Bun B met The Notorious B.I.G at the BMG offices in the mid-90s. He was a big fan of Big, and when he was told the feeling was mutual, he invited the Brooklyn rapper to come outside and smoke with him.
As Bun explained on Talib Kweli People's Party podcast, he learned something about Biggie that day.
"I said, ‘We finna go outside and smoke if you wanna smoke.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, cool I’ll come. I’ll smoke.’ So we go out to the car — and he’s a big dude. So Pimp was in the driver’s seat and I’m in the passenger seat so I offer him the front passenger seat. He was like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna chill in the back.
I was like, ‘Yo, there’s a lot more room in the front.’ He’s like, ‘I’m good, I’m gonna sit in the back.’ I got in the back seat, He left the door open. We were like, ‘Yo, close the door. We’re gonna hot box.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, I need the air. I gotta keep the door open.'”
Bun didn't realize it at first, both there was a specific reason Big wanted to be situated like he was.
“It wasn’t until later that I realized that he didn’t want to sit in the front seat because he didn’t want anybody sitting behind him and he didn’t want the door closed in case he needed to bounce because he didn’t know us like that ... I had even more respect for him as a man outside of the music. Like OK, I see that man moves in a real way out there."
Jump to the 24-minute mark to hear Bun talk Big.