The Notorious B.I.G: The Life And Times Of The Savior Of East Coast Hip-Hop
Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls and the Notorious B.I.G., was one of the greatest rappers ever. He styled himself as a gangster and although he was no angel, he was more of a performer than a hardened criminal. In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the Lord and savior of hip-hop on the East Coast.
In this regard, he was similar to Tupac Shakur, his one-time friend turned bitter rival, and even before that, his skills on the mic is what throttled him to success. It's the type of story that spiraled horrifically out of control, leaving Biggie as another legend who was taken from us too soon.
Jamaican Background
Christopher George Latore Wallace was born on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents are of a Jamaican background as his mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher and his pop, Selwyn, was a welder and politician back in Jamaica. Wallace was raised as an only child during his youth.
His father left the family when Wallace was only two years old. His mother worked two jobs in order to send her son to a private school. At his request, Wallace transferred out of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to attend George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High Schoo,l which DMX, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes all attended at the time.
What's In A Name?
At 10-years old, Wallace acquired the childhood nickname "Big" because of his girth and size. Interestingly enough, Calvin Lockhart, a Bahamian-American actor, had the character name of Biggie Smalls in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again. Of course, this was used by the late rapper as his own moniker during his career.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Lockhart heard the news, so he sued the aspiring artist. Thanks to the lawsuit, Biggie was forced to change his official name to Notorious B.I.G. Despite the lawsuit, he would continue to be widely known as just Biggie.
When Diddy Meet Biggie
Biggie began rapping as a teenager to entertain people in his neighborhood. After he got out of jail in the early nineties, he began making demo tapes as Biggie Smalls. He had no serious plans to pursue a career in music until The Source magazine wrote a piece about his music in March 1992.
From there, Biggie was invited to record with other unsigned rappers. One recording caught the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who worked for the leading urban label Uptown Records. It wasn't long before Combs had a fall out with his boss and set up his own label, Bad Boy Records. Biggie would sign by the end of 1992.
Early Beginnings In Hip-Hop
Before he had the chance to sign with Bad Boy, Uptown released music which Biggie recorded during his brief time at the label. He recorded a remix of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" in August 1992. This was the first time he would use the pseudonym The Notorious B.I.G. name.
Real Love peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the next remix was another single of Blige's "What's the 411?" He continued finding success, to a lesser extent, on remixes with Neneh Cherry and Super Cat. In 1993, his solo track, "Party and Bull****" was released as a promotional single for the film Who's The Man?
Ready To Die
Biggie released his anticipated debut album, Ready To Die, on September 13, 1994. The partly autobiographical album tells the story of Biggie's experiences as a young criminal. Ready To Die received critical acclaim and became a commercial success, achieving Gold certification. After the album's release, it became a certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Despite the commercial dominance of West Coast hip-hop, this was a significant moment for revitalizing the East Coast hip-hop scene. Biggie's second single, "Big Poppa", was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 38th Grammy Awards. The album was the only studio album released during his life.
A Friendship Like No Other
The same year Biggie was working his debut album, he met Tupac Shakur (stage name 2Pac) for the first time. The pair first met at a party and became best friends instantly. Biggie was a frequent guest at Tupac's home and constantly spent time together. Tupac even bought Biggie his very first Rolex watch.
Things weren't happening for Biggie quick enough. So, he asked Tupac to take over as his manager, in hopes Tupac will advance his career. Tupac declined, saying "Nah, stay with Puff, he will make you a star." Tupac would mentor Biggie whenever the two would meet up.
Love & Marriage
After Combs contracted Faith Evans as the first female artist to his Bad Boy label, Evans and Biggie met at a photo shoot for the label in 1993. She was only twenty years old at the time she met her future husband. A year after, Evans married Biggie on August 4, 1994, but their partnership included several ups and downs.
The marriage was a failure after Biggie reportedly had several affairs during their union, including with fellow rappers Lil' Kim and Charli Baltimore. The couple had one child together, Christopher Jordan Wallace, born on October 29,1996.
A Rare Collaboration
1995 turned out to be an interesting year for Biggie. His hip-hop group, Junior M.A.F.I.A, released their debut album, and to top it off, he became one of the only hip-hop artists to collaborate with the King of Pop. Nobody would have expected Biggie to appear on Michael Jackson's song "This Time Around."
The story goes that Biggie was with another Junior M.A.F.I.A member Lil Cease, who was 16 when his mentor summoned to the studio to record with Jackson. However, Biggie wouldn't allow him to meet the King Of Pop because he didn't "trust him with kids."
The Beginning Of The End
The most significant date of the friendship between Biggie and Tupac was on November 29, 1994. This was the day Tupac was shot five times during a robbery in the Quad Recording Studio lobby in New York. Shakur survived the shooting, but he was quick to point the finger at Biggie.
Tupac believed Biggie and Combs had orchestrated the attack, but Combs claimed they showed him nothing but love and concern. But really, Tupac's Daily News comments about Haitian Jack was a message being sent to him not to name-drop.
Junior M.A.F.I.A
The acronym stands for Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes. They were formed and mentored by none other than Biggie. In 1995, the group released their debut album, Conspiracy,which featured successful singles including "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money."
The group launched the career of Lil' Kim as a solo artist. The group became defunct in 1997 following the death of Biggie. In 2005 and 2006, three of the original members released the album, Riot Musik, as well as two DVDs under the Junior M.A.F.I.A name.
Biggie, The Ghost Writer
While still a teen, Lil' Kim met Biggie, who became a key figure in both her personal and musical life. Her increasing popularity after Junior M.A.F.I.A's album was released, which allowed her to start a solo career shortly after Conspiracywas released.
A YouTube clip exists in which Biggie can he heard rapping Lil Kim's song "Queen B****". As a ghostwriter for Lil' Kim, he had a 'reference track' to show her how to flow over the track. As the two grew closer together, Biggie had an affair while he was married.
East Coast Vs. West Coast
This was a feud that saw Biggie and Tupac become bitter rivals. Pac and Biggie were pitted against each other as their fame, and the genre's popularity, grew across the country. Both producers behind Death Row Records (Dr. Dre, and Suge Knight) and Combs of Bad Boy Entertainment helped fuel the competition.
The incident in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studio was enough to create a riff between Pac and Biggie that they were never able to repair. It didn't even stop the two from recording a few diss tracks afterward.
Who Shot Ya?
Tthe beef between both artists didn't stop there. It didn't exactly help that Biggie released a track called "Who Shot Ya?" Tupac would interpret this as Biggie taunting him for the incident back in the Quad Recording Studio.
It didn't take long for Tupac to come with a savage track called "Hit Em' Up." He even went as far as claiming that he slept with Biggie's wife, but that was never true. During this time the media followed the rivalry very intensely, which caused fans from both scenes to take sides.
Death Of Tupac
On September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot dead in Las Vegas. Nobody has ever been charged with the murder, but as a consequence of the continuous East Coast/West Coast rap beef and Pac pubically blaming Biggie for the non-fatal shooting at the studio, plenty believed that the East Coast rap kingpins were in on the murder.
Both Biggie and Combs denied their involvement in the shooting. But, with Pac's murder remaining a mystery, Biggie appeared to continue the beef from beyond the grave with "Long Kiss Goodnight." In fairness, the song was likely recorded before Pac's death.
Accidents
During the recording sessions for his second album, Life After Death, Biggie was involved in a car accident that shattered his left leg and temporarily had him in a wheelchair. The injury forced the New York native to use a cane thereon after the accident.
After having his car repossessed, Biggie chose a Chevrolet Lumina rental car as a substitute, despite Lil Cease's objections. The vehicle had brake problems before the accident but Biggie dismissed them. His leg was shattered when they hit a rail along with Lil Cease's jaw.
Life After Death
Biggie's eerie second and final studio album, Life After Death, was released posthumously weeks after his death. It features collaborations with artists such as Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, D.M.C., and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The album explores Biggie's further delving into the mafioso rap subgenre.
The album would receive widespread critical acclaim after it was nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for its first single "Hypnotize" and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its second single "More Money Mo Problems."
I'll Be Missing You
Sadly, Biggie didn't live long enough to see the peace he wished for on the release of his sophomore album. He was murdered in the early hours of March 9, 1997, six months after Tupac was murdered. Biggie suffered the same fate as Tupac when a vehicle pulled up beside Biggie's SUV and a gunman opened fire.
Much like Tupac's death, Biggie's would never be solved and found no closure. Biggie's memorial service included Flava Flav, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes and Run D.M.C. Two of the greatest rappers to ever pick up a microphone were dead and gone with hip-hop's reputation being dragged through the mud.
Themes & Lyrical Content
Biggie's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales that detailed his drug dealing past, materialistic bragging, as well as humor and romance. He was one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs.
He was able to both glorify the upper echelon and make you feel his struggle. The success of Biggie's albums was mostly due to his skill of being a storyteller. His ability to rap, along with Tupac, was an inspiration for many musicians in the hip-hop industry today.
Breaking Bad
Despite being in handcuffs more than once, Biggie was only arrested seven times during his life. He was arrested twice during his teenage years, then five more times once he became a known figure in the hip-hop music industry.
Between 1989-1990, Biggie was arrested on weapon charges, then was arrested a year later in North Carolina. He spent nine months in jail before making bail. He would be arrested again in 1996 for threatening to kill and chasing down two autograph seekers. Later that same year, he was arrested for drug and weapon possessions.
A Legacy To The Hip-Hop World
The death of Biggie wasn't the last time the world would hear from him. He was featured in no fewer than five songs on Combs' 1997 album, No Way Out. Combs even wrote "I'll Be Missing You" as a tribute to the late rapper. Ironically, that song beat out Biggie's track at the same Grammy show.
Considered to be one of the best artists in hip-hop music history, Biggie will always be the savior of East Coast hip-hop. Notorious was released in 2009 with Jamal Woolard playing Biggie in the biopic. It's a great shame that Biggie and Tupac were taken away from us far too soon.
