The salesgirl at the Rochester Big & Tall store in Beverly Hills is buggin', and no wonder. A crew of six-five Brooklyn gangstas and I-has just entered her shop, and only one is large enough to fit the clothes sold here. "Group shopping?" she asks, eyebrows raised. That's right, this is a shopping posse, here to assist the Man-the Notorious B.I.G.-in his quest for a summer wardrobe.

B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, pride of Bed-Stuy, and the voice that sparked Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411? (Remix)," represents East Coast hip hop to the fullest with his own brand of Brooklyn flavor. This spring, though, he's basking in the California sunshine to see if he can get enough love from the West Coast to push his debut album, Ready to Die, to platinum-and making sure heads out West recognize his skills.

A few years ago, B.I.G.'s main reason to travel beyond New York was to expand his illegal business to places like North Carolina (where he did time for selling crack). But he's changed career paths, and work is more likely to take him to L.A., which sits well with him. "Weather's good," he says. "Weed's good. But when you in somebody else's 'hood, you abide by their rules."

Inside Big & Tall, Money Al gathers the items the Notorious one has selected: a couple of short-sleeve shirts, six packages of Jockey boxers, socks, and a belt. The salesgirl points to a display of sweaters, hoping to increase her commission. "Nah, I got every one of them back home," he says, forking over his lyrically acquired loot to pay for a pile of clothes he hasn't even tried on.

Little Caesar awaits us outside in the entourage's slick white minivan, rolling blunts the size of which I haven't seen since the last Cheech & Chong movie. We drive from Beverly Hills to Crenshaw, beats boomin', and Big's henchmen-the Junior Mafia-are rockin' to the music so hard it's a wonder we don't register on the Richter scale.

After all that reefer, the crew is hungry, so the next stop is Dulan's Restaurant. Plates of corn bread, collards, black-eyed peas, catfish, fried chicken, and jambalaya appear at the table. I don't know who ordered what, but I do know the entrées outnumber the stomachs.