The Notorious B.I.G.

Within a remarkably brief span, the Notorious B.I.G. transformed from a hustler on the streets of Brooklyn into the figure who rescued East Coast hip-hop, only to become a sorrowful casualty of the violent lifestyle he portrayed with stark accuracy in his music. His abbreviated journey rapidly assumed legendary dimensions, particularly because the fatal shooting came just six months after the attack on rival Tupac Shakur. After his passing, the artist also called Biggie Smalls emerged as an emblem of the pointless brutality that afflicted urban America during the closing years of the twentieth century. Regardless of whether the killing truly stemmed from the widely discussed tension between East and West Coast hip-hop factions, the event prompted both sides to retreat from an antagonism that had escalated beyond control. The self-conception of hip-hop shifted permanently, as did broader public views. The martyred aura enveloping the Notorious B.I.G. occasionally risks eclipsing his actually substantial musical contributions. Guided by Sean "Puffy" Combs' ear for radio appeal, Biggie revived the commercial prospects of East Coast rap by guiding it into the gangsta era that followed Dr. Dre. While fellow East Coast artists the Wu-Tang Clan methodically cultivated an underground audience, Biggie burst onto the charts and achieved stardom immediately. Along the way, he assisted Combs' Bad Boy imprint in overtaking Death Row as America's leading hip-hop label and opened doors for later East Coast successes such as Jay-Z and Nas. A skilled narrator equipped with wit and observational precision, Biggie recounted the frequently violent realities of street existence without romantic gloss, employing instead a raw, factual clarity that earned him widespread admiration and authenticity. Within the rap world, the prevailing view held that Biggie had only begun to realize his potential when his life ended.

Christopher Wallace, later known as the Notorious B.I.G., entered the world on May 21, 1972, and was raised in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant area. From an early age he gravitated toward rap, appearing with neighborhood crews including the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques; the latter outfit provided the teenage Wallace his initial opportunity to work in a recording studio. By then he had already taken the name Biggie Smalls, an allusion to his large physique—he would eventually stand over six feet tall and approach 400 pounds. Although he performed well academically, he left high school at seventeen to pursue street life. Drawn to the income and ostentatious manner of neighborhood drug dealers, he began selling crack. After an arrest during a journey to North Carolina, he served nine months in prison. Upon release he created several demo recordings using a friend's four-track recorder. The resulting tape reached Mister Cee, a DJ associated with Big Daddy Kane, who forwarded it to hip-hop publication The Source; the magazine printed a favorable notice in its regular column devoted to unsigned performers. The exposure drew the notice of Uptown Records producer Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed Wallace without delay. With a newborn daughter requiring immediate support, Biggie continued dealing for a brief period until Combs learned of it and insisted he stop. Shortly after the signing, Combs departed Uptown to establish his own label, Bad Boy, and brought Biggie along.

Adopting the Notorious B.I.G. as his principal stage name, the newly dedicated rapper made his first recorded appearance on the 1993 remix of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love." He soon appeared on another Blige remix, "What's the 411?," and supplied his initial solo track, "Party and Bullshit," for the soundtrack of the film Who's the Man? Buoyed by strong underground anticipation, the Notorious B.I.G. issued his debut album, Ready to Die, in September 1994. Its opening single, "Juicy," attained gold status, while the subsequent hit "Big Poppa" reached platinum and climbed into the Top Ten on both the pop and R&B charts. The third single, "One More Chance," matched Michael Jackson's "Scream" for the highest chart debut on the pop side, entering at number five before peaking at number two and claiming the top position on the R&B chart. Once sales stabilized, Ready to Die had moved more than four million copies and established the Notorious B.I.G. as a major hip-hop figure—the first significant East Coast star since Dr. Dre's West Coast G-funk gained prominence.

Soon after Ready to Die appeared, Biggie married R&B vocalist and Bad Boy labelmate Faith Evans. In November 1994, West Coast gangsta artist Tupac Shakur sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the lobby of a New York recording studio and was robbed of valuable jewelry. Shakur survived and publicly accused Combs and his former associate Biggie of orchestrating the assault, allegations both men emphatically rejected. The animosity steadily intensified into a sharp contest between West and East Coast camps, with the upstart Bad Boy label now contesting Suge Knight's Death Row dominance for hip-hop preeminence. Biggie meanwhile directed attention elsewhere. He mentored Junior M.A.F.I.A., a collective of childhood rap associates, and featured on their singles "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money." He also appeared on several tracks by labelmates, including Total's "Can't You See" and 112's "Only You," and collaborated with established figures such as Michael Jackson on HIStory and R. Kelly on "You to Be Happy" from the album R. Kelly. With singles from Ready to Die still dominating radio, Biggie concluded 1995 not only as the highest-selling rap performer but also as the leading solo male artist on both the pop and R&B charts. He encountered further legal difficulties as well. A concert promoter claimed Biggie and members of his entourage assaulted him after refusing payment following a canceled show. Later that year, Biggie pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for striking two persistent autograph seekers with a baseball bat.

The following year, 1996, proved even more turbulent. Additional legal issues arose when police discovered marijuana and firearms during a search of Biggie's residence in Teaneck, New Jersey. Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim issued her debut solo album under Biggie's supervision, and the pair made little attempt to conceal their simultaneous romantic involvement. Still harboring resentment, 2Pac recorded a scathing attack on the East Coast scene titled "Hit 'Em Up," in which he mocked Biggie over an alleged liaison with Faith Evans, who had by then separated from her husband. During the sessions for Biggie's second album, he sustained serious injuries in an automobile accident that left him temporarily confined to a wheelchair. In September 1996, Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Given the public nature of their conflict, rumors implicating Biggie circulated rapidly, though none were ever confirmed. He also drew criticism for declining to attend an anti-violence hip-hop gathering convened in Harlem after Shakur's death.

Many observers hoped Shakur's killing would prompt reflection within gangsta rap, believing on-record boasts had crossed into actual events. Tragically, another loss was required to underscore the point. In the early hours of March 9, 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was departing a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosted by Vibe magazine to mark the Soul Train Music Awards. He occupied the passenger seat of his SUV, with his bodyguard driving and Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease in the rear. According to the majority of accounts, a second vehicle approached the right side of the SUV while it waited at a traffic signal, and six to ten shots were discharged. Biggie's bodyguard drove him to nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but efforts proved futile. Although Shakur's death had been deeply felt, Biggie's passing registered as even more startling, indicating that Shakur's murder was not an isolated occurrence and that hip-hop's most visible talents could be drawn into a widening conflict. Speculation that Biggie's assailants were seeking retribution for Shakur's death spread widely, and because the case remains unresolved, the circumstances may never be fully known.

Following the tragedy, the scheduled release of the Notorious B.I.G.'s second album proceeded at the end of March. The hauntingly titled Life After Death appeared as an expansive, guest-filled double-disc collection intended to rival 2Pac's All Eyez on Me in scale and ambition. As anticipated, it debuted at number one, moving nearly 700,000 copies in its opening week and remaining atop the chart for four weeks. The lead single, "Hypnotize," attained platinum status and reached number one on the pop chart; its successor, "Mo Money Mo Problems," replicated both accomplishments, making the Notorious B.I.G. the first artist to achieve two posthumous number-one hits. A third single, "Sky's the Limit," reached gold certification, and Life After Death was eventually certified ten-times platinum roughly two years after release. Combs, now known as Puff Daddy, and Faith Evans also scored one of 1997's major successes with their tribute "I'll Be Missing You." In 1999, an album of previously unreleased material, Born Again, was issued and entered the charts at number one before achieving double-platinum status. Six years later, Duets: The Final Chapter—pairing studio outtakes with new verses from various MCs and vocalists—appeared and peaked at number three.

In the years after Christopher Wallace's death, the LAPD's investigation into the murder yielded limited official advancement, and it appeared the responsible parties might never face justice. The theory of retaliation for 2Pac's killing retained support in many circles, while others suggested members of the Crips had killed Wallace over a financial dispute involving security services. In a Rolling Stone article and subsequently in the book Labyrinth, journalist Randall Sullivan maintained that Suge Knight had enlisted former LAPD officer David Mack—a convicted bank robber with Bloods connections—to orchestrate the attack, with hitman and mortgage broker Amir Muhammad carrying it out. Sullivan further contended that once the extent of corrupt LAPD ties to Death Row Records became evident, the department suppressed information and largely disregarded detective Russell Poole's investigative suggestions.

Filmmaker Nick Broomfield drew on Labyrinth for the 2002 documentary Biggie and Tupac, which included interviews with Poole, Knight, and others. In April 2002, Faith Evans and Voletta Wallace, Biggie's mother, initiated a civil suit against the LAPD alleging wrongful death and related claims. In September of that year, the Los Angeles Times published an account asserting that the Notorious B.I.G. had paid Crips members one million dollars to kill 2Pac and had even supplied the weapon. Several of Biggie's relatives and associates responded that he had been recording in New Jersey at the time rather than planning an attack in Las Vegas; the report drew widespread criticism within the hip-hop community, which sought to prevent renewed hostilities. Beyond legal proceedings, the B.I.G. catalog continued to receive attention through the 2007 compilation Greatest Hits, the 2009 biopic Notorious, and 2017's The King & I. The third posthumous duets project, The King & I, was co-credited to Evans, whose newly recorded vocals were paired with both well-known and previously unreleased Biggie verses.

In 2019, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Ready to Die, Rhino issued a deluxe box-set edition containing photographs and accounts from that period.