Maxwell
Photo: Brad Barket/ Getty Images

Celebrity Favorites

Maxwell, you made us wait a little too long for your set during the Essence Music Festival last week, but it's all good. We're definitely eager to hear that BLACKsummers'night LP. Max was in his hometown of NYC on Monday night, hanging out with Fabolous and Nas and celebrating the release of his new record. Another Big Apple giant who loved Max's music was none other than the Notorious B.I.G.

"He was Brooklyn, a smooth-ass dude, B.I.G. definitely f---ed with him," Lil' Cease told us about Biggie's love for Max. "His music was dope, and me and Big supported it."

Man. Can you imagine a Biggie/Maxwell collaboration? We asked the singer what it would have sounded like.

"Wow. Wow. It's hard, because I'm from Brooklyn and [Biggie's] from Brooklyn," Maxwell said. "When Ready to Die was out, his first album was out. He's just the god of it all. I don't know what [our collaboration] would have sounded like. It distresses me more than I could know what it could sound like."

Maxwell also said him and Big could have taken it to the club or got smoothed out.

"It could be both, man," he said. "We're both Geminis, so I guess we would probably have more than one record, maybe. It's all about multiplicity for us. But he's sorely missed, though. I think people made it too real. Now people have a better understanding of what the lines are. The lines aren't too blurred in between the guy onstage and the person who's on the street. It's just sad he's not around for us to have known what those records would have sounded like."

When it comes to who Maxwell listens to now, he says he's a fan of MGMT and Radiohead.

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

We're going to keep things in BK. Maino, you did it. You put that album out, homie. Surprisingly, Main is the first new artist from New York to release an album on a major label in quite some time. Let's hope this continues. We recently went out to the set of his video for "A Million Bucks" featuring Swizz Beatz. The Bed-Stuy moneymaker told us he's down with Swizz Beatz outside of music as well as on track.

"Swizz is my friend," Main said. "First and foremost. It ain't even just about music with him. He extended his hand on numerous things. This is not the first time we been in the lab together; this is just probably the best. It's a great time for me. I gave them 'Hi Hater,' the 'Hi Hater' remix, then we came back with 'All of the Above.' Now we just gonna continue to make powerful music. It's been a long time since they seen a new, New York artist get this far."

The scene we caught Maino filming was a part in the video where he pulled a heist on an off-track-betting type of establishment and took some of that money they made from horse races. He and his crew took the money back to the 'hood and had some fun giving it away.

"The concept, you see Maino with 'A Million Bucks featuring Swizz Beatz.' From the outside, it may look like it's just a song about getting money or having fun," he said. "[The video] is kinda like the opposite of it. When I heard the song, [Swizz] had the hook already on there. It was like, 'I might give away a million bucks.' I was like, 'Swizz, I ain't got a million bucks.' He was like, 'I do!' I thought of a way to put me in a situation without saying, 'I actually got a million dollars.' I'm basically, 'I wanna give back to the 'hood. It's hot in the 'hood. You got feds in the 'hood. I'mma come back to the 'hood and give back to the 'hood. I'mma come bring some sunshine.' "

Main said other than Swizz, the only cameos he was concerned about in his video were those from the locals.

"I don't do it for them," Maino said about the people from the neighborhood. "I do it for these people. They here every day. They live here. It's more important for them to be in the video than it is for the so-called celebrities to be in the video."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Monday, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily Video: Zaytoven, Rick Ross, Fabolous And More

• Maxwell
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Maino

Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy at the Soul Train Awards in March 1997
Photo: Jim Smeal/ Getty Images

In the film "Notorious," we got a glimpse of the fateful party the Notorious B.I.G., J.U.N.I.O.R. Mafia, Diddy and others attended in Los Angeles at the Petersen Automotive Museum after the Vibe Awards the night of Biggie's death.

From all firsthand accounts, the 1997 party was legendary. Everyone danced the night away and popped bottles. Big's "Hypnotize" spun incessantly. No one had any idea that tragedy awaited them. Footage of the party has recently surfaced on the Net, and true to the stories from 12 years ago, heavy revelry abounds.

More than seven minutes from an amateur recording of the party show highlights such as Puff Daddy dancing to "All About the Benjamins" surrounded by a circle of women, along with various crowd shots of stars such as Missy Elliott, Irv Gotti, DJ Klark Kent, DJ Clue, Chris Tucker and Ginuwine. The party spinner, identified as DJ Ace, shouts out people such as Da Brat, Aaliyah and Jermaine Dupri. A note at the bottom of the screen said Biggie himself refused to be videotaped.

While the party was in L.A., the time on the tape seems to be in Eastern Time. Big left the party at 12:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m., but the video has everyone partying at 1:30 a.m. The party was actually shut down before that because it was too crowded.

"Notorious" earned $21 million in its first weekend at the box office. Fox Searchlight will release the DVD on April 21. In addition to an unrated version of the film, special features include commentary from Big's managers, mother Voletta Wallace and the filmmakers. There are also extras on Big's lyrics, the "Biggie Boot Camp" that the actors in the movie had to go through to prepare for their parts and extended concert-scene footage.

• Notorious B.I.G.

Lil' Kim and Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images

Lil' Kim is slamming the Biggie biopic, "Notorious," yet again.

The Brooklyn rapper has been chatty about the project, and previously singled out Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, and ex-wife Faith Evans for attempting to portray her in a negative light in the film. She was also critical of the movie's screenwriters and said it was "fishy" that she had been left out of the decision-making process.

Now, in a new interview with RapRadar.com, Kim said that Biggie often talks to her in her dreams, and she claimed the legendary rapper is unhappy about the project as well.

"I'm a very spiritual person and he's come to me many times in my dreams," she said. "But I don't think he's happy at all, at all! Because Ms. Wallace doesn't know Biggie at all and she barely knows Christopher, if you know what I mean. At all! And I was around. Even before he blew up so crazy, so I know how he felt about his mom. And Biggie was so much more than what they put him out to be in that movie. And to be honest with you, I know for a fact he's not happy. He's not satisfied at all. At all. And regardless of the fact, everybody who is involved in this movie, he has love for. Everybody. But at the end of the day, he knows who's who and what's what. Believe that. And let me tell you something, the way he's feeling is going to come out later. You're going to see who he really loved and the ones that's standing up for him the right way is the ones representing him the right way."

Her comments are the latest remarks in what was a continuing back-and-forth between the Queen Bee and Diddy, Ms. Wallace and Evans. Evans downplayed Kim's claims, while Diddy and Ms. Wallace took opposing positions. Diddy said he understood Kim's feelings.

One of the film's screenwriters, Reggie Rock Bythewood, told MTV News in January that Kim had the opportunity to contribute to her character. Bythewood said he spoke with the rapper and together they worked out the nuances of Kim's role in the film.

"Much of what she told me went directly into my next draft," Bythewood said in an e-mail. He also said Kim may have seen a rough draft of the film's script that made her upset.

Another rumored point of contention between Kim and the "Notorious" camp was the casting of Naturi Naughton to play the sexed-up rapper. False reports claimed Kim was interested in having Christina Milian portray her in the film. Kim, however, denied that claim.

She said instead she would have conducted an open-wide call.

"I wouldn't have picked a known actress," Kim said. "I would've went to Brooklyn [and] had a casting call, to be honest with you. Because there is nobody who could've pulled off that Lil' Kim/ Brooklyn feeling besides a Brooklyn girl who grew up in Brooklyn and knows what that's like. That's what I would've done."

MTV News' calls to Kim's manager for comment had not been returned at press time.

• Notorious B.I.G.
• Lil' Kim

Lil' Kim
Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage

Biggie's mom says she's had enough of Lil' Kim's rancor. In the new issue of Hip Hop Weekly, Voletta Wallace once again addresses Lil' Kim's public protests about her portrayal in the film "Notorious."

Wallace said that before the movie was made, Kim was given a copy of the script and signed off on the use of her likeness in the film.

"She felt the character we chose for her was 'too dark,' " Wallace said. "Do you know why the character was too dark for her? Because she's a white woman trapped in a black woman's body, and you can tell the world I said it, because those are Lil' Kim's words. She should be ashamed of herself."

(At press time, it was unclear whether the interview was conducted before or after Wallace said she "felt bad" for Kim.)

Big's mom went on to say she read interviews in which Kim revealed that her role model was Queen Elizabeth.

"Tell Lil' Kim to go find herself, go drink a cup of green tea and get a life!" Wallace went on. "This movie is not about Lil' Kim. She felt we used her character to promote [but] this movie is about my son. ... Lil' Kim needs to go sit down."

Hip Hop Weekly is where Kim fired her first salvo in the "Notorious" battle between her, Wallace and Faith Evans. "I've had enough and I'm about to expose them both. ... I've been quiet for a long time," Kim was quoted as saying by Hip-Hop Weekly. "I'm very disappointed in Faith. There's nothing Faith or Ms. Wallace could do to stop me from reppin' B.I.G. all day. I'm gonna always do that. ... It's time for Ms. Wallace to be exposed."

• Lil' Kim
• Notorious B.I.G.

Juelz Santana
Photo: MTV News

It tore up club Love during Diddy's party. It closed out club Josephine during Spike Lee's party. It was one of the biggest — if not the biggest — club records during inaugural weekend in Washington, D.C. We're talking about Jamie Foxx's ode to liquid courage, "Blame It." Foxx playfully sings about alcohol being the cause of his randy behavior.

Several MCs have taken a liking to the record as well. Some of the artists who have laid vocals on various versions of the record include Yung Joc (the song was originally planned as a Joc single but made its way to the Oscar winner instead), Lil Wayne, N.O.R.E., Busta Rhymes, Trey Songz and Freeway. Juelz Santana said the song is one of those one-listen hits that everyone wants to be a part of.

"That record is crazy," Santana said. "N---as are gonna jump on it. Wait till you hear my joint, though. We gonna do the remix."

The Diplomat is riding his "Santanuary" video series until March, when he's dropping a load of videos as well as releasing two mixtapes, The Reagan Era and The Takeover Part 2.

"I gotta give the people what they know from me," Santana said. "I can't change, but I gotta grow. I gotta come out and warm the streets up. That's all I'm doing right now. I kinda figured out the Internet. I'm hitting that real hard. Then I'll drop my Born to Lose, Built to Win album. It's gonna be a classic album. I don't have a date yet, but maybe it'll come out in April."

And we can't leave without giving Juelz a shout-out for his Grammy nod. He's nominated for his work on Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III LP.

"You had three artists who could have done a lovey-dovey song for the ladies," Santana said. "Instead of doing that type of record, ['You Ain't Got Nuthin'] is real raw, real hard, not commercial."

Last week, Santana refused to be one of the people unable to get a ticket for sold-out showings of the film "Notorious." He rented out the AMC Loews Orpheum Theater in New York and invited friends, including Angie Martinez, Jim Jones, Miss Info and Maino.

"I wanted to rent it out and invite everybody to come out and enjoy it," Santana said. "I know it's gonna be a memorable movie they will go see on their own. But I know it's gonna be memorable if we could see it together and have a good time. This is what I can give back. I owe this to Big. I ain't never got to do too much for Big. If you really go back to our Diplomat history, Biggie would be the start of it. Cam would have been Biggie's first artist — people didn't know that. If Big was still here, he would have been involved in our situation. It would have been crazy. Big was that n---a. Big is that n---a."

• Juelz Santana "Notorious" preimere

• Juelz Santana
• Lil Wayne
• Diddy
• Notorious B.I.G.

D-Roc, Notorious B.I.G, Diddy and Junior Mafia circa 1996
Photo: Courtesy of the Wallace estate

NEW YORK — Diddy, Swizz Beatz and members of Junior M.A.F.I.A. were among the many in attendance at Imperial nightclub Thursday night for Damion "D-Roc" Butler's welcome-home party.

Butler was released from prison late last year for his involvement in a shootout between members of Lil' Kim's and Capone-N-Noreaga's camps. C-N-N had collaborated with Foxy Brown, with whom Kim was embroiled in a feud at the time.

The 2001 incident resulted in the imprisonment of Butler and another shooter, as well as Lil' Kim. The female rapper was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for perjury and conspiracy. The shootout and aftermath fractured the relationships among many in Biggie's Junior M.A.F.I.A. circle.

New York radio station Hot 97 DJs Mister Cee and Funkmaster Flex spun sets at Imperial. "If you lived in Brooklyn for more than five years, put one hand in the air for B.I.G.," Cee told the crowd. Memphis Grizzlies players Darius Miles, Rudy Gay and Hakim Warrick were also in attendance.

Diddy arrived near 1 in the morning in his Maybach and quickly entered the venue past "hip-hop cop" Derrick Parker, who was working security for the club. Butler and his entourage immediately followed.

Butler grew up in Brooklyn with Biggie, and in the B.I.G. biopic "Notorious," his character is shown taking the fall for his friend on a gun charge in order for Big to try his hand at a professional music career. The Junior M.A.F.I.A. member was later released before being imprisoned again years later following the Manhattan shootout with C-N-N.

Butler had a hand in the production of the popular DVD "Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A.," but he hasn't spoken out much since his release or in support of "Notorious."

• Notorious B.I.G.
• Diddy
• Swizz Beatz
• Junior M.A.F.I.A.
• Foxy Brown

Taylor Swift's <i>Fearless</i>
Photo: Big Machine Records

Stop us if you've heard this one before: Taylor Swift's Fearless will top next week's Billboard albums chart.

The country crossover princess sold 63,300 copies of her sophomore album to top the chart for the seventh week (and sixth in a row). That's a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Usher's Confessions spent nine weeks at #1 back in 2004. Fearless has sold more than 2.3 million copies since being released in November.

All-in-all, it was a slow week for album sales. Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce landed at #2, selling just over 49,200 copies. Nickelback's Dark Horse follows at #3, with sales of more than 46,400 copies.

The week's biggest debut belongs to the "Notorious" soundtrack, which sold more than 42,900 copies to bow at #4. The accompaniment to the Biggie biopic — which features some of rapper's biggest hits, plus tracks from Jay-Z (featuring Santogold) and Faith Evans — becomes the fifth soundtrack to debut in the top five over the past year, according to SoundScan. Speaking of movie tunes, A.R. Rahman's Golden Globe-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack posted a 116 percent rise in sales (bumping up to #16) after last week's awards show.

Rounding out the top 10 are Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak at #5, with sales of more than 39,500 copies, the omnipresent "Twilight" soundtrack at #6 (36,000 copies), Britney Spears' Circus at #7 (34,000 copies), Jamie Foxx's Intuition at #8 (31,400 copies) and. Keyshia Cole's Different Me at #9 (31,300). Perhaps benefitting from the return of "American Idol," David Cook's self-titled debut posted a 58 percent jump in sales to land at #10, with sales of more than 30,600 copies.

Other debuts on this next week's chart include the Derek Trucks Band's Already Free at #19, Heather Headley's Audience of One at #27 and (hed) p.e.'s New World Orphans at #72.

• Taylor Swift
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Beyoncé
• Usher
• Jay-Z

Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Courtesy of VIBE

"Notorious" director George Tillman had a lot of "bosses" to please during the production of the Biggie biopic. There was Diddy, the executive producer; Big's mother, Voletta Wallace, who served as a producer on the film; the Brooklyn lyricist's former managers, Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, also had a hand in making the movie — not to mention, Lil' Cease was present on set as a consultant.

Another potentially hard person for Tillman to please was writer Dream Hampton. The veteran hip-hop scribe had penned articles on Big's friend-turned-foe Tupac Shakur, she'd been hired to write both Diddy and Jay-Z's biographies, and she hung out often with Biggie in the rapper's Bed-Stuy neighborhood.

The Detroit native reported from the set of "Notorious" for an article in the February issue of Vibe magazine.

Her verdict?

"George Tillman rocks," Hampton told MTV News on Thursday.

She credits the "Soul Food" director for his commitment to detail. In her article, Hampton notes Diddy actor Derek Luke is caucusing with Tillman as they try to get Puff on the phone. They need to know exactly where in his own black SUV he was sitting when he heard the bullets that would change [Diddy's] life and end Big's."

"As mad as Kim is," Hampton said, referring to Lil' Kim's criticism of the film, "I think that a lot of that stuff came out pretty good."

What Hampton didn't think turned out so well was the representation of Big's full persona. In her article, Hampton praised Jamal "Gravy" Woolard's work as the iconic rapper, but she explained that the way the Notorious one was portrayed was more G-rated than she recalled.

"I would have put 200 more n---as in, because Big was surrounded by people all the time," Hampton explained. "He would have always had ... a blunt. And there would have 500 more jokes."

Of course, Hampton knows there's about three more movies' worth of material when it comes to her friend's life — making the movie was not an easy task. According to Hampton, other projects may need to be green-lit to provide the full story. Tillman, she said, could be the one to open that gate with his work, much like he did for black films after "Soul Food" was released.

She also reiterated Diddy's remark that "Notorious" is a mother's movie, although Hampton's comment wasn't entirely complimentary, as she called Ms. Wallace "judgmental." She said the rapper's mother, like most mothers, may not know her son as well as his friends — some of whom weren't included in the movie.

She said the lyricist's death left a lot of matters unresolved between parties and the effects — which include members of Big's camp's attitudes toward the movie — are still ongoing.

" 'Pac was somebody who was constantly talking about dying,"  Hampton said. "Big named his albums Ready to Die and Life After Death, but he'd also [joke], 'Yeah, if I make it across the street.' ... So when I look at how 'Pac went to the studio and did like two dozen albums, he was preparing to die. Biggie was not ready to die by any stretch of the imagination. So what's left behind is kind of a mess. He was the glue to his crew. If Jay died, [his crew] would be straight. Biggie just wasn't ready to die, and no one around him was ready for him to die. He had friends who were super depending on him. So, like Wayne says, there's a lot of people ... like, with Kim ... for some, that was the highlight of their life. Like how someone is stuck in their high school days or college days.

"Big would be disappointed with how a lot of that sh-- is going down," she added.

• The Notorious B.I.G.'s Signatures
• 'Notorious' Red Carpet
• Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nas, Diddy, More At "Notorious" Premiere
• 'Notorious' Exclusive Clip: Diddy Gets Fired
• Notorious B.I.G.: A Look Back

• Exclusive: Meet The Stars Of The B.I.G Biopic 'Notorious'

• Notorious B.I.G.

Diddy and Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images

"Notorious" is ... Oscar-worthy?

"I'm not amping this up," he said in part four of his Biggie confessional video blog. "It deserves to be honored at the Academy Awards. I've seen everything that was honored this year, from 'The Wrestler' to 'Slumdog Millionaire.' This joint right here, to me, is greater than those. I don't wanna sugarcoat it. Those are great movies. But this one, we have the privilege to be honest.

"It'd be a tragedy if you don't give this movie some jewelry," Diddy added.

In "The Confessional, Part 2: The L.A. Story," Diddy said the day that Biggie was killed, he was not supposed to be in Los Angeles. Diddy recalled how his friend called him and said he wanted to postpone a scheduled trip to London, insisting that they party instead. The rapper had recently wrapped recording for his sophomore album, Life After Death, and wanted to hang out with the Bad Boy family and Junior M.A.F.I.A. to celebrate.

"I said, 'Yes, aiight, we'll hang out,' " Diddy said, and Biggie was gunned down after leaving the Vibe party they attended. "It's a call that I always, always, always remember. There wasn't a way I could talk him out of it. I didn't run Biggie. He was his own man at the end of the day, and he just wasn't gonna go [to London]. It was just ... the call plays over and over in my head. Like, what if he would have just gotten on the plane? ... Some things are just meant to be for reasons that are beyond and above us."

Diddy also divulged his thoughts on Biggie and Tupac, likening the pair to "Tom and Jerry." Diddy repeated the often-told tale of the two Geminis hitting it off immediately.

"You could not separate these two," he said. "The energy they had together. There wasn't no one trying to be a gangster or a thug. I witnessed it, there was so much love and so much admiration. Their relationship was for real. It was like two children in grade school that just hit it off and just hung out with each other all the time."

MTV News has even more B.I.G. things on the horizon surrounding "Notorious" — stay tuned!

• The Notorious B.I.G.'s Signatures

• Diddy
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Tupac

Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy
Photo: Jim Smeal/ Wire Image

Normally, Diddy is a man of little public introspection and a whole lot of mogul (and dance) moves.

But on the eve of the Friday nationwide release of the Biggie biopic "Notorious," the omnipresent music magnate is opening up about the emotions the film is stirring within him.

Diddy took to YouTube and his video blog — labeled "The Confessional, Part 1: Closure" — to talk about his coming to terms with Big's memory.

Looking directly into the camera, Diddy confessed that he's repressed his emotions regarding his late friend's death.

"Anybody that's experienced a great loss of a friend, a family member ... The thing that I realized, because I did it, and you may have realized it, you figure out ways to repress the feelings and not deal with it," Diddy said. "You just don't deal with it. Until one day, out of nowhere, a song or a picture or something makes you deal with it. In this case, I made 'Missing You.' I would shout Biggie's name to the hilltops. We'd do everything, the whole Bad Boy family, to keep the legacy alive. But watching the movie, there was no running, there was no hiding from it. ... I changed."

The Bad Boy CEO spoke for about six minutes, and said making music hasn't been the same since his artist and friend passed. Diddy said he still loves to make music, but there's been a joy missing from it since Biggie was gunned down March 9, 1997.

"It broke my heart," Diddy said of Biggie's death. "It took my spirit.

"A major part of me, of course, was gone," he continued later. "Also, at the same time, I just wasn't having fun. I let my spirit be taken. I think that's [what happened with] a lot of us involved."

According to Diddy, the confessional video blog series will be updated every few hours (part 2 had just been posted at press time — check back for an update!) until the film's premiere on Friday. He spoke for himself regarding the entries, but Diddy said he thinks the entire family could all gain a type of closure from the movie. He said iit's time not just to move on, but to move forward.

"I look in all of our eyes and we just ain't the same," Diddy explained. "I don't wanna go, 'We'll never be the same.' No. We can be better. We can learn from the situation. It may have taken 10 or 12 years. But I want my spirit back. I want you to have your spirit back. I want to have fun again when I'm making music. I want to have fun again in life."

MTV News has even more B.I.G. things on the horizon surrounding "Notorious" — stay tuned!

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• Notorious B.I.G.: A Look Back

• Notorious B.I.G.
• Diddy

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The Notorious B.I.G. And Friends

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Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Run-DMC, More At Fifth Annual B.I.G. Night Out

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DJ Clue's Photo Album

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• Notorious B.I.G.
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