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The stars of USA’s “Unsolved”: Wavyy Jonez as Christopher “Biggie” Wallace, Marcc Rose as Tupac Shakur. James Minchin III/USA Network
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Sundance previews ‘Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.’

Will it have the same vibe as FX’s award-winning ‘People v. O.J. Simpson’?

Kelley L. Carter @KelleyLCarter
Topics:
The Notorious B.I.G Television Tupac Shakur Crime Sundance Film Festival Biggie Smalls

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    8:15 PMPARK CITY, UTAH — Before the start of the panel about Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., a limited series coming to USA Networks on Feb. 27, a DJ blasted tracks that made both of the legendary rappers household names. More than 20 years after the genre-lifting rappers were killed, people are still celebrating, dancing and rapping along to the music that soundtracked much of the 1990s. “We get to see what we’ve rarely gotten to see, which is the friendship between Biggie and Tupac,” said director and executive producer Anthony Hemingway, who shared Emmy victories for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Also on the panel was showrunner Kyle Long, co-producer/music supervisor Lyah Leflore, Josh Duhamel (L.A. to Vegas, Call of Duty WWII) Marcc Rose (Tupac) and Wavyy Jonez (Big).

    Before the start of the conversation, guests viewed an amazing never-before-seen trailer. “We get to see them from a young age,” said Hemingway. “We deal with Biggie before he was a celebrity. We get to learn who they were as artists and get to see their pain.”

    Actor Duhamel said his series is done very much in the vein of People v. OJ. While in college, he rushed home daily to watch the real-life courtroom drama, and because of that he thought he knew everything about O.J. — but was blown away by the FX because he realized how much he didn’t know. “Even those who grew up on the rappers’ music,” said Duhamel, “and were around during the times of their deaths will be astounded at all that they discover [in this series].”

    Kelley L. Carter is a senior entertainment reporter and the host of Another Act at Andscape. She can act out every episode of the U.S. version of The Office, she can and will sing the Michigan State University fight song on command and she is very much immune to Hollywood hotness.