Notorious B.I.G. “Life After Death” photo shoot at Cypress Hills Cemetery
January 24th, 1997 was a cold winter day, just weeks before the world would lose one of hip hop’s most iconic voices.
Christopher Wallace — better known as The Notorious B.I.G. — stood alone in the quiet expanse of Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Dressed head to toe in black, with a matching overcoat and fedora, he stared down the camera lens with a somber, almost prophetic calm.
This wasn’t just another promotional shoot. This was the album cover session for Life After Death — his highly anticipated sophomore release. And the concept was bold… even eerie.
The photographer was Michael Lavine, a veteran in the world of hip hop visuals. Lavine has worked with the likes of Tribe Called Quest, RUN DMC, and OutKast, just to name a few. But this shoot would go on to be one of the most haunting in his career — and one of the most iconic in music history.
The theme was clear: death, finality, and legacy. Biggie had named his debut album Ready to Die. Now, the sequel was Life After Death. And this shoot was meant to represent the in-between — the liminal space between life and the afterlife.
Cypress Hills Cemetery, chosen for its dramatic mausoleums and long, empty roads, provided the perfect backdrop. The images show Biggie standing beside a black hearse. In others, he walks solemnly through the burial grounds, the New York skyline distant behind the leafless trees.
There’s no flashy jewelry. No entourage. Just Biggie — and the cold shadow of mortality.
Tragically, Biggie would be killed on March 9th, 1997 — just 16 days before the album was released. And suddenly, what was once a concept turned into something prophetic. The visuals took on new meaning. The hearse. The cemetery. The album title. It was as if he had unknowingly written his own epilogue.
When Life After Death dropped on March 25th, it debuted at No. 1 and went on to become one of the greatest double albums in hip hop history — certified diamond, with timeless tracks like “Hypnotize,” “Mo Money Mo Problems,” and “Ten Crack Commandments.”
But it’s the cover photo that still sends chills down spines.
Locating exactly where these two photos were taken took quite a bit of time and digging!
The cemetery where Michael Lavine captured these photos on January 24th, 1997 was Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.
The photo of Biggie with his hand on the grave was easier, in one photo from that scene, you can see the name "VANDERVEER" on the stone. Finding the location just required a bit of digging in the cemetery online archives. I was able to determine which section of the cemetery it was in, but not the precise location.
When I arrived at the cemetery, I found the section, now I had to roam and wander looking for the tall tombstone with a statue of a woman holding a cross and the name VANDERVEER on the bottom.
Once I spotted it, it actually gave me chills to be looking directly at this scene that I have been so familiar with since Life After Death came out.
Photography is absolutely not allowed in Cypress Hills Cemetery, and this is a rule that they strictly enforce, so I had to move quick.
The next image, I thought would be easy - I was dead wrong!
In an interview about the shoot, Lavine stated:
"I took this up a hill in in the Veterans Way area of the cemetery. It was a real effort getting Biggie up there. He had a huge entourage – multiple SUVs filled with bodyguards, pot smoke billowing out of the windows.
We curved up the hill and parked and Biggie got out of the car with his cane and hobbled to the edge of the tombstones.
I wanted the whole shot lined up with tombstones; no other distractions"
So - I am looking for a section of the cemetery with veterans tombstones, neatly lined up, up on a hill.
When I arrived at the Veterans section, I followed the road, curved up a big hill and found the rows and rows of tombstones - but they didn't quite line up with the stones in the image by Lavine.
I had zoomed way in on the original photo and knew what I was looking for to find the exact stones. Lavines' photos show a distinct crest style inscription on the two stones to the right of Biggie and you can vaguely make out the names.
Nothing was lining up, I wandered the rows and rows of graves on a sweltering hot August day, determined to get this shot!
I realized that I must be in the wrong spot, there are other veterans sections at this cemetery. I looked on Google Maps on my phone and I spotted the right section in a whole other area of the cemetery.
Once I arrived, I knew I was in the right spot! The size and spacing of the tomb stones lined up exactly, as did the crests and the inscriptions - finally!
Cemetery maintenance were roaming around and had already asked me not to take photos, so I ditched the camera and just used my cell phone for this one. I quickly lined up the printed shot I brought along, snapped my photos and put my phone away. I hang back for a while just to feel the weight and the history here.
After this, I would head deeper into Brooklyn to visit several other locations such as Biggies home, and the street corner where at just 17 years old, he won a now legendary rap battle!
