Birth name:
Christopher Wallace
Date of birth, location:
21 May 1972, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Date of death, details:
9 March 1997, Los Angeles, California, USA. (homicide).
The Notorious B.I.G.
Born Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls was born in Brooklyn, New York May 21, 1972.
He was raised in the poor Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant as the son of a
pre-school teacher. Dropping out of high school at the age of seventeen Biggie became a
crack dealer, which he proclaimed was his only source of income. Hustlin' his way was a
common life for a young black man trying to make a living in the ghetto. His career choice
involved certain risks though, a trip to North Carolina for a routine drug-exchange, ended
being the soon-to-be rapper a nine-month stay behind bars. Once released, Biggie borrowed a
friend's four-track tape recorder and laid down some rap tracks in a basement; tapes that
were passed around and played at local radio station in New York. Not extremely attractive,
Wallace names himself Biggie, for his weight. Biggie was a black man who was over weight,
extremely dark skinned and had a crook in his eyes. Yet Biggie was a charmer.
A young producer by the name of Sean "Puffy" Combs heard Biggie's early tapes.
Impressed, Puffy went to sign Biggie to his new label "Bad Boy". Puff and Biggie
worked on the artist's first album and the Notorious B.I.G. was born. Biggie first
made a his name heard with a remix of Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?" and a track
on the Who's the Man? soundtrack. After the success Biggie was getting, t
he album which was worked on earlier went through its final touches and was released in
1994. The album was named Ready To Die. The record quickly went platinum, and
the Notorious B.I.G. was named Rapper of the Year at the 1995 Billboard Awards.
After the quick success Biggie went back to get his friends, some who didn't even rhyme.
Biggie had several run-ins with the law, on charges from beatings to drugs and to weapons,
while all claim that Biggie was a gentle person. Biggie soon met a Rapper from the
West Coast named Tupac Shakur. The two became good friends. Tupac supported Biggie,
and often was giving him advice. However their friendship turned into the most violent
era of hip-hop music on November 30th 1994. While Biggie and Puff were at a recording
session in Quad Recording Studio, Tupac went to the Quad Recording Studio in Manhattan
to record with another rapper for his third solo album, Me Against The World at the same
time. But in the lobby Tupac was held at gunpoint and robbed of 40,000 dollars of jewelry.
Pac was shot five times. Biggie rushed down just in time to see Pac being loaded into a
ambulance. Extending a middle finger while dying, Pac blamed Biggie for the shooting and
said that B.I.G. knew about it and failed to warn him. This sparked the East Coast
West Coast war. Shakur miraculously recovered from his injuries. During this Biggie
admitted that he was scared for his life. Biggie never responded to any of Tupac's disses.
Tupac attacked Biggie everyway he could, even starting a strong rumors that there was a
love affair between Tupac and Biggie's wife Faith. The entire country became divided
into two groups, the West Side and the East Side. It became Death Row versus Bad Boy,
Suge Knight versus Puff Daddy, Tupac versus Biggie. However the two finally met again
late in '95 and Tupac secretly said to Biggie, "I'm just tryin' to sell some records."
However it became very real when on September 7, 1996, Tupac was gunned down in a drive-by
shooting on a neon-lit gambling strip in downtown Las Vegas. He died six days later as a
result of those wounds. He was twenty-five. The case is still unsolved. Biggie was scared
for his life. But he wanted to put an end to the War between the two coasts.
Biggie went to the West Coast for several events, doing advance press for his next release,
Life After Death, but also to make a statement that the war was over. On March 9,
he attended the Soul Train Music Awards and attended the after party hosted by Vibe
magazine and Qwest Records. After he left, Biggie was sitting in a Suburban on the
street when he was shot several times by an unknown assailant. He died almost instantly.
Hip-Hop has faced its greatest tragedy when both Pac and B.I.G. were killed. Biggie
was only 24 years-old.
He had 2 Top 10 hits in the UK when his single 'Mo Money Mo Problems' went Top 10 in the
UK in August 1997, which featured Puff Daddy (Sean Puffy Combs) and Mase. His solo song
was the other Top 10 success he had in the UK later that year.
Mother and father are Jamaican. Has a son named Christopher and daughter named T'Yonna.
Was killed in a still unsolved drive-by shooting. He was a rapper who had released
two albums before his death. There is another one that was released posthumously.
Awarded the 1995 Billboard Rap Artist of the Year.
Despite being one of the most popular and well-known artists in the hip-hop industry,
only saw one album released while alive. Recorded and released "Ready to Die" in 1994.
Recorded his sophomore album, "Life After Death" while alive, however it was released
a mere two weeks after his murder in March of 1997. "Born Again" was released in
December 1999, nearly three years after his death. The album featured unreleased
songs as well as remixes of old songs, some featuring other rap and R&B artists.
"Life After Death" is the only rap album in history to earn the Record Industry
Association of America's Diamond certificate for over ten million discs sold,
making it the highest grossing rap album ever.
Could not be billed officially as "Biggie Smalls" because someone else trademarked
the name "Biggy Smalls" years before. Thus he became The Notorious B.I.G.
Wallace also made a little known song with Michael Jackson, entitled "This Time Around".
Appeared in an episode on the short lived TV series "New York Undercover", on Fox,
where he played himself.
Actor, film history:
Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel (2002) (archive footage) .... Himself
Biggie and Tupac (2002) (archive footage) .... Himself
It's Black Entertainment (2000) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
Rhyme & Reason (1997) .... Himself
Show, The (1995) .... Himself
