Keith Murray Says He Warned Notorious B.I.G. to Flee L.A.

Keith Murray is opening up about his final moments with Notorious B.I.G., saying that he warned the rapper to flee Los Angeles hours before his death and believed he still might be alive if he had heeded his advice.

The slain rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was killed at age 24 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, amid the ongoing hip-hop-related rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast at the time, according to USA Today.

The "Hypnotize" hitmaker, nicknamed Biggie Smalls, was murdered just six months after rapper Tupac Shakur lost his life in a fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

In an interview with "The Art Of Dialogue," Murray revealed that he had been with Smalls in Los Angeles on the day of his death and advised him to flee the city amid the ongoing tensions following Tupac's death.

"I'm in the car with Biggie," Murray said of his encounter with the slain hitmaker. "I said 'Leave, Big.' If he woulda left, it woulda blew over. And I felt Biggie Smalls woulda been alive to this day."

Murray explained that Smalls had been booked to perform several shows in the United Kingdom at the time and had been contemplating whether to depart Los Angeles when he asked Murray to weigh in on the matter.

"I said, 'Big, you know they do not like you out here. Leave! Come back another time,'" Murray recalled.

That would be his last exchange with Biggie. Murray opted to skip the Soul Trian Awards afterparty, which Smalls attended before he was gunned down. Days later, Murray said he attended a meeting at which a close friend said they knew who was responsible for Biggie's death, adding that he was ready to join the late rapper's crew in retaliating against the supposed assailants.

"I’m edgy right now talking about Big and Pac," Murray said. "But Big was my man. And he got killed out there like that. And the dude who said they know who killed ’em? Now they saying the police know. But yo, we woulda got them guns and we woulda popped somebody that night in the name of Big. Word."