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Christopher George Letore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in 1975's Let's Do it Again), Big Poppa (His nickname for himself in his songs, his character in his raps) and Frank White (from the film King of New York), but best known as The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of Game) was a very popular rapper who rose to fame during the mid-1990s.

Born in Brooklyn, Christopher Wallace was raised at the height of the crack cocaine pandemic of the 1980's, and was a drug dealer in Bedford-Stuyvesant. After becoming a convicted felon, he decided to become a rapper. By the time his critically acclaimed album Ready To Die was released in 1994, he became the central figure of East Coast hip-hop, reviving New York into a hip-hop scene which had previously been focused on West Coast hip-hop. His career was dominated by the Bad Boy/Death Row Records feud, however, following his death in 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. has been celebrated as a hip hop legend. Biggie's double disc set, the equally revered Life After Death, sold over 10 million units and, as of 2006, is the highest selling hip hop album of all time.

Biggie is remembered for his talents in storytelling and freestyling, and his easy to understand yet complex flow. He also pioneered the increasingly popular method of not writing lyrics on paper. Biggie is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time by both his fans and his peers.

Early life

Christopher Wallace was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. His father, George Latore, left the family shortly after his birth, and his mother, Voletta, was a schoolteacher. Wallace was originally a straight "A" student in school, before getting bored with school and attracted to the lure of the streets.

Wallace attended Westinghouse High School in Downtown Brooklyn, along with fellow MCs (and future collaboraters) Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes. He dropped out of school at age 17. While he is known to have dropped out of school to become a drug dealer, his mother has claimed that the family was not poor and that Wallace exaggerated his childhood situation in his lyrics. His best childhood friend and inspiration was a chubby kid who went by the name of Lil Punisha.

Wallace, who originally didn't stray much further than his Brooklyn neighborhood to sell drugs, began to traffic drugs to Virginia and Maryland where it was sold at a higher price. He was eventually busted, and served 10 months in jail. Shortly after he was released, he and his girlfriend of the time, Florence "Jan" Tucker", had Wallace's first child, T'Yanna.

With a baby on the way, Wallace decided to start rapping. He developed into a talented lyricist, and he began to build a following for himself in his Bed-Stuy neighborhood. A famous video exists of Wallace rapping against an opponent in 1989. As his name was getting bigger, he began recording a demo tape with local performer Mr. Cee, who was the DJ for Brooklyn MC Big Daddy Kane. This tape reached The Source magazine, and they co-signed Biggie in their "Unsigned Hype" column, which is dedicated to aspiring rappers.

Rap career

The demo tape found its way into the hands of then Uptown Records employee Sean "Puffy" Combs, who subsequently arranged for a meeting with Wallace. Combs and Wallace became instant friends, performing together on the 1992 reggae song "Dolly My Baby" by Super Cat.

Wallace first gained notice with "Party and Bullshit," his first single. He made his second mainstream appearance on the remix of Mary J. Blige's smash hits "Real Love" and "What's the 411". He also appeared on the "Flava in ya Ear" remix. He appeared on the album One Million Strong on a song called "RUNNIN'" with 2Pac & Dramacydal. He also recorded with Uptown Records Heavy D on the tracks "A Bunch Of Niggas" (alongside 3rd Eye, Guru, Rob-O and Busta Rhymes) and "Let's Get It On" (with 2Pac and Brand Nubian's Grand Puba). All of these guest appearances built a sizeable buzz around Wallace's name leading up to his solo debut.

In 1994, he released "Juicy", his first mainstream single. He also released Ready to Die, his debut album, which is regarded as one of hip-hop's all-time classics and credited with revitalizing East Coast hip hop. The album features one of rap's most famous "playa anthems," "Big Poppa," which samples the Isley Brothers.

Wallace's album drew critical acclaim for its vivid story-telling and razor-sharp lyricism, an example being the line "They don't know about the stress filled day/Baby on the way, mad bills to pay/That's why you drink Tanqueray/So you can reminisce and wish/You wasn't living so devilish" from "Everyday Struggle." It also was noted in it's diversity, which featured radio friendly cuts (like the aforementioned "Juicy" and "Big Poppa") and grimier, more hardcore cuts (like "The What" and "Warning"). Ready To Die was an instant classic, which immediately put B.I.G. on the path to more mainstream fame.

In 1995, Wallace's protegés, Junior M.A.F.I.A. (Junior Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes), released the album Conspiracy. That same year, Wallace introduced to the mainstream his crewmates Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease. His single "One More Chance" debuted at #5 on the pop charts, tying "Scream/Childhood" by Michael Jackson as the highest debut single in music history at the time, although this record has since been surpassed by Jackson's "You Are Not Alone," which debuted at number one. "One More Chance," which sampled the R&B song "Stay With Me," was a remix of the song by the same name that originally appeared on Ready to Die. "One More Chance" was also his highest selling single, going Platinum in a matter of weeks.

Also in 1995, Wallace featured in Michael Jackson's song "This Time Around", which can be found on Jackson's HIStory album. This was not the only Michael Jackson song in which Wallace featured in. In 2001, Jackson included a rap verse sung by Wallace in his song "Unbreakable", which is found on Jackson's Invincible album.

By the end of 1995, Wallace had become one of the most famous and popular rappers in the world. He was named "Lyricist Of The Year" by The Source (magazine), and many dubbed him the "King Of New York" (a play on his "Frank White" persona.)

Technique

From early in his career, Big was conspicuous for his lyrical content, which involved hardcore gangsta-rap lyrics at a time when that style dominated the West Coast, and most of his native New York was dominated by the jazziness of A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr and the blend of Five Percenter/far East-influenced/gangsta stylings of MCs like Afu Ra, Jeru the Damaja and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Over the course of his career, fans who called him the greatest would cite his flow, topical diversity, and vivid, detailed storytelling; he also moved from simple thug lyrics to mafioso-like tales of "gangsterism", a posturing which some speculate possibly could have led to his death.

East Coast - West Coast feud

Although Ready to Die made Wallace a star, he is most famed for his involvement in rap's infamous feud between the East and West Coast scenes. Before Ready to Die was released, he began to associate with rap superstar Tupac Shakur, a New York City native who moved to Baltimore and later Marin City. The two recorded a number of songs together, and Wallace even performed alongside Shakur in the now-famous Madison Square Garden freestyle in 1994. However, their friendship ended when Shakur was shot in November of that year. Though there is no evidence suggesting it, Shakur claimed that Combs and Wallace knew about the shooting beforehand based on their behavior that night and what he had heard from his sources. Shakur subsequently joined Death Row Records after his release from prison in late 1995.

Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment were the two most successful labels of the 1990s, and with the two biggest stars in rap now associated with different labels, the feud escalated. In 1996, Tupac recorded a song called "Hit 'Em Up", in which he claims to have slept with Biggie's wife Faith Evans, and claims that Biggie copied his style. Biggie never made a response, and the two even met before the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. However, when Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, rumors of Wallace's possible involvement in the murder cropped up almost immediately. He denied the allegations. Also around this time, he was involved in a car accident that shattered his leg and would force him to use a cane for the rest of his life.

Death

On March 9, 1997, Wallace was attending the Soul Train Music Awards at the Peterson Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Other guests included Busta Rhymes, Heavy D, Da Brat, Aaliyah, Jermaine Dupri, Jagged Edge, Yo Yo, and Sean "Puffy" Combs.

Just after midnight fire marshals shut down the party and Biggie left with his friends in a black GMC Suburban. By 12:45 a.m. the street was crowded with people leaving the event. Biggie's car stopped at red light just 50 yards from the museum. While waiting for the light to change a black Chevy Impala crept up alongside Biggie's car. The driver of the Chevy rolled down his window and pulled out a gun and shot six to ten bullets into the GMC Suburban, most of which hit Biggie in the chest. While it was believed he was killed almost instantly, he was rushed to a Cedars Sinai Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles and pronounced dead fifteen minutes later.

Almost 10 years later, his murder has never been conclusively solved, though theories are abound as to the motives and identities of the murderers. Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight and the Mob Piru Bloods gang with whom he associated are among the prime suspects for involvement. In his book LAbyrinth, LAPD officer Russell Poole probes the circumstances and figures involved in the shootings.

Funeral

Biggie's death was a vicious shock to the entire music industry and sent shock waves around the world. The Notorious B.I.G.'s public funeral, however, was anything but peaceful. Wallace was loved in his neighborhood, his funeral was a massive event. Thousands flooded into his Brooklyn neighborhood to catch a glimpse of his hearse, jumping on cars and clashing with police; ten people were arrested. When someone put on "Hypnotize", the whole crowd erupted.

Theories about his death

Director Nick Broomfield and co-producer Dmitri Leybman have released an investigative documentary called Biggie & Tupac which implicates the LAPD and Suge Knight. Proponents of this theory defend it because the LAPD's elite robbery and homicide unit didn't begin to investigate Wallace's murder until a month after it happened, and the job was given to a poorly funded division of LAPD investigators; and several prison inmates who were once members of the Mob Piru Bloods have come forward and said that they know for a fact that Suge Knight ordered Wallace's murder due to their own personal connections.

Conspiracy theories abound about Wallace's murder: Some believe that the Crips gang may have shot Wallace in retalliation for his not paying for the security services they provided at a previous party. However, it should be noted that such theories are simply speculation, with no hard evidence backing them up.

The Los Angeles Times ran an almost universally discredited article entitled "Who Shot Tupac Shakur?" by reporter Chuck Phillips, which concludes that Wallace was ultimately behind Shakur's murder. Evidence to the contrary has since surfaced, most notably a dated and timed excerpt from a recording that Wallace made in a studio in New York when he was supposedly providing the murder weapon to hitmen in Las Vegas. The article also claims that he checked in and out of a hotel without being noticed by a single individual, despite being a 6'3", 300-pound national celebrity.

Posthumous career

Life After Death, Wallace's second album, debuted at #1 on the charts. The album was released only two weeks after his murder. Its lead single was "Hypnotize", which was also the last music video he would take part in. Life After Death hit number one on the Billboard charts and spawned several hit singles in the United States. The album sold over 18 million copies worldwide and is the best selling hip-hop album of all time. His biggest chart hit was "Mo Money, Mo Problems," which featured Combs (under the rap alias "Puff Daddy") and rapper *], and sampled the disco song "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross for the beat. The video is noted for having started the "Shiny Suit" era in hip hop. The last video single from Life After Death was "Sky's The Limit," featuring 112. The video for this song, directed by Spike Jonze, was noted for the use of children portraying Wallace and his contemporaries, such as Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. This technique has been recently used in the Three 6 Mafia music video for "Poppin' My Collar"

During the summer of 1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on a number of songs, notably in the chorus of the single "Been Around the World" over a David Bowie sample ("Let's Dance"). However, the single that carried this album to the top was "I'll Be Missing You," which was dedicated to Wallace's memory. The song featured Puff Daddy, Wallace's widow Faith Evans and 112. The song sampled The Police's hit song "Every Breath You Take." All these artists performed the song with former Police vocalist Sting during the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

In 1999, Combs released Wallace's third album, Born Again. It had two hit singles: "N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S.," featuring Puff Daddy and Lil' Kim (interpolation to the Duran Duran's song of the same name), and "Dead Wrong" a single that later was remixed with a verse from Eminem. The video for "N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S." also featured appearances by 98 Degrees and Fat Joe.

In 2001, one of Wallace's raps was featured in Michael Jackson's song "Unbreakable," which was included on his multi-platinum album Invincible. Wallace previously collaborated with Jackson in his 1995 song "This Time Around" from the autobiographical album HIStory.

In 2002, former producer and friend of Wallace, Irv Gotti, sampled Wallace's classic, record breaking hit "One More Chance" for his up-and-coming singer, Ashanti. The song, called "Foolish" was one of the biggest hits of 2002, and Wallace's verse from "F*ckin' U Tonite" (from Life After Death) was added to the remix. Gotti paid tribute to Wallace at a Hot 97 perfromance of the song later that year.

Also in 2002, Combs gave 50 Cent rights to sample Wallace's verses from "Niggaz" (a song from the Born Again album) into a song called "The Realest Niggaz." It got out as a single and was a big hit on New York radio stations. Many have attributed that song as the first big break for 50 Cent, who is now one of hip-hop's biggest superstars. The song was later put on the soundtrack for the 2003 hit movie Bad Boys 2 with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. Later on in 2003, Eminem remixed the 1994 Wallace/Shakur collaboration "RUNNIN'" and added a sample of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live." Titled "Runnin' (Dying To Live)", the song was released as a single from the soundtrack of Tupac Resurrection. In 2004, DJ Green Latern remixed Wallace's classic "Everyday Struggle" with a popular song by crooner Akon. The song, which also featured the vocals of 2Pac, Jadakiss and Styles P, was called "Ghetto".

On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Combs (who was hosting the event) and Snoop Dogg paid a well-received tribute to Wallace: an orchestra played while the lyrics from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. In September 2005, VH1 had its second annual "Hip Hop Honors," with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show. The long awaited The Final Chapter album was released December 20, 2005. The album spawned the singles "Nasty Girl", which became his first UK #1, as well as "Spit Your Game" "Whatchu Want" and "Hold Ya Head".

On March 19, 2006, a judge ordered that sales of Ready to Die be halted because the title track apparently sampled "Singing in the Morning" by the Ohio Players without permission. *

After death - if he were alive

Many people associated with rap music continuously speculate about how different rap would be today if rappers like Wallace (along with Tupac, Big Pun, Eazy-E, and others) had never died. The rapper Jadakiss, who was a close associate of Biggie's, stated in an appearance on MTV's The Shop that most rappers popular today would "be taking fast food orders" if Wallace were still producing music. However, Wallace's friends Lil' Cease, Lil' Kim, and Puff Daddy, all insist that he was not going to be in hip-hop for a very long time. In an interview with XXL Magazine (conducted in 1995 but released in 2003), Wallace himself said he was planning to retire from rap music in 2000 to manage the careers of Junior M.A.F.I.A.

In the song "1970 Somethin", a song featuring West Coast Rapper The Game and Faith Evans, Game dedicates an entire verse to the New York Emcee. Similarily "copying" his rap style, emulating B.I.G. Here is an excerpt:

'' "If I was in Brooklyn and B.I.G. was still alive In 2006, it might sound like this NY, 7-1-8's, 2-1-2's With Sue's rendezvous, it's like Moulin Rouge High fashion, uptown Air Force Ones and Vasquez Puerto Ricans with fat asses Blazed ducth masters, we dump ashes On models in S classes for you bastards Catch a cab to Manhattan, with that Broadway actin' You hype, that Belly shit'll get you capped and wrapped in plastic Tell the captain to ask Rog' What's Happenin'? I hear, nor speak no evil inside the magnum" ''

At the time of his death, Biggie had begun to promote a clothing line called "Brooklyn Mint", which was directly targeted towards heavy set people. The clothing line, which was co-founded by B.I.G. himself, never got off the ground due to his untimely death. However, Jay-Z, a close friend of Biggie, and a successful clothing entrepenur, re-launched Brooklyn Mint in 2004. All proceeds of Brooklyn Mint go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation.

Movie

There is a movie in the works about Wallace's life. Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day, will direct the film. The film is being produced by Wallace's mother and by his former managers, Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts. The unexplained circumstances surrounding Wallace's death were also explored in the 2002 Nick Broomfield documentary Biggie & Tupac.

Legacy

Biggie is widely celebrated as one of the all time greatest hip-hop artists. His lyrics have been sampled by many of today's more famous names in hip hop, such as Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Nelly, 50 Cent, Pharell Williams, Snoop Dogg, Juelz Santana, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and even R & B stars such as Usher, Akon, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, and Ashanti. He is also sampled in Michael Jackson's 2001 album INVINCIBLE in the song UNBREAKABLE.

In 2001, hip-hop magazine The Source crowned him as the greatest MC of all time. Likewise in 2003, when XXL Magazine asked many elite names in hip hop who they felt was the top 5 rappers of all time, Biggie's named appeared on more rappers' lists than any other MC. During Canibus's 1998 feud with LL Cool J, Canibus responded to LL Cool J's claim to be the greatest rapper of all time on the song Second Round K.O. by saying "the greatest rapper of all time died on March 9th", which was the day Biggie died.

Unfortunately, a huge knock on Biggie's legacy is the fact that he only recorded two albums while alive, with only two posthumous releases in the near-decade since his death. In 2006, MTV ranked Biggie as the #1 MC of all time, but later recinded. However, he still ranked number #3, with 2Pac and Jay-Z ranked ahead of him.

At the time of his death, Wallace created a hip-hop supergroup called The Commission, which consisted of himself, Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, P. Diddy and Charli Baltimore. A song on the duets album called Whatchu Want (The Commission) featuring Wallace and Jay-Z is based on the group. Other rumored members of the Commission included *], Cam'ron and the LOX.

Every year the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds a black-tie dinner ("B.I.G. Night Out") to raise funds for children's school equipment and supplies and to honor the memory of the Notorious B.I.G. (For this particular event, because it is a children's schools' charity, "B.I.G." is also said to stand for "Books Instead of Guns".)*

Trivia

  • Among the performers Wallace discovered, or in some way helped further their rap careers, were Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Jadakiss, Styles P, Sheek Louch, Lil' Kim, Mase, N.O.R.E. and Charli Baltimore
  • He attended the same high school in downtown Brooklyn as Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes.
  • He was one of the first MCs ever to successfully bridge the gap between commercial and underground success.
  • He first signed with Uptown Records in 1993, his first recording deal.
  • Method Man is the only artist to feature on Ready To Die, on the track "The What"
  • A line from his song "Me and My Bitch" is sampled on Mary J. Blige & Method Man's Grammy winning single "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need."
  • He collaborated with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the only group who have had the opportunity to collaborate with Wallace and each of the late rappers 2Pac, Eazy-E, and Big Pun in their lifetime. They were first featured with Wallace on the track "Notorious Thugs" which has been recently remixed in the track Spit Your Game. On "Notorious Thugs," Biggie flips his usual flow to match the speed rapping of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
    • His song Big Poppa was featured throughout the 2001 movie Hardball.
    • Both "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" hit #1 after Biggie's death giving him two posthumous #1 hits - more than any other singer. Other posthumous #1 hits belong to Otis Redding ("The Dock Of The Bay"); Janis Joplin ("Me And Bobby McGee"); Jim Croce ("Time In A Bottle"); and, John Lennon ("(Just Like) Starting Over").
    • Wallace had the ability to create verses in his head and was able to freestyle tracks on the mic without the use of pen and paper. This skill was also shared by Jay-Z, which lead to their eventual friendship. This was also a reason why he has very little posthumous material.
    • Other artists who use this unique style of rapping (and cite Biggie as an influence) include Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Common, and Jay-Z.
    • According to people close to him, Biggie had as much as five albums worth of lyrics in his head when he died.
    • The animated program Futurama aired a reference to Biggie with their episode The Luck of the Fryrish with the street beatboxer Noticeably F.A.T.
    • Life After Death diss track "Kick In The Door" was unknowingly directed towards fellow New York rapper Nas, Nas took ownership for him and Biggies short term beef on his album God's Son on the track "Last Real Nigga Alive"
    • Biggie was good friends with now rivals Jay-Z and Cam'Ron and ironically instrumental in both of their careers
    • Biggie sampled fellow late rapper Big L's song MVP for his own song One More Chance(Remix).

    Discography

    Albums

    • Released: March 25, 1997
    • Chart positions: #1 US #23 UK
    • Last RIAA description: Diamond
    • Singles: "Hypnotize", "Mo Money Mo Problems", "Sky's The Limit"
    • Released: December 20, 2005
    • Chart positions: #3 US #17 UK
    • Last RIAA description: Platinum
    • Singles: "Nasty Girl", "Spit Your Game", "Whatchu Want - The Commission"
    Album cover Album information
    Ready To Die
    Conspiracy with Junior M.A.F.I.A.
    Life After Death
    Born Again
    The Final Chapter

Singles

Year Song U.S. Hot 100 UK singles Album
1993 "Party and Bullshit" - - Who's The Man? (OST)
1994 "Juicy" / "Unbelievable" 27 72 Ready To Die
1995 "Big Poppa" / "Warning" 6 63 Ready To Die
1995 "One More Chance" / "The What"
(remix featuring Faith Evans) 		2 34 Ready To Die
1997 "Hypnotize" 1 10 Life After Death
1997 "Mo Money Mo Problems"
(featuring Puff Daddy and *]) 		1 6 Life After Death
1997 "Going Back To Cali" 26 - Life After Death
1998 "Sky's The Limit"
(featuring 112) 		60 35 Life After Death
1999 "Dead Wrong"
(featuring Eminem) 		36 - Born Again
1999 "Notorious B.I.G."
(featuring Puff Daddy and Lil Kim) 		67 16 Born Again
2003 "The Realist Niggas"
(featuring 50 Cent) 		- - Bad Boys 2 (OST)
2004 "Runnin' (Dying to Live)"
(duet with 2Pac) 		19 17 Tupac: Resurrection (OST)
2005 "Spit Your Game" (original featuring Twista, Krayzie Bone
/ Breaking Old Habit (featuring T.I. and Slim Thug) 		- - Duets: The Final Chapter
2005 "Nasty Girl"
(featuring P. Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge and Avery Storm) 		46 1 Duets: The Final Chapter
2006 "Spit Your Game" (remix featuring Twista, Krayzie Bone
and 8 Ball & MJG) / "Hold Ya Head" ''featuring Bob Marley 		- 64 Duets: The Final Chapter
2006 "Whatchu Want - The Comission"
(featuring Jay-Z) 		- - Duets: The Final Chapter

As featured performer

Year Song U.S. Hot 100 UK singles Album
1995 "Can't You See"
(Total featuring The Notorious B.I.G.) 		13 43 Total
1995 "Only You"
(112 featuring The Notorious B.I.G.) 		13 - 112
1997 "Stop The Gunfight"
(Trapp featuring 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.) 		77 - Stop the Gunfight: Untold Stories
1997 "Be the Realist"
(Trapp Featuring 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.) 		- - Stop the Gunfight: Untold Stories

External links

1972 births | 1997 deaths | African American musicians | American murder victims | American rappers | People from Brooklyn | Entertainers who died in their 20s | Deaths by firearm | High school dropouts | Murdered entertainers | Jamaican Americans | Rhythmic Top 40 acts | Unsolved murders | People from New York City | Freestyle rappers | Bad Boy | People known by pseudonyms

The Notorious B.I.G. | Notorious B.I.G. | The Notorious B.I.G. | The Notorious B.I.G. | The Notorious B.I.G. | הנוטוריוס בי.איי.ג'י. | 노토리여스 비.아이.지. | The Notorious B.I.G. | ノトーリアス・B.I.G. | Notorious B.I.G. | Notorious B.I.G | The Notorious B.I.G. | The Notorious B.I.G.

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "The Notorious B.I.G.".

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