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The Notorious B.I.G.
Born
Christopher George Latore Wallace

(1972-05-21)May 21, 1972
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 1997(1997-03-09) (aged 24)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of deathDrive-by homicide (gunshot wound)
Other names
  • Biggie Smalls
  • Biggie
  • Big
  • Frank White
  • Big Poppa
  • MC CWest
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
Years active1992–1997
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1994; sep. 1996)​
Children2, including C. J.
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
Labels

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), known professionally as the Notorious B.I.G., and formerly by the stage name Biggie Smalls,[1] or simply Biggie,[2] was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap traditions, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive, laidback lyrical delivery, offsetting his lyrics' often grim content. His music was usually semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality but also of debauchery and celebration.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Wallace was the first artist to sign with Sean "Puffy" Combs's Bad Boy Records in 1993. That same year, he gained recognition for his guest appearances on several other artists' singles. His debut studio album, Ready to Die (1994), received widespread critical acclaim and included his signature tracks "Juicy" and "Big Poppa". This album made him the central figure in East Coast hip hop, helping to restore New York's prominence at a time when the West Coast was dominating the genre. In 1995, Wallace was named Rapper of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards. That same year, Wallace and his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A.—which included longtime friends like Lil' Kim—released their debut album, Conspiracy (1995).

While working on his second album in 1996, he became embroiled in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. After Tupac Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996, rumors circulated suggesting that criminal elements connected to the Bad Boy camp might have been involved, given Wallace's public feud with Shakur. On March 9, 1997, six months after Shakur's death, Wallace was also killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles by an unknown assailant. Two weeks later, his second album, Life After Death (1997), was issued as a posthumous double album; it debuted atop the Billboard 200, yielded two Billboard Hot 100-number one singles: "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" (featuring Puff Daddy and Mase), and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

With two posthumous albums released, Wallace's certified U.S. sales exceed 28 million copies, including 21 million albums. Rolling Stone has called him the "greatest rapper that ever lived",[3] and, in 2015, Billboard named him the greatest rapper of all time.[4] The Source magazine named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue. In 2006, MTV ranked him at No. 3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly "the most skillful ever on the mic".[5] In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Life and career

[edit]

1972–1991: Early life

[edit]

Christopher George Latore Wallace[6] was born at the Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on May 21, 1972.[7] Wallace was the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents;[8][9] his mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher,[10][11] while his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician.[12][13] At two years and five months old, Wallace started nursery school, and by the age of five, he was attending preschool at Quincy-Lexington Open Door Day Care Center, where he was already bigger than most of the other children.[14] Three months before Wallace's third birthday, his father left the family, leaving his mother to raise him while working two jobs.[15] Wallace grew up at 226 St. James Place in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill,[16] near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant.[17] As a child, Wallace spent most of his time in Fulton Avenue, where he was introduced to drug dealing, alcholics, and gambling.[18] Raised as a Jehovah's Witness,[19] Wallace attended St. Peter Claver Church in Brooklyn, graduating from the college in 1982.[20] He excelled in English at Queen of All Saints Middle School.[21] He later transferred to Westinghouse High School, a public school that was also attended by several future celebrities, including Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes.[22][23]

While attending Westinghouse High School, Wallace weighed 91 kilograms (201 lb),[22] which earned him the nickname "Big".[24] During this period, his interest in drug dealing intensified, being influenced by the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.[25] A friend of his introduced him to buying and selling marijuana when he has around the age of twelve. Having grown up in a strict household, Wallace concealed the money he earned on the roof of his apartment.[25][26] At the time, his mother had no idea about this; she only discovered it when he was twenty years old.[26] Despite being an honor student, Wallace dropped out of school at the age of sixteen during his junior year due to his growing interest in drug dealing.[27] In 1989, he was arrested in Brooklyn on weapons charges and sentenced to five years of probation. The following year, he was arrested for violating that probation.[28][29] A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail before making bail.[26]

Picture of a Stevie Wonder with dreadlocks smiling
Picture of Marvin Gaye wearing a white hat with a slight smile
Growing up, Wallace listened to Black artists like Stevie Wonder (left) and Marvin Gaye (right).

In his early life, Wallace was influenced by Black artists like the Dramatics, Blue Magic, Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. He was also well-acquainted with the vibrant performances of Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, and Chic. During visits to his parents' homeland of Jamaica, he was influenced by its prominent native genres, including jazz, reggae, soul, and mento.[30] As Wallace entered adolescence, he started listening to artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J.[31] Wallace adopted with the stage name CWest and, along with two of his friends, Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams, he formed the Techniques. Wallace met Donald Harrison, a saxophonist from New Orleans. At Harrison's home studio, the Techniques worked on their first songs together.[32] As the trio grew older, their interests shifted; Sams became focused on high school football, while Bynum lost interest in the music industry.[33] Wallace adopted his second stage name, Biggie Smalls, from Calvin Lockhart's character in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again.[34]

1991–1994: Early career and first child

[edit]

After his release from jail, with a disc jockey named 50 Grand, Wallace produced his first demo tape in 1991 called "Microphone Murderer".[35][36] Although Wallace reportedly had little ambition for the tape, local disc jockey Mister Cee, known for his work with Big Daddy Kane and the Juice Crew, discovered and promoted it.[37] Mister Cee sent the tape to Matteo Capoluongo, an editor at The Source magazine, who featured the track in the "Unsigned Hype" section in March 1992, a chart dedicated to showcasing promising rappers, including Wallace.[38][39] That year, Wallace started gaining exposure; after reading the "Unsigned Hype" section, Sean "Puffy" Combs reached out to and arranged to meet him.[40][41] Combs quickly connected Wallace to rhyme on the remix of Mary J. Blige's hit "Real Love".[42]

In 1992, Wallace's girlfriend, Jan Jackson,[43] became pregnant, and he was signed to Uptown Records in March by Combs.[44][45] Wallace's first chance to record a solo track for Uptown Records, rather than featuring on another artist's remix, came in 1993 when Combs was creating a song for the soundtrack of the hip hop comedy Who's the Man?. The song was "Party and Bullshit", produced by the Brooklyn-based Easy Mo Bee.[46] The song was heavily inspired by "Niggers Are Scared of Revolution" by the Last Poets, which uses sarcasm, frustration, and humor to critique young Black people's lack of seriousness in the struggle for equality. In the track, vocalist Umar Bin Hassan delivers lines like "niggas will party and bullshit, and party and bullshit".[47] Development on Wallace's first album began at Capoluongo's apartment in late 1992.[48] Wallace appeared on Heavy D & the Boyz's 1992 album Blue Funk, on the track "A Buncha Niggas".[49]

In July 1993—a month before Wallace's first child was born—Combs was fired from Uptown Records by his mentor Andre Harrell, resulting in the loss of access to the songs recorded at that time. Jan gave birth to T'yanna Dream Wallace on August 8, 1993.[50][51] Wallace promised his daughter "everything she wanted," believing that if he had experienced the same support in his own childhood, he would have graduated at the top of his class.[52] Soon after he was fired, Combs started his own record, Bad Boy Records, and took Wallace with him.[53] Although Wallace continued dealing drugs, Combs discovered this and insisted he stop. When Wallace had found out the name Biggie Smalls was already taken, he adopted a new moniker, settling on the Notorious B.I.G. permanently.[54] Wallace explained that the acronym "B.I.G." stood for "Business Instead of Game".[55] Combs and Clive Davis, then CEO of Arista Records, reached an agreement in which Davis provided Combs with a US$1.5 million advance and full creative control. Combs promptly used the money to repurchase the tracks recorded for Wallace's album from Harrell.[48]

The "Real Love" remix single was followed by another remix of a Mary J. Blige song, "What's the 411?".[56] Wallace's success continued, though to a lesser extent, with remixes of Neneh Cherry's "Buddy X" and reggae artist Super Cat's "Dolly My Baby" in 1993.[57] In July 1994, Wallace appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes on a remix of his labelmate Craig Mack's track "Flava in Ya Ear", which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[58] "Flava in Ya Ear" reached No. 1 on the rap chart for three consecutive weeks.[59]

1994: Ready to Die, marriage, and Junior M.A.F.I.A.

[edit]
A woman wearing a fluffy black hat and jumper staring directly into the camera
Faith Evans (pictured in 1998), whom Wallace married in 1994

On August 4, 1994, Wallace married R&B singer Faith Evans,[59][60] whom he first met in June of that year at a promotional photoshoot.[61] Wallace and Mo Bee originally wanted "Machine Gun Funk" as the upcoming album's first single due to its "funky, upbeat" sound, but Combs preferred a "smoother" sound for the release.[62] The upcoming album's first song to be released was the title track, "Ready to Die", followed shortly by "Gimme the Loot", "Things Done Changed", "Machine Gun Funk", and "Warning".[63][64] Five days after his marriage, Wallace had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with double A-side, "Juicy / Unbelievable",[65][66] which reached No. 27 as the lead single to his debut album.[67]

Recorded at the Hit Factory between 1993 and 1994, Wallace released his debut studio album, Ready to Die, on September 13, 1994.[68] Inspired by Snoop Dogg's bold, violent, and darkly humorous hit records, Wallace sought to create a similar style with Ready to Die, infused with an East Coast influence.[69] Wallace originally wanted to name the album The Teflon Don, drawing inspiration from John Gotti, who was then making headlines for his ability to avoid legal troubles. However, Combs disagreed, arguing that the title should make an impact but in a way that would "represent for the masses". Wallace ultimately agreed to follow Combs' decision, and the two conceived the name Ready to Die.[70]

Ready to Die reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart,[71] sold 500,000 copies in its first week,[72] and was eventually certified four times platinum.[73] The album shifted attention back to East Coast hip hop at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated U.S. charts.[74][75] The album received positive reviews upon release and has been widely praised in retrospect.[76][77][78] In addition to "Juicy", the album produced two other hit singles: the platinum-selling "Big Poppa", which topped the U.S. rap chart[79] and "One More Chance", which sold one million copies in 1995 (the year of its release).[80] Described as "the most memorable moment in the album", the track "Suicidal Thoughts" reflects on the mistakes in his life, contemplates suicide, and ultimately ends the song by killing himself.[81] Busta Rhymes recalled seeing Wallace handing out copies of Ready to Die from his home, which the former saw as "his way of marketing himself".[82][83] In 1994, Wallace formed the hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A.,[84] which included many of his childhood friends, such as Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease.[85] The name is a backronym for "Masters at Finding Intelligent Attitudes".[86]

Around the time of the album's release, Wallace formed a friendship with fellow rapper Tupac Shakur in Los Angeles.[87][88] Lil' Cease remembered the two as being very close, often traveling together when they weren't working. He noted that Wallace frequently visited Shakur's home, and they spent time together whenever Shakur was in California or Washington, D.C.[89] Yukmouth, an Oakland emcee, stated that Wallace's style was influenced by Shakur.[90] Wallace also befriended basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal said they were introduced during a listening session for "Gimme the Loot"; Wallace mentioned him in the lyrics and thereby attracted O'Neal to his music. O'Neal requested a collaboration with Wallace, which resulted in the song "You Can't Stop the Reign". According to Combs, Wallace would not collaborate with "anybody he didn't really respect" and that Wallace paid O'Neal his respect by "shouting him out". According to Combs, Wallace would only collaborate with those he truly respected, and by "shouting him out," he showed O'Neal that respect.[91] In 2015, Daz Dillinger, a frequent collaborator with Shakur, said that he and Wallace were "cool", with Wallace traveling to meet him to smoke cannabis and record two songs.[92]

1995: Conspiracy and coastal feud

[edit]

After forming the supergroup, Junior M.A.F.I.A. began working on their first album in 1994. On August 29, 1995, Junior M.A.F.I.A. released their debut studio album, Conspiracy, via Undeas Recordings,[85] which achieved gold certification[93] and sold over 500,000 copies.[94] The first single, "Player's Anthem", features Wallace, Lil' Kim, and Lil' Cease, and was produced by Clark Kent. "I Need You Tonight" features MC Klepto, Trife, Lil' Kim and Aaliyah, and was the only single that did not feature Wallace. The third single, "Get Money", a battle-of-the-sexes track featuring Wallace and Lil' Kim, became their most popular song. "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money" also earned gold and platinum status, respectively.[95] Wallace continued collaborating with R&B artists, working with groups like 112 on "Only You" and Total on "Can't You See",[96][97] both of which reached the top 20 on the Hot 100.[98][99] By the end of the year, Wallace had become the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on both the U.S. pop and R&B charts.[100] In July 1995, Wallace appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption "The King of New York Takes Over," a nod to his alias Frank White, inspired by the character from the 1990 film King of New York.[101][102] At The Source Awards in August 1995, he won Best New Artist, Lyricist of the Year, and Live Performer of the Year,[36][103] while his debut album was named Album of the Year.[104] He was also honored as Rap Artist of the Year at the Billboard Awards.[105]

An 18-year old Tupac Shakur smiling for a yearbook photo, black and white
After Tupac Shakur (pictured in 1988) accused Wallace of being involved in his shooting, the two went from friends to rivals.

In 1995, Wallace became embroiled in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, which involved his now-former friend, Shakur.[106][107] In an April 1995 interview with Vibe while serving time in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur accused Harrell, Combs, and Wallace of having prior knowledge of the robbery on November 30, 1994, during which he was shot five times and lost thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.[108][109] They denied any involvement.[110] Wallace stated, "I had nothing to do with that, it just happened to be a coincidence that he was in the studio. He couldn't really say who really had something to do with it at the time, so he just kind of leaned the blame on me".[111] In 2012, Dexter Isaac, who was serving a life sentence for unrelated crimes, claimed responsibility for the attack on Shakur that night, stating that the robbery was orchestrated by entertainment executive and former drug trafficker James Rosemond.[112] After his release from prison, Shakur signed with Death Row Records in October 1995.[113] This made Bad Boy Records and Death Row business rivals, further escalating the conflict between Shakur and Wallace.[114][115]

In October 1995, Wallace revealed that he still had not received any earnings from Ready to Die, despite the album having sold two million copies at the time. With each CD priced at $15 (equivalent to $31 in 2023), the album should have generated approximately $30 million ($56 million in 2023) in revenue.[116] Amid the rivalry between Wallace and Shakur, many speculated that "Who Shot Ya?", released in late February 1995, as a secondary B-side to "Big Poppa", was intended to taunt Shakur.[117][118] However, according to Lil' Cease, the song was not intended to be a comment on the shooting, "He knew that song wasn’t about him [...] he was around at that time. He knew the shit was an intro for Mary's second album. But the shit was too hard, so Big kept it and said, 'I'm gonna put it out'".[119]

In June 1995, Wallace also worked with pop singer Michael Jackson on the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.[120] Lil' Cease later claimed that when Wallace met Michael Jackson, he was made to stay behind, with Wallace explaining that he didn’t "trust Michael with kids" due to the 1993 child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson.[121] However, the engineer John Van Nest remembered the encounter differently, recalling that Wallace was excited to meet Jackson and was nearly brought to tears when it happened.[122] Wallace began recording his second studio album in late 1995, working on it over the course of eighteen months in New York City, Trinidad, and Los Angeles. The recording process was disrupted by injuries, legal issues, and the publicized hip hop feud between Wallace and Shakur.[123]

1996: Accusations regarding Shakur's death and second child

[edit]

In 1996, Wallace began an affair with Lil' Kim, during which she became pregnant but later decided to abort the child.[124][125] Wallace also started a relationship with Charli Baltimore (Tiffany Lane), a Philadelphia native who portrayed Faith in the "Get Money" music video. Although Wallace shared his plans to include her in a supergroup called the Commission, she was aware that she was not the only woman in his life.[124] On March 23, 1996, Wallace was arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub for chasing and threatening two fans who were asking for autographs, smashing the windows of their taxi, and punching one of them. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Later that year, he was arrested at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, on drug and weapons possession charges.[29][126]

At the Soul Train Music Awards in 1996, "One More Chance (Remix)" was nominated for Song of the Year. The song was also the recipient of the R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year award in the same year.[127] In June 1996, Shakur released "Hit 'Em Up". A diss track directed towards Wallace and other East Coast rappers, Shakur claimed to have had an affair with Evans, who was estranged from Wallace at the time, and accused Wallace of copying his style and image.[128][129][130] Described as "manic", "Hit 'Em Up" disses Wallace, Combs, and their associates, including Junior M.A.F.I.A., Evans, and Bad Boy Records.[131] In 1996, Wallace collaborated with rising rapper Jay-Z on his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, recording a duet titled "Brooklyn's Finest". The track used humor to address speculation surrounding Wallace and Shakur: "If Faith has twins, she'll probably have two Pacs. Get it? Tu ... Pac's."[132] According to Wallace, humor had always been his way of coping with hardship since elementary school, explaining, "I gotta make jokes about it [...] I can't be the [guy] running around all serious".[132]

I know so many niggas like him [...] so many rough, tough muthafuckas. When I heard he got shot, I was like, "He'll be out in the morning, smoking some weed, drinking Hennessy or whatever." You ain’t thinking he going to die.

Wallace on Shakur's death[133]

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died six days later.[134][135][136] He was twenty-five years old.[137] Because of Shakur's accusations in his records, Wallace, along with other New York rappers like Mobb Deep, Capone, and Noreaga, became suspects in his murder.[137] In a 2002 Los Angeles Times series titled "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?", journalist Chuck Philips reported, based on police reports and multiple sources, that the shooting was carried out by the Southside Crips, a Compton gang, seeking revenge for a beating Shakur had allegedly inflicted earlier that day. The report also claimed that Wallace had financed the gun used in the shooting.[138][139] The night Shakur died, Wallace called Evans in tears; Evans recalled that "he was in shock [...] and it's fair to say he was probably afraid".[137] Wallace expressed regret over Shakur's death but declined to attend his funeral when asked by a friend. He explained his decision by saying, "[Shakur] made my life miserable [...] he told lies, fucked with my marriage, [and] turned [my] fans against me".[140][141] The Los Angeles Times editor Mark Duvoisin stated that "Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy, [...] [and] remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying".[142] Wallace's family, however, denied the report, providing documents that claimed he was in New Jersey at the time of the incident.[143] However, The New York Times called the documents inconclusive, stating:[144][145]

The pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called "Nasty Boy" on the night Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace "wrote half the session", was "in and out/sat around" and "laid down a ref", shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. "We would have heard about it", Mr. Alfred said.

Wayne Barrow, Wallace's co-manager at the time, stated that Wallace was recording the track "Nasty Girl" on the night Shakur was shot.[146] Shortly after Shakur's death, Wallace met with Snoop Dogg, who recalled that Wallace played him the song "Somebody's Gotta Die", which mentioned Snoop Dogg. During their meeting, Wallace expressed that he never hated Shakur.[147][148] On October 29, 1996, Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher "C.J." Wallace Jr.[149][150] The following month, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album Hard Core.[151] Lil' Kim described herself as Wallace's "biggest fan" and referred to herself as "his pride and joy".[152][153] In a 2012 interview, Lil' Kim revealed that Wallace had stopped her from recording a remix of Jodeci's single "Love U 4 Life" by locking her in a room. According to Kim, Wallace told her she was "not gonna go do no song with them", likely due to Jodeci's association with Shakur and Death Row Records.[154]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
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Bibliography

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