‘Hyperrealistic’ Notorious B.I.G. Avatar to Headline VR Concert Featuring Diddy, The Lox, Latto
The Notorious B.I.G. will get virtually revived next month as an on-stage avatar in Meta Horizons World for a VR concert called “Sky’s the Limit” that will also feature his mentor/label boss, Sean “Diddy” Combs, as well as The Lox, Biggie’s Junior M.A.F.I.A. mate Lil Cease AND Latto, Nardo Wick, DJ Clark Kent and Eli Fross.
According to an announcement, the “jam-packed, hour-long” VR concert will take place on Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. ET in the Venues area of Meta Horizons Worlds. Variety reported that the show will find Biggie digitally re-animated as a “true-to-life, hyperrealistic” avatar that will come to life during a show that will air exclusively on Meta’s VR and Facebook platforms. The gig was arranged in collaboration with the B.I.G. estate, with the VR Biggie slated to perform songs from his catalog in a virtual recreation of 1990s Brooklyn dubbed “The Brook.”
“Having the ability to create a variance of new opportunity to showcase my son Christopher’s music through the advancement of technology is hard for me to grasp at times,” said the late MC’s mother, Voletta Wallace, in a statement. “However, I’ve found so much excitement in the process of developing his avatar, understanding the value added for fans to experience him in ways unattainable until now. Thank you to all who have contributed to bringing this project to fruition.”
B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace), was killed in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting in 1997 when he was just 24 years-old. The show is a celebration of what would have been the rapper’s 50th birthday and it will be accessible via the Meta Quest 2 or Meta Quest Pro VR headsets; if you don’t have a Meta headset, you can watch a 2D version on the official Notorious B.I.G. Facebook page.
Variety reported that the show will allow the audience to follow a day in Biggie’s life through a narrative journey written and voiced by music journalist Touré.
Watch the trailer for the show here.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
