R.I.P. Unreleased Album Cover Images of The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Life After Death

As we collectively commemorate the 16th anniversary of Christopher Wallace’s untimely death today, the good folks over at ego trip have unearthed a real gem from the Biggie vault. Coupled with an interview with the record’s art director Ebon Heath, we get a look at the early designs for Big’s iconic (for more reasons than one) 1997 sophomore album, Life After Death. Heath also drops some gems about how the final design came about, the events that followed the rapper’s tragic passing, and even the time Biggie checked Diddy at the album cover photo shoot! Read the full interview here.

And I just remember one moment when we were shooting. [Biggie] was grumpy and Puff was on the side, just talking shit with homeboys or some shit, just not focusing on the work. Puff was fooling around and Big checked him. Big was like the only guy who could check Puffy. I just remember him going, “Sean! Sean!” [laughs]

See what Biggie’s Life After Death could have looked like after the jump…