A Brooklyn, New York dispensary moved into the premises of a former church with a wall that depicted iconic rapper Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls or by his real name, Christopher Wallace. But due to strict New York rules on cannabis advertising, the dispensary was forced to paint over the mural, and local residents aren’t thrilled about the decision to paint over Brooklyn’s biggest hero.

The tribute to Biggie was painted by Huetek, featuring the artist as a baby with the name “Brooklyn” painted beside it. Huetek is a graphic designer, illustrator, and musician, and his pieces can be found throughout New York City.

“Let me remind ya what this represented…,” Huetek wrote on Instagram. “This wall here was created with one thing in mind … to salute…uplift…all creative souls who walk this earth…we the artist we the creators…we the people……who bring life to this world thru our creativity..and our passion…’destined for greatness’….was a love letter to all …starting from brooklyn …….to look beyond the obstacles and reach [your] goals….to fight for what [you] believe and love ….”

While Notorious B.I.G,. is highly respected in his hometown, the decision to remove the mural wasn’t up to the dispensary team. “We didn’t want to take it down,” The Emerald Dispensary co-founder Christina De Giovanni told The New York Post. The Emerald Dispensary is a minority-owned, social equity license holder.

De Giovanni said the mural was painted on the exterior wall of 85 Suydam St. for about three years before the dispensary moved into the space, which had previously been a church called House of Pray.

The state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), which regulates the sale of adult-use cannabis in New York, warned them that letting the mural remain in place could jeopardize the store’s opening which required an inspection from state officials.

“[The state compliance officer] said, ‘if the inspector sees it and says no, you’re going to have to delay your opening,’” De Giovanni said.

Emerald co-founders De Giovanni and Ray Ramon Roman began the dispensary licensing process in 2022, and were forced to paint over the mural after learning that it had to go. 

De Giovanni said she insisted it be covered in removable anti-graffiti paint in the hopes it could one day be displayed again.

“It was so hard,” she said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done … it’s really unfortunate that we haven’t had the opportunity to get an honest start before getting backlash for something that wasn’t our decision.”

OCM regulations on cannabis retail locations prohibit dispensary signage from displaying anything other than the needed information to provide location and so on.

Per the state’s Cannabis Control Board and written into the rules under the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, the following restrictions apply to cannabis retail stores in New York.

“Only licensees authorized to conduct retail sales or delivery to consumers may advertise outdoors using signs provided such signs,” the OCM states  Only is the advertisements  “(1) are for the purpose of alerting individuals to the location of a retail dispensary authorized to sell cannabis products to consumers; (2) are limited to, at a maximum, the following information: (i) licensee’s name, entity name, or doing business as name; (ii) dispensary address, phone number, email address, and website URL; and 34 (iii) the nature of the business; (3) are affixed to a building or permanent structure; (4) are not on vehicles; and (5) do not total more than two in number per licensed premises.

Notorious B.I.G.’s Impact in Brooklyn

There are many reasons why Brooklyn residents feel a certain way about 

By the time Notorious B.I.G. was done, he had it all: three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (some posthumously), two No.1 Billboard Hot 100 songs, and numerous other achievements. He was considered Brooklyn’s pride, the East Coast’s finest, and during that time period, only Tupac Shakur came close in terms of success as a solo artist in the rap industry.

Black Cannabis Magazine notes that the son of Notorious B.I.G. launched two cannabis brands recently: Frank White and Think BIG. Frank White is named after one of Wallace’s aliases, a premium cannabis brand that offers a range of products, including pre-rolls, flower, and concentrates. Think BIG, on the other hand, is a social justice-focused cannabis brand with an emphasis on helping those who have been disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs.

Other Brooklyn murals of Notorious B.I.G. were flashpoints when they were being taken down.

In 2017, a two-story mural depicting The Notorious B.I.G. on the side of a building on Bedford Avenue and Quincy was scheduled to be taken down. The artwork titled “King of NY” was painted by the artists Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott “Zimer” Zimmerman and has attracted crowds since it went up in 2015. 

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In 1966, all four members of The Beatles painted a piece in oil and watercolor on Japanese paper, “Images of a Woman,” at the peak of their fame while on tour in Japan. The piece went up for auction Feb. 1 at Christie’s New York in New York City, and sold to a buyer with astounding results, for over $1.7 million, after a lively bidding round. The high-end auction features lavish, upscale art dating back centuries.

The Beatles classic lineup—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—all painted a quarter of the piece and signed the painting. Bidding for “Images of a Woman,” 54 cm x 78 cm, began at $400,000-600,000, and the final price the buyer will have to pay is $1,744,000. It’s likely the only painting with work contributed by all four band members. Christie’s posted a 12-photo gallery showing the Fab Four painting it.

The latest event at Christie’s New York is a rock ‘n’ roll collector’s dream: “The Exceptional Sale,” also features priceless art and memorabilia like a gold-colored crocheted vest that was worn by Janis Joplin (bidding started at $50,000), and Elvis Presley’s 1965 guitar made by The Fred Gretsch Manufacturing Company, used during his 1969 Las Vegas, Nevada residency (bidding started at $350,000). David Gahr photographed Joplin wearing the vest on the roof garden of the Chelsea Hotel in 1970. Joplin’s vest eventually ended on the cover of the November 1976 issue of Rolling Stone and was one of her favorites pieces to wear.

High Times learned that bidding for The Beatles painting on Thursday got intense, with about three in the room holding out to the end, among many other bidders that called in. Organizers were pleased with the overall results.

“It was great to see The Beatles topping the charts again with this amazing auction result,” The Head of Christie’s Exceptional Sale, Casey Rogers, told High Times. “There’s nothing like this painting. It’s a work of art. It’s a piece of memorabilia. We told that story, and the market responded with strong competition from bidders in the room and on the phone.”

Keep in mind that The Beatles—defunct for over 50 years—topped the charts months ago in November 2023 with “Now and Then,” a song they finished using a little help from AI.

The event was designed only for serious collectors with money. “The Exceptional Sale” featured everything from an elegant 18th century candelabra to a Wedgwood & Bentley sculpture of the infant Hercules in black basalt. Other notable items date back further. The French and English furniture masterpieces include a pair of tabourets belonging to Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, and a Louis XIV Gobelins tapestry formerly in the collection of William K. Vanderbilt (1849-1920).

‘Images of a Woman’ Tells An Intricate Story

Psychedelics and cannabis have a well-known impact on the music (and art) of The Beatles. Lennon and Harrison, along with their wives, were the first to take LSD in 1965, after being dosed by a dentist. They would become part of the profound impact psychedelics had on Western counterculture and music.

This painting shows how psychedelics impacted their art. The four painted “Images of a Woman” just two months after recording Revolver, perhaps one of their most psychedelic, and most respected albums, taking a 180-degree detour from their early pop era that was based on radio-friendly love songs.

At the time when “Images of a Woman” was painted in 1966, “Beatlemania” was at its peak. The moment the Fab Four stepped off their plane at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan on June 29, 1966, The Beatles used a “moment of calm at a tumultuous time,” to create a piece of abstract art with some of the countless art supplies fans had given them.

While Beatlemania was strong in Japan, so was the politically nationalist Japanese, who saw The Beatles as “emblems of an invasive Western culture,” and completely rejected them, and the band was confined for most of their five-day tour in Japan to the presidential suite at Tokyo’s Hilton Hotel.

They received death threats from Japanese who rejected Western culture and considered the band to be a representation of that. “I’ve never seen so many people guarding us,” drummer Ringo Starr said at the time.

They took a piece of Japanese watercolor paper and put it on a table, then placed a ceramic lamp in the center, where they would sign their names.

Lennon in particular was interested in art. In 1957, young Lennon attended the Liverpool College of Art where he met former Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe. He continued to dabble in art his whole life.

High Times reported on another Beatles-related art piece that has a connection with cannabis. Antiques Roadshow season 46, episode 2, featured a cartoon depicting McCartney being searched for pot by airport customs and with an autograph from the singer.

Christie’s is an auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. The piece sold at Christie’s New York is probably the most valuable visual art the band has created. 

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Writer’s note: Lately I’ve been getting invited to shows and events that… well, would have made my teenage self do backflips. In an effort to share more cultural significance with you all, I’ll occasionally post “Snaps’” highlighting these events, shows or projects for you to attend, or at least get a glimpse of, no matter where you happen to be physically.

If you’re in L.A., or can get here in the next few weeks, you absolutely have to check out the new Basquiat exhibition at The Grand LA, “King Pleasure.” Curated by his sisters and nieces, “King Pleasure” is a collection of rarely before seen work by the iconic artist, from his sketchbook doodles to more traditional fine art from throughout his education, on display now in Los Angeles after a highly successful run back in New York City.

Whether you’ve been a fan since back when he was doing the work, or you’re just joining the team now, “King Pleasure” is going to present Jean-Michel in a way you’ve never seen before. Recreating both his studio and his childhood living room within the expansive four gallery show, the depth of his creativity is really on display here. While you’ll see countless works in his signature style, you’ll also learn his abilities reached far past what some consider to be more abstract art pieces.

A few weeks back I had the chance to visit the show before it opened with my friend, and an iconic artist in his own right, Joey Colombo. As we navigated through the expansive collection that ranged from actual doodles to theater-sized canvases, I know I speak for both of us when I say our eyes were opened to just how incredible Basquiat’s life and work truly were. From getting to step inside his living studio, to admiring the improvised canvas he’d create to get an idea out, the artistry on display extends far beyond the work most of us are already familiar with. And some of it is GIGANTIC. The final gallery, which holds the pieces he made for the Palladium, will likely make you feel smaller than any other canvas work you’ve seen in the past. When it clicks that someone the same size as you did all that, and not some giant, it’s stunning. And they’re each a single canvas!

The show is about more than just the work though. It’s truly a celebration of his life. Complete with maps of New York City and Los Angeles pinpointing the places he grew up and found himself, as well as the hotspots he frequented, there’s a special type of intimacy here. You get to peruse his collection of keepsakes from around the world, and the notes in his sketchbook. I don’t know if I’ve seen ANY show offer this much insight into an artist’s being. You can see firsthand the things that were important to him. In the recreated studio you can feel his process. It’s really quite remarkable.

The New York Times wrote that the show “creates an emotional impact that’s hard to shake,” and TimeOut New York called it their “favorite exhibit of the year.”

For another actual artist’s perspective, Joey told me “[the] show was exciting and inspiring.. it got my creative juices flowing!” 

In addition to work by Basquiat, the show also has several of Warhol’s originals, including his iconic portrait of Jean-Michel, as well as those of his family—including Jeanine, this show’s curator.

On display through July, don’t miss your chance to experience these rarely and never before seen works, through the lens of his actual family. There’s over 200 of them, and there’s truly something for everybody. You can get your King Pleasure tickets here.

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