Photo: Devin Allen/Soul B Photos/Shutterstock; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Devin Allen/Soul B Photos/Shutterstock (12948503z) Lil Kim attends the 2nd Annual Biggie Dinner Gala for the Notorious B.I.G’s 50th birthday at Guastavino’s on Friday, May 20, 2022 in New York. 2nd Annual Biggie Dinner Gala, New York, USA - 20 May 2022; Notorius B.I.G. aka Christopher Wallace (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

The Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy lives on more than25 years after his death.

Friends and family of the late rap legend honored his memory Friday, ahead of what would have been his 50th birthday, at the 2nd Annual B.I.G. Dinner Gala at Guastavino’s in New York City.

“It’s always important to honor the king. He’s the king. The king lives on,” Kim, 47, added. “He’s just an amazing person, amazing artist … his legacy. It’s just great. Like, I mean, look at the catalog. Look at everything that he’s accomplished, even at such a young age.”

Biggie’s sonC.J. Wallace, who was also among those in attendance, said that “it speaks volumes” to see all the people who turned out to keep his father’s legacy alive.

ohnny Nunez/Getty for Lexus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 20: CJ Wallace attends CJ Wallace & Lexus Celebrate Hip-Hop and Honor the Life of Christopher Wallace (a.k.a The Notorious B.I.G) at the Lil' Kim Tribute Gala at Gustavino’s on May 20, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Lexus)

“You know how deep the legacy lives on and you know how important it is to the family at the end of the day,” he said. “He has more than just his bloodline, he has a real distinct family of people that go beyond the grave.”

“He was more than just a rapper more than an artist. He was an educator, he was a poet, obviously a writer. He was a prophet. He was here to do more than just make some songs or record a couple of albums, which is at the end of the day, that’s what he did. And he did way more than that in his spare time,” Wallace, 25, added.

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Wallace, who played his father as a child in the 2009 biopicNotorious, honors his late father with hisThink BIGinitiative, which supports organizations that “advocate for social and criminal justice reform, including the fights against mass incarceration and climate change.”

source: people.com