Pharoahe Speaks on Meeting Biggie [VIDEO]

XXLMag.com just finished our live interview with Pharoahe Monch on Spotlight, our weekly UStream show, and during the hour-long Q&A session, the Queens-native shared his unusual experience meeting The Notorious B.I.G.

Pharoahe said that frequent collaborator, D.I.T.C. producer Buckwild was working on B.I.G.’s debut album, Ready to Die, and during the recording, the rap legend mentioned he was a fan of Organized Konfusion MC, especially after learning they both suffered from asthma.

A short time later the two MCs ran into each other in B.I.G.’s Brooklyn hometown of Bedford-Stuyvesant. “I was in Bed-Stuy and we stopped at the light, and we seen Cease in the driver’s seat drivin’,” he said. "I was like ‘Yo, that’s Lil Cease, that’s Lil Cease,’ and [then] I looked and Big was in the passenger seat. And we both [looked] at the same time, and he seen me.  He was like hold up; he stopped the car and he got out and he came around and we got out and we dapped each other and we was just choppin’ it up for a minute before it got crazy on the corner with the people.”

Pharoahe will be joining Junior M.A.F.I.A., DJ Premier and Easy Mo Bee tonight (March 9) to celebrate Biggie’s life at Santos Party House in Manhattan on the 14th anniversary of his death. He told viewers during Spotlight that he’ll be performing Big’s “The What” with a very special guest that will be playing Method Man’s role on the track. Tickets for the show are now available here.—Jesse Gissen