Biggie Smalls aka
Notorious B.I.G. Biography
Christopher George
Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 - March 9, 1997),
also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish
gangster in 1975's Let's Do it Again) and Frank
White (from the film King of New York), but best
known as The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of
Game and, since his death, Books Instead of Guns),
was a popular rapper of the mid-1990s. He was born
in Brooklyn, New York.
His career was overshadowed by the Bad Boy/Death
Row Records feud during his life, but following
his untimely death in 1997, The Notorious B.I.G.
has been celebrated as a hip hop legend. He is
remembered for his storytelling ability, talented
freestyling ability, and his easy to understand
yet complex flow. He is widely regarded as being
one of the, if not, the best rapper of all time.
Childhood and drug career
The 6'3", 300 pound (136 kg) rapper, was raised in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City.
B.I.G.'s Jamaican-born mother Voletta Wallace, a
preschool teacher, claimed that Christopher lived
a comfortable life. He would later profess
otherwise on songs such as "Juicy". As an
honor-roll student, he dropped out of school at 17
to work as a small-time crack cocaine dealer in
his hometown. He would later traffic the drug into
Virginia where it could be sold at a higher price.
Even as a drug dealer, young Wallace was known for
his charisma. He rapped as a hobby and was soon
discovered by DJ Mister Cee (Big Daddy Kane's
former DJ), with whom he released his demo tape.
Rap career
The demo tape made by Biggie and Mister Cee found
its way into the hands of then Uptown Records
employee Sean "Puffy" Combs, who fell in love with
the rapper and quickly arranged for a meeting with
Biggie and Mister Cee. Combs and Wallace became
instant friends, and their first appearance
together was on the 1992 reggae song "Dolly My
Baby" by Supercat.
Biggie first gained notice with "Party and
Bullshit," his first single. His second mainstream
appearance was on the remix to Mary J. Blige's
smash hit "Real Love". He appeared on "One Million
Strong" on a song called "RUNNIN'" with 2Pac &
Dramacydal. He also made an appearance on a Trapp
album called "Stop The Gunfight" on a track called
"Be The Realist" with 2Pac & Trapp. This album
also contained a remix of "RUNNIN'" called "Stop
The Gunfight". All of these guest appearces built
a sizeable buzz around Biggie's name leading up to
his solo debut.
In 1994 he released "Juicy", his second (yet first
mainstream) single. He also released Ready to Die,
his debut album. Ready to Die is regarded as one
of hip-hop's all-time classic albums, and is
credited with revitalizing East Coast hip hop. The
album features one of rap's most famous "playa
anthems", the song "Big Poppa", which samples R&B
singers, the Isley Brothers. On the track
"Everyday Struggle", Biggie's album drew critical
acclaim for its vivid story-telling and
razor-sharp lyricism, such as "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." Another standout track is "Warning,"
wherein Biggie once again displays his
story-telling ability. The album is considered by
many to be one of the best and most hardcore
hip-hop albums of all time.
In 1995, Biggie's clique Junior M.A.F.I.A. (Junior
Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes) released
the album Conspiracy. That same year saw Biggie
introduce to the mainstream his crewmates Lil' Kim
and Lil' Caesar. That same year, B.I.G.'s single
"One More Chance" debuted at #5 on the Pop Charts,
at the time, tying Scream/Childhood by Michael
Jackson as the highest debut single in music
history, although this record has since been
surpased by Michael 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 Biggie's highest selling single, as the
single alone was certified Platinum.
By the end of 1995, The Notorious B.I.G. had
become one of the most famous and popular rappers
in the world. He was named Lyricist Of The Year by
The Source, and many dubbed him the "King Of New
York" (a play on his "Frank White" nickname, which
stems from the movie with the same name).
East Coast/West Coast feud and death
Although Ready to Die brought massive fame to
Biggie, he is most famed for his alleged
involvement in rap's most infamous feud between
the East and West Coast scenes. Before Ready to
Die was released, Biggie began to associate with
rap superstar Tupac Shakur, a Brooklyn native who
moved to Baltimore and later Los Angeles,
California. The two recorded a number of songs
together, and Biggie even performed alongside
Tupac in a now-famous Madison Square Garden
freestyle in 1994. However, their friendship ended
when Shakur was shot in November of 1994 and
suspected Biggie and Puff Daddy of culpability.
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 1990's, and with the
two biggest stars in rap now associated with
different labels, the feud escalated. When Tupac
was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Las
Vegas, where he had been watching a Mike Tyson
boxing match, rumors of Biggie's possible
involvement in the murder cropped up almost
immediately. Biggie denied the allegations. Also
around this time, Biggie was involved in a car
accident that shattered his leg and would force
him to use a cane for the rest of his life.
On March 9, 1997, the events came full circle when
Biggie was shot and killed in Los Angeles, where
he had been attending a party by VIBE Magazine
near the Peterson Automotive Museum. Neither
murder has been conclusively solved, though
theories 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
Randall Sullivan probes the circumstances and
figures involved in the shootings.
Additionally, Director Nick Broomfield and
co-producer Dmitri Leybman have released an
investigative documentary called Biggie & Tupac
which implicates the LAPD and Suge Knight.
The Los Angeles Times ran an almost universally
discredited article entitled "Who Shot Tupac
Shakur?" by reporter Chuck Phillips, which
concludes that Biggie Smalls was ultimately behind
the Las Vegas shooting of Tupac. Evidence to the
contrary, most notably a dated and timed excerpt
from a recording that Biggie made in a studio in
New York when he was supposedly providing the
murder weapon to hitmen in Las Vegas has since
surfaced. The fact that the article claims that
Biggie checked in and out of a hotel without being
noticed by a single individual, despite being a
6'3", 300 pound national celebrity also damages
the credibility of these articles.
Posthumous career
Life After Death, Biggie's second album, debuted
at #1 on the charts. The album was released only
two weeks after Biggie's murder. Its lead single
was "Hypnotize", which was also the last video
Biggie 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 18 million copies (worldwide), and, as
of 2005, is the best selling hip-hop album of all
time. Biggie's biggest chart hit was with the song
"Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," an upbeat number
featuring rappers Mase and Puff Daddy, and
sampling 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 a day in the life of Biggie.
During the summer of 1997, Puff Daddy released his
debut album "No Way Out," which featured Biggie on
a number of songs, notably in the chorus of the
single "Been Around the World" over David Bowie's
sample ("Let's Dance"). However, the single that
carried this album to the top was "I'll Be Missing
You", a tribute and a massively successful single
dedicated to Biggie. The song featured Puff Daddy,
Wallace's widow Faith Evans and R&B group 112. The
song sampled the melody of 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.
The year 1999 saw another release of a posthumous
Notorious B.I.G. album. Puff Daddy released
Biggie's third album, Born Again. It had two hit
singles called "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,
and is also the last Notorious B.I.G. solo video
to date (as of 2005).
In 2002, Puff Daddy gave 50 Cent rights to sample
Biggie's verses from "Niggas" (a song from the
Born Again album) into a song called "The Realest
Niggas". It got out as a single and hit New York
radio stations as a big hit. Many have attributed
that song as a major key to the rise of 50 Cent,
who is now one of hip-hop's biggest superstars.
The song (which also featured and was produced by
Eminem) was later put on the soundtrack for the
2003 hit movie Bad Boys 2 with Martin Lawrence and
Will Smith. Later on in 2003, Biggie appeared on "Runnin'
(Dying To Live)" along with 2Pac. The song was
produced by Eminem.
On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music
Awards, Biggie was paid tribute to by host Diddy,
and Snoop Dogg. The setup had an orchestra playing
while the lyrics from "Juicy" and "Warning" played
on the arena speakers. It was a well-received
tribute for that evening. In September 2005, VH1
had its second annual hip hop honors, with a
tribute to Biggie headlining the show. The long
awaited The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final
Chapter album was released December 20, 2005.
Fans will still have one last chance to hear
unreleased Biggie material, as he will be featured
on Busta Rhymes' highly anticipated Aftermath
debut, The Big Bang.
Source: Wikipedia
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