Notorious B.I.G. lauded in Congress on the 20th anniversary of his murder

A titan of ’90s hip-hop — a genre that was once the scourge of Washington pearl-clutchers — has been lauded on the floor of Congress.

Hakeem Jeffries, a Democratic congressional representative from Brooklyn and Queens, gave a speech Thursday to Congress marking the 20th anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.’s murder in Los Angeles.

Biggie’s 1997 slaying in L.A. was an epochal event in contemporary music history, and Jeffries noted it by citing the timeless first lines of “Juicy” — now forever enshrined in the congressional record — and lauding Biggie’s contributions to his district.

“He died 20 years ago today in a tragedy that occurred in Los Angeles, but his words live on forever. I’ve got the privilege of representing the district where Biggie Smalls was raised. We know he went from negative to positive and emerged as one of the world’s most important hip-hop stars.”

Jeffries posted the speech on Twitter. Watch it, and remember it fondly as one of the few productive things that has happened recently in Congress.

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