Joe and Jada Podcast: Lil Cease on The Notorious B.I.G.’s Legacy, Junior M.A.F.I.A. & Tupac-Biggie Beef

Date: September 18, 2025
Hosts: Fat Joe & Jadakiss
Guest: Lil Cease
Venue: Live from the Fountain Blue

Episode Overview

In this episode, hip-hop icons Fat Joe and Jadakiss sit down with Lil Cease of Junior M.A.F.I.A. to reminisce about The Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy, behind-the-scenes stories of the Bad Boy era, the dynamics within Junior M.A.F.I.A., the culture around Biggie’s rise, and the East Coast–West Coast drama. They also reflect on loyalty, personal growth, and the lasting effects of success and loss within the hip-hop community.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Notorious B.I.G.’s Legacy: Work Ethic, Generosity, and Vision

• B.I.G.’s Limited Time, Massive Impact

  • The group reflects on how Biggie had only three years in the mainstream—“He ain’t get here to have 20, 30 year run like anybody else did. But if he was still here… he would be smoking everything, right?” (Fat Joe, 01:53 / Cease, 01:54)
  • Cease details how Biggie was writing for everyone: Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil Kim, Puff Daddy, often at the expense of his own archive. (Cease, 04:17)

• Biggie’s Influence & Platform

  • Lil Cease observes: “He paved the way for everybody… like on hip hop culture, whether you know it or not. You was influenced by the big.” (Cease, 34:48)
  • Fat Joe notes, “Every verse he would drop… he never had a whack verse ever though.” (Fat Joe, 35:37)

• Loyalty and Realness

  • Cease on Biggie’s authenticity: “He’s the top five realest nigga in the world. Come to my hood, come sit there, got pictures with my mom… That’s what makes you that too. Outside of rap is also about how you carry yourself.” (Cease, 36:02)

Junior M.A.F.I.A., Ghostwriting, and the Team Dynamic

• Biggie Brings Up His Crew

  • Cease recounts how Big wrote his early verses: “Big said… I’m gonna write you some songs now instead of you hype Manning for me… After Biggie passed, I started to write my own rhyme.” (Cease, 07:40)
  • On Lil Kim and others: “When you got a team of people, everybody just kind of worked together. That’s how I came up into it, you know, growing up around that Bad Boy era. It’s writers… just energy going around.” (Cease, 08:50)

• Rumors and Respecting Roles

  • Discussion about ghostwriting for Foxy Brown and others raises questions of authenticity and public perception. (Fat Joe/Cease, 04:53–07:38)
  • “Sometimes a history like that can change. You can start out as somebody introducing you… once you figure it out, you could kind of take your own lane.” (Cease, 07:40)

Stories from the Bad Boy Era

• Living Fast and Young

  • Cease and Fat Joe reminisce about their teenage extravagance—“I was wearing those shits at 15… gators at 14.” (Cease, 14:47), with Fat Joe telling the story of blowing all his money on a Biggie-inspired suit. (Fat Joe, 15:20)
  • Discussing how they were kids with money and status, doing “grown man” things at 14. (Fat Joe, 18:21)

• Legendary Moments (and Mishaps)

  • The infamous car crash: Cease explains, “We got a loaner’s car from the Lexus dealer place… brakes was all fucked up… Just made one turn… we crashed.” (Cease, 12:16–12:29)
  • Hilarious story about being left in the car while Biggie met Michael Jackson: “He like, yo, N bro, stay here. Don’t trust him with the kids. He was joking, yo. See? Yeah. So I sat in the whip while he went into the verse where Michael came back hour later, verse done, check.” (Cease, 51:43)

Biggie’s Rise and the Nature of Success

• How Fame Changes Perception

  • Fat Joe describes seeing Biggie after a hiatus: “For that split second… he became such a superstar. Said, oh, that nigga must have changed. And right when I get to turn away… he was like, yo, crack, yo, crack… That taught me, like, don’t assume people change. They can still be the same people, no matter what success it is.” (Fat Joe, 29:10)

• The Gator Suit and the Price of “Being Big”

  • Joe describes saving up for the ultimate Biggie-style suit and how being fly was about confidence as much as wealth. (Fat Joe, 15:20)

• Longevity and Generational Wealth

  • “Generational wealth… Biggie actually did it. Thirty years later, he’s still taking care of his family.” (Fat Joe, 41:06)

Loyalty, Loss, and Hip-Hop Brotherhood

• Holding Down the Legacy

  • On loyalty after BI’s death: “How could you say Big is your man? And then on Lee…” (Podcast Host, 37:15)
  • Fat Joe expresses frustration at how people abandon legacies after the hype fades—drawing parallels to Big Pun: “When he was rapping, nobody want to rap next to him… and then he died, nobody want to mention him. No top five, no top ten, no nothing. But when he was here, y’ all was scared of death, of him, what he was doing lyrically.” (Fat Joe, 37:57)

• Biggie’s Mother: “The Mom of Hip-Hop”

  • Fat Joe speaks from the heart about Ms. Wallace, Biggie’s mom: “I just felt like she was the mom of hip hop, and that’s how I felt. That’s facts, you know what I’m saying?” (Fat Joe, 39:57)
  • Cease adds: “She did things the right way… she took over with what Big left behind. She really took it over and put it in perspective.” (Cease, 40:24)

The Tupac-Biggie Beef and LA

• Why Was Big in LA?
  • Fat Joe: “When Big was going… I think everybody knew he shouldn’t be in LA at that time, right?” (Fat Joe, 42:54)
  • Cease: “I was too young to feel that way… But he wanted to be there. That’s what he wanted to be. To this day, I stand on that… That’s where he wanted to vibe at.” (Cease, 43:12)

Biggie’s Ambitions Beyond Music

• Entrepreneurial Vision

  • Cease notes Biggie’s early vision: “He came out in 1994… We came out in August 1995, like, literally a year later… not just, you know, Kim, me… clothing line already—Brooklyn Mint… He was already creating things in his head, like, all right, outside the Mafia.” (Cease, 57:19)

• Commission Album and Jay-Z

  • Fat Joe: “He told me about Jay Z ahead of time… He was like, yo, Jay Z. It’s my man. He dead nice. He gonna blow this, this, that.” (Fat Joe, 58:17)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Fat Joe on Biggie’s Posthumous Presence:
  • “Imagine afresh after you die to 10 years later, new Fat Joe talking shit on there.” (Fat Joe, 03:31)
• Cease on Growth:
  • “Sometimes a history like that can change… you could kind of take your own lane.” (Cease, 07:40)
• On Loyalty:
  • “How could I let somebody violate her or sees that, anything like that? I’m not fake.” (Fat Joe, 39:02)
• On Heaven and Legacy:
  • “You don’t believe when you pass away, you go to see your people?” (Fat Joe, 47:02)
  • “I don’t believe it happens like the way you think. Like TV. It’s a gate there. And I don’t think.” (Cease, 47:12)
• Biggie, Michael Jackson, and Exclusion:
  • “When he went to do the song with Mike, right? He was like, yo, listen, bro, just roll me up a few. ... He like, yo, N bro, stay here. Don’t trust him with the kids. He was joking. ... So I sat in the whip while he went into the verse...” (Cease, 51:43)
• On Hip-Hop Immortality:
  • “500 years from now… if hip-hop is long gone, but they analyze it like... pyramids… they’re gonna talk about Biggie and Tupac.” (Fat Joe, 61:25)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp (MM:SS) | Segment | |-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:53–02:28 | On Biggie’s short career and lasting impact | | 04:17–08:29 | Ghostwriting, writing roles in Junior M.A.F.I.A., Kim, and Foxy Brown | | 12:16–12:29 | The infamous car crash story | | 14:44–15:18 | Early fame, gator shoes, and dressing “grown” as kids | | 18:58–22:43 | On seeing young kids in the game, loyalty, and being “outside” | | 29:10–31:32 | Fat Joe on how fame changed perceptions of Biggie | | 34:48–36:02 | Influence on hip-hop culture, platform for Junior M.A.F.I.A., and realness | | 37:57–39:02 | Loyalty after loss, the importance of defending legacy | | 39:57–40:24 | Biggie’s mother and her stewardship of his legacy | | 43:09–44:37 | The East/West tension, why Biggie stayed in LA | | 51:43–52:34 | Michael Jackson collaboration story—Cease left outside | | 57:19–58:52 | Biggie as an entrepreneur: clothing lines, putting people on, vision for the future | | 61:25–62:26 | Biggie and Tupac’s enduring legacy—“martyrs for hip hop” |

Closing: Announcements & Shoutouts

• Lil Cease plugs new projects: “I got an album coming out, Harder to say city. A documentary call from a young G’s perspective.” (Cease, 68:41)
• Group pays respect to both fallen peers and those who contributed to the movement—shouting out Biggie, Lil Kim, D-Rock, Mr. C, 50 Grand, and many others. (Cease, 69:00–69:26)

Tone and Language

The episode maintains an authentic, unfiltered “barbershop” vibe, with lively banter, storytelling, and candid reflection. Joe and Jada’s respect for Lil Cease and the legacy of Biggie shines throughout. The language is frank, sometimes playful, and always rooted in deep hip-hop culture and brotherhood.

For more behind-the-scenes stories and hip-hop history, catch new episodes of Joe and Jada, twice a week!