You might be surprised to think that any wisdom could come from the mouth of a rapper who goes by the name of Diddy and has previously been known as Puff Daddy, Puffy and P Diddy, but in the new biopic Notorious, some perception does float to the top.

"We can’t change the world unless we change ourselves."

Music producer Sean 'Diddy' Combs shares these words with rapper Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace as they embark on a successful career together in 1994.

They are words that Notorious B.I.G. repeats back to Diddy just days before the release of his second album and his untimely demise at the hands of a mystery gunman.

B.I.G.'s story is well known because his death was the culmination of a feud between the East and West Coast USA hip-hop scenes that also saw the shooting murder of rapper Tupac '2Pac' Shakur six months earlier.

Wallace's life began in the New York projects. Raised by his mother and seeing his father only once, he was a bright student, but by 17 fell into drug dealing on the streets.
He fathered a child just prior to entering jail for drug dealing, and upon his release two years later he was discovered by producer Puff Daddy and was soon on the way to recording his first album.

Rap music saved Wallace from a life of dealing on the streets. Puffy tells B.I.G. there is no future in drug dealing, that he must leave behind that life and only use those old days of dealing to inspire his lyrics.

Of course, the world of success as a rapper sends a whole lot of new temptations Wallace's way. B.I.G. leaves the mother of his child for the woman who would become rapper Lil' Kim, then leaves Kim to marry vocalist Faith Evans (who would later sing on The Police cover made for B.I.G.'s death, I'll Be Missing You). Sadly, the marriage to Evans ends in divorce as Wallace repeatedly cheats on her.

Thoughts of God run in and out of B.I.G.'s mind throughout the film, mainly thanks to his faithful mother. Although Wallace rarely heeds her sound advice, he is comforted by the knowledge that she is always praying to God for him. She also recites Psalm23 over the phone to her son during his time in jail. The influence sticks to some extent, evidenced by the Psalm 23 tattoo B.I.G. gets on his arm just days before his murder in California.

The film's conclusion is inevitable, ending with B.I.G.'s funeral. Thousands took to the New York streets where Wallace grew up to watch as his coffin was driven back to his family home. As people wave posters and play Notorious B.I.G. songs from stereos, his mother says

"Some of his songs made people laugh, some made people cry, some were violent. but what matters most is that people listened".

However, I wonder if Notorious B.I.G.'s message was really worth hearing? Earlier in the film, 2Pac is referred to as someone with the vision of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but who also loved the instant gratification of money and girls. Notorious B.I.G.‘s legacy is similarly uninspiring. His lyrics may have had some merit in revealing the plight of African Americans in urban USA, but too often his music, and more so his behaviour, reveal the mind of a person who placed his immediate enjoyment before his responsibilities. Clearly he was a man who wanted to draw attention toward himself rather than any particular cause.

Maybe Wallace was succeeding in changing himself for the better before he was killed. He was seeking to bring the two children he had fathered with two different women back home for a family gathering. Yet any sign that B.I.G. was looking to God for guidance is non-existent in the film. It seems he did not share his mother's faith.

So, is it true that "We can’t change the world unless we change ourselves"? Ephesians 2 replies:

"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". Maybe it should be "We can't change the world unless God changes us first".