Faith Evans Says She Remembers a 'Loving' Notorious B.I.G. 'Every Day' Since His Death 25 Years Ago

Though it's been years since The Notorious B.I.G. — né Christopher George Wallace — died, Faith Evans, his former wife and mother to his 25-year-old son C.J. Wallace still thinks of him today.

Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of Biggie Smalls' mysterious murder in 1997 at the age of 24, and to commemorate the iconic late rapper, PEOPLE spoke to Evans about her favorite memories with him, and the legacy he left behind.

Recalling the day she learned the news and the impact it had on her, the singer, 48, says "it was crushing."

"Although we were separated, we had a 5-month-old baby," she says. "And it was obviously so unexpected. We didn't know or expect that to happen. We definitely felt like, 'OK, come back home,' just because of all the little weird things that were being whispered and things that happened prior to his death."

She continued, "Once I was able to not think gray all the time, I was definitely thankful that I was in L.A. that weekend. But to even be able to come into the hospital. Of course, I would have loved to have seen him, and just wanted to hold his hand. I literally was hoping and thinking, 'If I go in there and talk to him, he's going to be OK.'"

Since then, however, Evans remarried and had two sons Josh, 23, and Ryder, 15, in addition to C.J. and Chyna, 28, her firstborn whom she shares with Kiyamma Griffin. Despite moving on, however, the "I'll Be Missing You" singer says, "I remember B.I.G. every day."

"I walk down my stairs and there's a portrait that someone gave me of him up in the top of the foyer. B.I.G. is a huge part of this house," she says of the "Hypnotize" rapper, who was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. "He's one of the reasons that I am able to be here, to be quite honest, and live here, and my son."

Though C.J. was only 5 months old when Biggie died, Evans recalls her son growing up — and seeing much of his dad in him.

"It's crazy," she says. "Early on, I noticed different mannerisms that C.J. had and little quirky things. Like the way that B.I.G. had allergies and C.J. does as well, but there was a certain way he rubs his nose, and C.J.'s been doing that. That's ... I wouldn't say spooky, but to me it's a more spiritual thing. That is totally his dad's spirit right there."

To remember him, Evans gets together with the Junior M.A.F.I.A., a New York-based hip hop group founded and mentored by Biggie, and at times, and they'll all recall stories with the "Big Poppa" rapper.

"All we do throughout the night, is tell B.I.G. jokes. [We] tell stories and [say], 'Remember this time?' It may be the same 30 jokes, over and over and over, or situations, but it just never gets old. It's actually a joy, just to know that that's how we felt about him, everybody," she says of the group, which disbanded shortly after Biggie's death. "There's not many people — I don't know of any — that really don't have a great feeling about him or a funny story about him."

She recalled a humorous story of her own with the late rapper — a time they went to a bodega in Brooklyn to pick up marijuana shortly before the store was raided.

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"B.I.G. was really lazy," Evans says. "He wouldn't get out of the car to go into the store to get the weed! So I go in, and it just so happens they were getting raided. I was taking a long time. And it's not like he got out the car, to come and check and see what happened," she recounts.

"It was about an hour, and I came back all frazzled, and I'm like, 'Why you didn't come check on me?' He's like, 'No, I'm not getting out the car, what are you talking about?' He was like, 'Well, where the weed at?' Not, 'Are you OK?' but, 'Where's the weed?'" she says as she bursts out laughing.

As far as that inner circle, however, Evans says they've "grown probably even closer" since his passing. And to the people that didn't know him, Evans wants to make sure Biggie is remembered for who he really was.

"The person behind these rhymes, which could be so gritty and sometimes harsh and sometimes explicit — he was occasionally all of those things. But for the most part, he was just a really cool, lovable, funny person that most people loved being around."

Reflecting on where he would be now, Evans says he "definitely would've done more albums" and "had a couple more artists." She also says she would've worked with him on her 2017 album The King & I.

"I totally feel like he would be the mogul that he wanted to become right now," she says. "[He] would have had a restaurant chain or something."

At the end of the day, Evans also assures that, "despite whatever, even after B.I.G. and I separated, even after he had a girlfriend or I found out about this one or that one, he always still depended on me for something or another, trust me. Even up until his passing, to be quite honest. He knew he could — he knew he could depend on me."