribute art installation set up at the Clinton – Washington Ave. station.

Three weeks from now, the celebration will continue with an orchestral tribute to Biggie at Lincoln Center on June 10, again sponsored by his estate and that trio of record labels. Billed as a “creative black-tie event,” it will feature music arranged and conducted by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, with appearances by the Originals and several special guests. Admission will be free, and the show will stream live on Twitch. That same day, Bad Boy, Atlantic, and Rhino will release a 25th anniversary super deluxe 8xLP vinyl box set of Biggie’s final album Life After Death.

Yesterday also saw the release of “the first new Notorious B.I.G. song in 17 years,” a posthumous single called “G.O.A.T.” featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Bella Alubo. You can hear that below.