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Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), best known as
The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper.
Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. When he released
his debut album Ready to Die in 1994, he became a central figure in the East
Coast hip hop scene and increased New York's visibility in the genre at a time
when West Coast hip hop was dominant in the mainstream. The following year,
Wallace led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group,
Junior M.A.F.I.A. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved
in the growing East Coast/West Coast hip hop feud.
On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by
shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released 16 days
later, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000,
one of the few hip hop albums to receive this certification. Wallace was
noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and
storytelling abilities. Two more albums have been released since his death. He
has certified sales of 17 million units in the United States.
Life and career
1972-94: Early life, arrests, career beginnings and first child
Born in St. Mary's Hospital on May 21, 1972, Wallace grew up in the Clinton Hill
section of Brooklyn, New York City on 226 St. James Place near the border of
Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was the only child of Voletta Wallace, a Jamaican
preschool teacher, and George Latore, a welder and small-time Jamaican
politician. His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, and
his mother worked two jobs while raising him. At the Queen of All Saints Middle
School, Wallace excelled in class, winning several awards as an English student.
He was nicknamed "Big" because of his overweight size by age 10. At the age
of 12, he began selling illegal drugs. His mother, often away at work, did not
know of her son's drug sales until Wallace was an adult.
At his request, Wallace transferred out of the Roman Catholic Bishop Loughlin
Memorial High School to attend the state-funded George Westinghouse Career and
Technical Education High School, which future rappers Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes
also attended at the time. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good
student, but he developed a "smart-***" attitude at the new school. At
seventeen, Wallace dropped out of school and became further involved in crime.
In 1989, he was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five
years' probation. In 1990, he was arrested on a violation of his probation.
A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack ***.
He spent nine months in jail before making bail.
Wallace began rapping when he was a teenager. He entertained people on the
streets as well as performed with local groups, the Old Gold Brothers and the
Techniques. After being released from jail, Wallace made a demo tape under
the name Biggie Smalls, a reference to a character in the 1975 film Let's Do It
Again as well as his stature; he stood at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighed
as much as 300 to 380 pounds (140–170 kg) according to differing accounts.
The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent of getting a recording deal,
but was promoted by New York-based DJ Mister Cee, who had previously worked with
Big Daddy Kane, and was heard by the editor of The Source.
In March 1992, Wallace was featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column,
dedicated to aspiring rappers, and was invited to produce a recording with other
unsigned artists in a move that was reportedly uncommon at the time.[not in citation given]
The demo tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R and record producer, Sean Combs,
who arranged for a meeting with Wallace. He was signed to Uptown immediately and
made an appearance on label mates, Heavy D & the Boyz' "A Buncha ***" (from
the album Blue Funk). Soon after signing his recording contract, Combs
was fired from Uptown and started a new label. Wallace followed and in mid-1992,
signed to Combs' new imprint label, Bad Boy Records. On August 8, 1993, Wallace's
longtime girlfriend gave birth to his first child, T'yanna. He continued
selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once Combs
discovered this, he forced Wallace to quit.
Later in the year, Wallace gained exposure on a remix to Mary J. Blige's single
"Real Love", under the pseudonym The Notorious B.I.G. He recorded under this
name for the remainder of his career, after finding the original moniker "Biggie
Smalls" was already in use. "Real Love" peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot
100 chart and was followed by a remix of Blige's "What's the 411?". He continued
this success, to a lesser extent, on remixes with Neneh Cherry ("Buddy X") and
reggae artist Super Cat ("Dolly My Baby", also featuring Combs) in 1993. In
April 1993, his solo track, "Party and ***", appeared on the Who's the Man?
soundtrack. In July 1994, he appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes
on a remix to label mate Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear", reaching No. 9 on the
Hot 100.
1994: Ready to Die and marriage
On August 4, 1994, Wallace married R&B singer Faith Evans after they met at a
Bad Boy photoshoot. Four days later, Wallace had his first pop chart success
as a solo artist with double A-side, "Juicy/Unbelievable", which reached No. 27
as the lead single to his debut album.
Ready to Die was released on September 13, 1994, and reached No. 13 on the
Billboard 200 chart, eventually being certified four times Platinum. The
album, released at a time when West Coast hip hop was prominent in the U.S.
charts, according to Rolling Stone, "almost single-handedly... shifted the focus
back to East Coast rap". It immediately gained strong reviews and has
received much praise in retrospect. In addition to "Juicy", the record
produced two hit singles; the Platinum-selling "Big Poppa", which reached No. 1
on the U.S. rap chart, and "One More Chance" featuring Faith Evans, a loosely
related remix of an album track and its best selling single.
1995: Junior M.A.F.I.A., Conspiracy and coastal feud
In August 1995, Wallace's protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. ("Junior Masters At
Finding Intelligent Attitudes"), released their debut album Conspiracy. The
group consisted of his friends from childhood and included rappers such as Lil'
Kim and Lil' Cease, who went on to have solo careers. The record went Gold
and its singles, "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money" both featuring Wallace, went
Gold and Platinum. Wallace continued to work with R&B artists, collaborating
with R&B groups 112 (on "Only You") and Total (on "Can't You See"), with both
reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. By the end of the year, Wallace was the top-selling
male solo artist and rapper on the U.S. pop and R&B charts. In July 1995, he
appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption "The King of New York Takes
Over", a reference to his Frank White alias from the 1990 film King of New York.
At the Source Awards in August 1995, he was named Best New Artist (Solo),
Lyricist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year, and his debut Album of the
Year. At the Billboard Awards, he was Rap Artist of the Year.
In his year of success, Wallace became involved in a rivalry between the East
and West Coast hip hop scenes with Tupac Shakur, his former associate. In an
interview with Vibe in April 1995, while serving time in Clinton Correctional
Facility, Shakur accused Uptown Records' founder Andre Harrell, Sean Combs, and
Wallace of having prior knowledge of a robbery that resulted in him being shot
repeatedly and losing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry on the night of
November 30, 1994. Though Wallace and his entourage were in the same Manhattan-based
recording studio at the time of the shooting, they denied the accusation.
Wallace said: "It just happened to be a coincidence that he [Shakur] was in the
studio. He just, he couldn't really say who really had something to do with it
at the time. So he just kinda' leaned the blame on me." In 2012, a man named
Dexter Isaac, serving a life sentence for unrelated crimes, claimed that he shot
Shakur that night and that the robbery was orchestrated by James Rosemond aka
Jimmy Henchman.
Following release from prison, Shakur signed to Death Row Records on October 15,
1995. Bad Boy Records and Death Row, now business rivals, became involved in an
intense quarrel.
1996: More arrests, Tupac Shakur's death and second child
Wallace began recording his second studio album in September 1995. The album,
recorded in New York, Trinidad and Los Angeles, was interrupted during its 18
months of creation by injury, legal wranglings and the highly publicized hip hop
dispute in which he was involved. During this time, he also worked with R&B/pop
singer Michael Jackson for the HIStory album.
On March 23, 1996, Wallace was arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub for
chasing and threatening to kill two autograph seekers, smashing the windows of
their taxicab and then pulling one of the fans out and punching them. He
pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was sentenced to 100 hours of
community service. In mid-1996, he was arrested at his home in Teaneck, New
Jersey, for drug and weapons possession charges.
In June 1996, Shakur released "Hit 'Em Up", a diss song in which he claimed to
have had sex with Wallace's wife (at the time estranged) and that Wallace copied
his style and image. Wallace referred to the first claim about his wife's
pregnancy on Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest" where he raps: "If Faye (Faith Evans,
his wife at the time) have twins, she'd probably have two 'Pacs. Geddit? 2Pac's?".
However, Wallace did not directly respond to the record during his lifetime,
stating in a 1997 radio interview that it was "not [his] style" to respond.
Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on
September 7, 1996, and died six days later of complications from the gunshot
wounds. Rumors of Wallace's involvement with Shakur's *** were reported
almost immediately. A two-part series Chuck Philips wrote for the LA Times in
2002 called “Who Killed Tupac Shakur?” claimed that “the shooting was carried
out by a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of
its members by Shakur a few hours earlier" and that Wallace provided the gun.
His family publicly denied the claim. Crime writer Cathy Scott, who wrote
the book The *** of Biggie Smalls, agreed with the family, telling the Las
Vegas Review Journal, "It's easy to point a finger at a dead guy. The dead can't
sue."
On October 29, 1996, Faith Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher "C.J."
Wallace, Jr. The following month, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released
her debut album, Hard Core, under Wallace's direction while the two were having
a "love affair".
1997: Life After Death and car accident
During the recording sessions for his second album, tentatively named "Life
After Death... 'Til Death Do Us Part", later shortened to Life After Death,
Wallace was involved in a car accident that shattered his left leg and
temporarily confined him to a wheelchair. The injury forced him to use a cane.
In January 1997, Wallace was ordered to pay US$41,000 in damages following an
incident involving a friend of a concert promoter who claimed Wallace and his
entourage beat him up following a dispute in May 1995. He faced criminal
assault charges for the incident which remains unresolved, but all robbery
charges were dropped. Following the events of the previous year, Wallace
spoke of a desire to focus on his "peace of mind". "My mom... my son... my
daughter... my family... my friends are what matters to me now".
Death
March 1997 shooting
Wallace traveled to California in February 1997, to promote his upcoming second
studio album and film a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize". On March 5,
1997, he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on KYLD in San Francisco. In
the interview he stated that he had hired security since he feared for his
safety, not just because of the ongoing East Coast–West Coast feud, but because
of his role as a high profile celebrity in general. Life After Death was
scheduled for release on March 25, 1997. On March 8, 1997, he presented an award
to Toni Braxton at the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and
was booed by some of the audience. After the ceremony, Wallace attended an
after party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles. Other guests included Faith Evans, Aaliyah, Sean
Combs, and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs.
On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., Wallace left with his entourage in two
GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Fire Department closed the party
early because of overcrowding. Wallace traveled in the front passenger seat
alongside his associates, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil'
Cease and driver, Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle
with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer
carrying Bad Boy's director of security.
By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's
truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A black Chevrolet
Impala SS pulled up alongside Wallace's truck. The driver of the Impala, an
African American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window,
drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit
Wallace. Wallace's entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,
where doctors performed an emergency thoracotomy, but he was pronounced dead at
1:15 a.m.
His autopsy was released to the public over a decade after his death in December
2012. According to the report, three of the four shots were not fatal. The first
bullet hit in his left forearm and traveled down to his wrist; the second hit
him in the back, missing all vital organs, and exited through his left shoulder;
and the third hit his outer left thigh and left through his inner thigh. The
report says that the third bullet "strikes the left side of the ***, causing
a very shallow, 3/8 inch linear laceration." The fourth bullet was fatal,
entering through his right hip and striking several vital organs, before
stopping in his left shoulder area. That bullet struck his colon, liver, heart
and upper lobe of his left lung.
*** case
Wallace's *** remains unsolved and there are many theories regarding the
identities and motives of the murderers. Immediately after the shooting, reports
surfaced linking the Shakur and Wallace murders, because of the similarities in
the drive-by shootings.
In 2002, Randall Sullivan released LAbyrinth, a book compiling information
regarding the murders of Wallace and Shakur based on evidence provided by
retired LAPD detective, Russell Poole. Sullivan accused Marion "Suge"
Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records and an alleged Bloods affiliate, of
conspiring with David Mack, an LAPD officer and alleged Death Row security
employee, to kill Wallace and make Shakur and his death appear the result of a
fictitious bi-coastal rap rivalry. Sullivan believed that one of Mack's
associates, Amir Muhammad (also known as Harry Billups), was the hitman based on
evidence provided by an informant, and due to his close resemblance to the
facial composite. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield released an investigative
documentary, Biggie & Tupac, based mainly on the evidence used in the book.
An article published in Rolling Stone by Sullivan in December 2005 accused the
LAPD of not fully investigating links with Death Row Records based on Poole's
evidence. Sullivan claimed that Sean Combs "failed to fully cooperate with the
investigation" and according to Poole, encouraged Bad Boy staff to do the same.
The accuracy of the article was later refuted in a letter by the Assistant
Managing Editor of the LA Times accusing Sullivan of using "shoddy tactics."
Sullivan, in response, quoted the lead attorney of the Wallace estate calling
the newspaper "a co-conspirator in the cover-up."
The criminal investigation was re-opened in July 2006 in the hopes that new
evidence might help the City defend the civil lawsuits brought by the Wallace
family.
In January 2011, the case was reinvigorated as a result of new information
reported by Anderson Cooper's AC360 "Cold Case" show and blog that it was
being re-investigated by a law enforcement task force composed of the LAPD, the
L.A. County District Attorney's Office, and the FBI. In April, the FBI
released redacted documents about their investigation into the shooting,
revealing that the bullets were 9mm Gecko ammunition manufactured in Germany and
rarely found in the US. The documents reported that LAPD officers monitoring the
party Wallace was attending were also employed as security personnel for Knight,
and speculated that the Genovese crime family was withholding evidence about
Wallace's death.
Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading, who worked on the Biggie Smalls *** case
for three years, alleges that the rapper was shot by Wardell Fouse (a.k.a
Darnell Bolton and "Poochie"), an associate of Suge Knight, who was later killed
in July 2003 after being shot in the back while riding his motorcycle. Kading
believes Knight hired Poochie via his girlfriend "Theresa Swann" to kill Biggie
to avenge the death of Tupac, whom Kading alleges was killed under the
orders of Sean Combs.
In December 2012, the LAPD released the autopsy conducted on Biggie, hoping it
would uncover more leads. This move was criticized by the long-time lawyer of
his estate, Perry Sanders Jr. Following this, the LAPD apologized to the
family of Biggie for the "premature release of the documents due to an
administrative error."
Lawsuits
Wrongful death claim
In March 2005, the relatives of Wallace filed a wrongful death claim against the
city of Los Angeles based on the evidence championed by Russell Poole. They
claimed the LAPD had sufficient evidence to arrest the assailant, but failed to
use it. David Mack and Amir Muhammad (a.k.a. Harry Billups) were originally
named as defendants in the civil suit, but were dropped shortly before the trial
began after the LAPD and FBI dismissed them as suspects.
The case came for trial before a jury on June 21, 2005. Several days into the
trial, the plaintiffs' attorney disclosed to the Court and opposing counsel that
he had received a telephone call from someone claiming to be a LAPD officer and
provided detailed information about the existence of evidence concerning the
Wallace ***. The court directed the city to conduct a thorough investigation,
which uncovered previously undisclosed evidence, much of which was in the desk
or cabinet of Det. Steven Katz, the lead detective in the Wallace ***
investigation. The documents centered around interviews by numerous police
officers of an incarcerated informant, who had been Rafael Perez's cellmate for
some extended period of time. He reported that Perez had told him about his and
Mack's involvement with Death Row Records and their activities at the Peterson
Automotive Museum the night of Wallace's ***. As a result of the newly
discovered evidence, the judge declared a mistrial and awarded the Wallace
family its attorneys' fees.
On April 16, 2007, relatives of Wallace filed a second wrongful death lawsuit
against the city of Los Angeles. The suit also named two LAPD officers in the
center of the investigation into the Rampart scandal, Rafael Perez and Nino
Durden. According to the claim, Perez, an alleged affiliate of Death Row Records,
admitted to LAPD officials that he and Mack (who was not named in the lawsuit) "conspired
to ***, and participated in the *** of Christopher Wallace". The Wallace
family said the LAPD "consciously concealed Rafael Perez's involvement in the
*** of ... Wallace".
United States District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper granted summary judgment to
the city of Los Angeles on December 17, 2007, finding that the Wallace family
had not complied with a California law that required the family to give notice
of its claim to the State within six months of Wallace's death. The Wallace
family refiled the suit, dropping the state law claims on May 27, 2008. The
city never answered the amended complaint, and with the agreement of both sides,
the suit was voluntarily dismissed on April 5, 2010 without prejudice.
Defamation
On January 19, 2007, Tyruss Himes (better known as Big Syke), a friend of Shakur
who was implicated in the *** by television channel KTTV and XXL magazine in
2005, had a defamation lawsuit regarding the accusations thrown out of court.
Posthumous career
Sixteen days after his death, Wallace's double-disc second album was released as
planned with the shortened title of Life After Death and hit No. 1 on the
Billboard 200 charts, after making a premature appearance at No. 176 due to
street-date violations. The record album featured a much wider range of guests
and producers than its predecessor. It gained strong reviews and in 2000 was
certified Diamond, the highest RIAA certification awarded to a solo hip hop
album.
Its lead single, "Hypnotize", was the last music video recording in which
Wallace would participate. His biggest chart success was with its follow-up "Mo
Money Mo Problems", featuring Sean Combs (under the rap alias "Puff Daddy") and
Mase. Both singles reached No. 1 in the Hot 100, making Wallace the first artist
to achieve this feat posthumously. The third single, "Sky's The Limit",
featuring the band 112, was noted for its use of children in the music video,
directed by Spike Jonze, who were used to portray Wallace and his contemporaries,
including Sean Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. Wallace was named Artist of
the Year and "Hypnotize" Single of the Year by Spin magazine in December 1997.
In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace
on five songs, notably on the third single "Victory". The most prominent single
from the record album was "I'll Be Missing You", featuring Combs, Faith Evans
and 112, which was dedicated to Wallace's memory. At the 1998 Grammy Awards,
Life After Death and its first two singles received nominations in the rap
category. The album award was won by Combs' No Way Out and "I'll Be Missing You"
won the award in the category of Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group in which
"Mo Money Mo Problems" was nominated.
Wallace had founded a hip hop supergroup called The Commission, which consisted
of Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, Combs, Charli Baltimore and himself. The Commission was
mentioned by Wallace in the lyrics of "What's Beef" on Life After Death and "Victory"
from No Way Out but never completed an album. A song on Duets: The Final Chapter
titled "Whatchu Want (The Commission)" featuring Jay-Z was based on the group.
In December 1999, Bad Boy released Born Again. The album consisted of previously
unreleased material mixed with guest appearances including many artists Wallace
had never collaborated with in his lifetime. It gained some positive reviews but
received criticism for its unlikely pairings; The Source describing it as "compiling
some of the most awkward collaborations of his career". Nevertheless, the
album sold 3 million copies. Wallace appeared on Michael Jackson's 2001 album,
Invincible. Over the course of time, his vocals were heard on hit songs such as
"Foolish" by Ashanti and "Realest ***" in 2002, and the song "Runnin' (Dying
to Live)" with Shakur the following year. In 2005, Duets: The Final Chapter
continued the pattern started on Born Again, criticized for the lack of
significant vocals by Wallace on some of its songs. Its lead single "Nasty
Girl" became Wallace's first UK No. 1 single. Combs and Voletta Wallace have
stated the album will be the last release primarily featuring new material.
Legacy
Considered one of the best artists in rap music, Wallace was described by
Allmusic as "the savior of East Coast hip-hop". The Source named Wallace the
greatest rapper of all time in 2001. In 2003, when XXL magazine asked
several hip hop artists to list their five favorite MCs, Wallace's name appeared
on more rappers' lists than anyone else. 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". Editors of About.com ranked him No. 5 on their
list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2012, The Source ranked
him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 (Rap) Lyricists of All Time.
Since his death, Wallace's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of
hip hop, R&B and pop artists including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Fat Joe,
Nelly, Ja Rule, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Game, Clinton Sparks, Michael Jackson and
Usher. On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Sean Combs (then
using the rap alias "P. Diddy") and Snoop Dogg paid tribute to Wallace: an
orchestra played while the vocals from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena
speakers. In September 2005, VH1 held its second annual "Hip Hop Honors",
with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show.
Wallace had begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to
produce plus-sized clothing but fell dormant after he died. In 2004, his
managers, Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow, launched the clothing line, with help
from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Wallace on them. A portion of the
proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter
Scholarship Foundation. In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and
licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the estate's licensing
efforts. Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures,
blankets, and cell phone content.
The Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds an annual black-tie dinner ("B.I.G.
Night Out") to raise funds for children's school equipment and supplies and to
honor the memory of the late rapper. For this particular event, because it is a
children's schools' charity, "B.I.G." is also said to stand for "Books Instead
of Guns".
The Notorious B.I.G's children C.J and Ty'anna are set to star in an animated
series called "House of Wallace".
Style
Wallace mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as
a "thick, jaunty grumble", which went deeper on Life After Death. He was
often accompanied on songs with ad libs from Sean "Puffy" Combs. On The Source's
Unsigned Hype, his style was described as "cool, nasal, and filtered, to bless
his own material".
Allmusic describe Wallace as having "a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top
of one another in quick succession". Time magazine wrote Wallace rapped with
an ability to "make multi-syllabic rhymes sound... smooth", while Krims
describes Wallace's rhythmic style as "effusive." Before starting a verse,
Wallace sometimes used onomatopoeic vocables to "warm up" (for example "uhhh" at
the beginning of "Hypnotize" and "Big Poppa" and "whaat" after certain rhymes in
songs such as "My Downfall").
Lateef of Latyrx notes that Wallace had, "intense and complex flows", Fredro
Starr of Onyx says, "Biggie was a master of the flow", and Bishop Lamont
states that Wallace mastered "all the hemispheres of the music". "Notorious
B.I.G. also often used the single-line rhyme scheme to add variety and interest
to his flow". Big Daddy Kane suggests that Wallace didn't need a large
vocabulary to impress listeners – "he just put his words together a slick way
and it worked real good for him". Wallace was known to compose lyrics in his
head, rather than write them down on paper, in a similar way to Jay-Z.
Wallace would occasionally vary from his usual style. On "Playa Hater" from his
second album, he sang in a slow-falsetto. On his collaboration with Bone
Thugs-n-Harmony, "Notorious Thugs", he modified his style to match the rapid
rhyme flow of the group.
Themes and lyrical content
Wallace's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ("*** Bleed"), his
drug dealing past ("10 Crack Commandments"), materialistic bragging ("Hypnotize"),
as well as humor ("Just Playing (Dreams)"), and romance ("Me & My ***").
Rolling Stone named Wallace in 2004 as "one of the few young male songwriters in
any pop style writing credible love songs".
Guerilla Black, in the book How to Rap, describes how Wallace was able to both "glorify
the upper echelon" and "[make] you feel his struggle". According to
Touré of The New York Times in 1994, Wallace's lyrics "[mixed] autobiographical
details about crime and violence with emotional honesty". Marriott of The
New York Times (in 1997) believed his lyrics were not strictly autobiographical
and wrote he "had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales". Wallace
described his debut as "a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point
in my life involving *** and ***... from the beginning to the end".
Ready to Die is described by Rolling Stone as a contrast of "bleak" street
visions and being "full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle
back to hip-hop". Allmusic write of "a sense of doom" in some of his songs
and the NY Times note some being "laced with paranoia"; Wallace described
himself as feeling "broke and depressed" when he made his debut. The final
song on the album, "Suicidal Thoughts", featured Wallace contemplating suicide
and concluded with him committing the act.
On Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics went "deeper". Krims explains how
upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut)
alternate with "reality rap" songs on the record and suggests that he was "going
***" through some of the lyrical topics of the former. XXL magazine wrote
that Wallace "revamped his image" through the portrayal of himself between the
albums, going from "midlevel hustler" on his debut to "drug lord".
Allmusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is "mostly due to Wallace's
skill as a storyteller"; in 1994, Rolling Stone described Wallace's ability
in this technique as painting "a sonic picture so vibrant that you're
transported right to the scene". On Life After Death Wallace notably
demonstrated this skill on "I Got a Story to Tell", creating a story as a rap
for the first half of the song and then retelling the same story "for his boys"
in conversation form.
Biopic
Notorious is a 2009 biographical film about Wallace and his life that starred
rapper Jamal "Gravy" Woolard as Wallace. The film was directed by George Tillman,
Jr. and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Producers included Sean "Diddy"
Combs, Wallace's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, as well as Voletta
Wallace. On January 16, 2009, the movie's debut at the Grand 18 theater in
Greensboro, North Carolina was postponed after a man was shot in the parking lot
before the show. The film grossed over $44,000,000 worldwide.
In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of Wallace began.
Actors, rappers and unknowns all tried out. Beanie Sigel auditioned for the
role, but was not picked. Sean Kingston claimed that he would play the role of
Wallace, but producers denied it. Eventually it was announced that rapper
Jamal "Gravy" Woolard was chosen to play Wallace while Wallace's son,
Christopher Wallace, Jr. was cast to play Wallace as a child. Other cast
members include Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs,
Antonique Smith as Faith Evans, Naturi Naughton formerly of 3LW as Lil' Kim, and
Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Bad Boy released a soundtrack album to the
film on January 13, 2009; the album contains hit singles of B.I.G. such as "Hypnotize",
"Juicy", and "Warning" as well as rarities.
Awards won 4 Nominations 11
Wallace received two nominations from the Billboard Music Awards in 1995,
including Rap Artist of the Year and Rap Single of the Year. The song "Mo Money
Mo Problems" received several nominations in 1998, including Best Rap
Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards; Best Rap Video at the MTV
Video Music Awards; and Best R&B/Soul Album and Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video
at the Soul Train Music Awards. Overall, Wallace has received four awards from
eleven nominations; one award and six nominations were received posthumously.
Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Awards is sponsored by Billboard magazine and held annually
in December. Year Recipient Award Result
1995 The Notorious B.I.G. Rap Artist of the Year Won
"One More Chance" Rap Single of the Year Won
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts
and Sciences of the United States. Year Recipient Award Result
1996 "Big Poppa" Best Rap Solo Performance Nominated
1998 "Hypnotize" Best Rap Solo Performance Nominated
"Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy) Best Rap Performance by a Duo
or Group Nominated Life After Death Best Rap Album Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards
The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by
MTV. Year Recipient Award Result
1997 "Hypnotize" Best Rap Video Won 1998 "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and
Puff Daddy) Best Rap Video Nominated
Soul Train Music Awards
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual awards show that honors black musicians
and entertainers. Year Recipient Award Result
1998 Life After Death Best R&B/Soul Album, Male Won
"Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy) Best R&B/Soul Album Nominated
Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video Nominated
The Source Awards
The Source Awards were awarded by hip hop magazine The Source.
Year Recipient Award Result 1995 The Notorious B.I.G. New Artist of the
Year, Solo Won Ready to Die Album of the Year Won
The Notorious B.I.G. Lyricist of the Year Won
The Notorious B.I.G. Live Performer of the Year Won