Still yearning for more Big Poppa

Like so many talented entertainers, Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, left this world too soon.

Dubbed “The Greatest Rapper of All Time,” Biggie was well on his way to superstardom with the help of self-made producer Sean “Puffy” Combs before he was fatally shot at the age of 24 in Los Angeles in March 1994.

Biggie’s short, troubled life is the subject of the biopic, “Notorious,” which opened Jan. 16.

Newcomer Jamal Woolard portrayed the larger than life rapper in his acting debut, proving that he has the chops to carry a major multi-million dollar movie.

Woolard, an emcee in his own right, performed some of the late rapper’s most popular, yet explicit, lyrics in the movie yet came across as an approachable teddy bear.

Occasionally, Woolard would eerily appear on screen as the spitting image of the slain 6-foot 3-inch 300-pound rapper.

The charismatic actor takes the audience on the emotional roller-coaster ride of Biggie’s tumultuous brief life.

Growing up in a single-parent household with a protective, diligent Jamaican-born mother, Biggie yearned for independence, striving to earn his own fast money selling drugs on the street corners of Brooklyn alongside his childhood friends.

He soon figured out that the easy way wasn’t always the best way.

On the streets, Biggie became known for his lyrical skills, which became his ticket out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a tough Brooklyn neighborhood.

Enter the flamboyant Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy.

For the record, I’m a Puffy fan, but he was one of the movie’s producers so I’m forced to question his angelic portrayal in this two-hour feature.

Derek Luke’s lazy representation of Puffy was lacking the star’s over-the-top personality and style.

Luke did deliver a few signature corny dance moves, but other than that his performance fell flat.

Like Luke’s performance, another thing missing from the film was the Caribbean accent that Angela Bassett — who played Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace — chose not to use.

And when I learned that Naturi Naughton, one-third of the former group 3LW, would play Lil’ Kim, I couldn’t picture it.

For you mainstreamers, that’s like having Miley Cyrus play Britney Spears post meltdown.

OK enough about what didn’t work. Apparently, Biggie’s flirtations did work with the ladies.

There’s his first baby mama — with whom he had a daughter — then rapper Lil’ Kim and his wife, Faith Evans, a R&B singer at that time, who he married just nine days after meeting.

The couple’s son, Christopher “CJ” Wallace plays young Biggie from ages 8 to 13.

No matter how much Biggie disappointed the ladies romantically with his cheating ways, they always came back to “Big Poppa.”

While the ladies were busy trying to gain his affection, the fellas were eager to outshine the famed rapper’s status.

Before the beef between Biggie and Tupac Shakur, played by Anthony Mackie, escalated to the point of no return, the talented duo were close friends.

But somehow egos and accusations led to the media induced East Coast/West Coast rivalry and to the untimely deaths of two well-loved rappers.

On a lighter note, the chart-topping soundtrack including “Juicy” and the “One More Chance” remix will have you bouncing in your seat.

For this hip-hop enthusiast, the tunes brought back so many wonderful memories and I can’t wait to download some of those songs that I haven’t heard since the mid-to-late 1990s.

One of the many memorable scenes in the film was when Biggie was free-styling in a smoke-filled basement with his boys. Now that was a true hip-hop moment.

This movie left me yearning for more.

More Biggie and more music.