Few could rap the same way The Notorious B.I.G. could.

Born Christopher Wallace and called either B.I.G., Biggie Smalls or Big Poppa, the rapper died 13 years ago today in 1997.

His style was a mix of tough and smooth, quiet and upsetting, or in the words of Spin‘s Charles Aaron, “suffused with depression and death but still vibrated in the key of life.”

His friend, fellow rapper and one-time boss Diddy will be celebrating today at the Brooklyn club The Lab. MTV quotes him as saying this is no mean feat for the Harlem resident:

Everybody in Harlem knows you don’t usually go over the bridge to Brooklyn. It’s a big, big deal. Me being such a Harlemite, I’m going over there to pay respect to my man. It’s gonna be a big party in Brooklyn with Mister Cee. It’s a big day. It’s a day to celebrate his life. It’s a day to celebrate the life of the man.