Words by Jesse Serwer

This Saturday, May 21, would be the 39th birthday birthday of one Christopher Wallace. Every Biggie fan knows he was Jamaican, but lesser known is the degree to which patois dialect and dancehall music informed his lyrics. While some instances are dead obvious—stop your bloodclot crying—others require some more explanation. In the spirit of the late Frank White, we figured we’d hit you with a little Biggie 101, so those that don’t know… now you know.