Faith Evans says that her first album was a “love letter” to the Notorious B.I.G.
The singer reflected on the LP in an interview with ABC in which she briefly touched on their romance.
“My first album was absolutely a testament, a love letter, to B.I.G.,” admitted Evans about the project, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. “It was the story of our relationship at the time.”
Evans met Biggie at a Bad Boys Records photoshoot in 1994 and married him after knowing him for just eight days.
Her debut album, Faith, hit shelves in 1995, featuring her hit songs “Soon as I Get Home” and “You Used To Love Me.”
Producer Chucky Thompson revealed how the album’s track “You Don’t Understand” was inspired by Evans’ relationship with Biggie in an interview in 2011.
“Her and BIG, I guess figured out what they were doing with their relationship and she was going through a rough patch,” he said. “It was a situation where she wasn’t really liking him at first, they got married, he went on tour, now she is in love, then she is hurt. She is now going through all these feelings, and that’s where the other song came, ‘You Don’t Understand.’”
Earlier this year, Evans faced a lawsuit alleging that she had “continued to wrongfully withhold" proceeds from a multi-million dollar Biggie catalog deal.
In March, independent music publisher Primary Wave announced the closing of a deal where it would take a 50-percent interest in Biggie’s estate. The late rapper’s mother, Voletta Wallace, died a month before the deal’s public confirmation.
In the lawsuit, Wayne Barrow, the trustee of the Violetta Wallace Revocable Trust, accused Evans of “improperly” and “wrongfully” withholding sale proceeds as part of an alleged “takeover.”
“Evans has distributed sale proceeds to Ty’anna, CJ, and presumably to herself,” reads Barrow’s complaint. “She, however, has wrongfully withheld the Trust’s [redacted] share of the proceeds, in the amount of [redacted]. She has also refused to provide Mr. Barrow with a copy of the Asset Purchase Agreement and instructed the LLC’s counsel and the buyer not to do so either.”
Barrow called for Evans’ removal from the role of LLC manager in the complaint, citing “misconduct.” The case is still active as of this writing.