Lil' Kim drops Biggie tribute track on death anniversary

Lil' Kim has released a tribute song in memory of her late mentor Notorious B.I.G. on the 19th anniversary of his death.

The rap icon, real name Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on 9 March, 1997, and 19 years later, his legacy lives on through his family and friends, including Lil' Kim, who honored her one-time boyfriend with a new track on Wednesday (09Mar16).

The female emcee, who Biggie recruited for his Junior Mafia Crew in 1995, teamed up with rapper Maino for the song Did It for Brooklyn, a shout out to their hometown of New York.

"He became my friend, my lover, my everything," Kim tells Entertainment Weekly of her late pal. "I was his biggest fan. He knew I would be the number one female artist. He knew I would be the biggest female rapper. I think I inspired him to want to do different things and be different. We were a match made in heaven, like Sonny and Cher or Ashford and Simpson."

Kim will also take the stage on Wednesday night to take part in a tribute concert to Biggie in New York City, along with Jadakiss and other surprise performers.

Also paying tribute to the Hypnotize hitmaker was his close friend Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who took to Instagram to post a series of photos and videos of Biggie, along with the captions, "Miss You... The game ain't been the same since! Miss you bra (brother) (sic)!".

Combs encouraged fans around the world to play Biggie's tracks on Wednesday, and the hip-hop mogul even posted a video of his friend talking about how he explicitly trusted Combs with his music career.

"I'm extra extra emotional this year!!!" Combs added in the caption. "You know that feeling when your (sic) on the verge of crying all day! WORDS CANT EXPLAIN!"