Dusting âEm Off is a rotating, free-form feature that revisits a classic album, film, or moment in pop-culture history. Twenty years ago, hip-hop lost its crowned monarch. The death certificate read: Christopher G. Latore Wallace. Occupation: entertainer. Cause of death: gunshot wound to abdomen-chest. But such documents offer only the skin of a life. Underneath the stark legal papers lies a rich hip-hop Iliad. A Shakespearean tragedy straight out of Brooklyn, baby. The Notorious B.I.G. was more mythos than man. A bulky behemoth with a voice thick enough to shake whole cities and a flow smoother than his Versace shirts. He was Streets of Rageâs Mr X â Gothamâs steel structures propped up in his ample palms, his distinctive shadow cast across the five boroughs. âKing of New Yorkâ became a prized status, but no one since has filled the throne. The legend of Big was crystallized on his double-disc sophomore opus, Life After Death, released just 16 days after his death. Itâs a blockbuster rap record â all fulsome beats, commanding verses, unchecked experimentation, sharp pop instincts, and mammoth singles. Yet, flowing through its platinum outline is the dark specter of death. Had its creator lived to see its release, the album would still have been a cutting meditation on mortality, akin to Ingmar Bergmanâs The Seventh Seal. The way things played out makes Life After Death a chilling work of dark prophecy. Rarely has an artist done so much in a discography so compact. Without Life After Death, Biggieâs oeuvre would have leaned on just one album. Released in 1994, Ready to Die is a rum punch of a rap record â maybe the greatest ever made. The cinematic rise and fall of a gangster gave us the clearest iteration of the New York street hustler this side of Super Fly. The 22-year-old Bed-Stuy emcee channeled his experiences as a low-level street hood and dreams of large-scale success through vivid lyricism and superhuman rap ability. Big was rocking Kangol hats, Coogi sweaters, dark sunglasses, and a pager tucked into his baggie jeans. Life After Death gave us a dapper don who always dressed like he was ready for a funeral. What happened in the intervening period would weigh on anybodyâs soul. When five bullets ripped through Tupac Shakurâs lean muscle and bone physique on November 30, 1994, perhaps Bigâs fate was sealed. Shakur survived, blamed former friend Wallace for the shooting, and set in motion a cataclysmic series of events that have been etched on parchment and filed in hip-hop folklore forever. Death Of Biggie SmallThere was the 1995 Source Awards, âHit âEm Upâ, and Bigâs turbulent marriage to singer Faith Evans. There was the car accident that shattered his left leg and temporarily confined him to a wheelchair. And there was Tupacâs bloody demise on the Las Vegas strip some six months before Life After Deathâs release. The burden of it all can be felt pressing down on the album. Biggie often sounds fenced in by the distress. Biggie and Tupac will never be untangled. Their legacies intertwine too often. The tragedies of their deaths are too closely linked. Hip-hopâs most famous beef seemed to align perfectly: East Coast and West Coast, the chrome sheen of Sean âPuffyâ Combsâ Bad Boy Records versus the gruff gangsterism of Marion âSugeâ Knightâs Death Row. In another oddly neat reflector, both Pac and Biggie completed double-disc opuses shortly before their deaths. Cut immediately after his release from jail, Pacâs All Eyez on Me was a fireball of raw emotion. Said to have been recorded over just two weeks, the record was the bursting of his creative dam. Life After Death feels more deliberate, more methodical. This wasnât Big hitting the studio for a long weekend with a bag of weed, bottle of hard liquor, and a beat tape. Recorded over 18 months in New York, Los Angeles, and Trinidad, the albumâs production was as large-scale as the final product. The result is a thousand different ideas crammed onto two compact discs. The album opens with a death. That is, it picks up where Ready to Dieâs final track, âSuicidal Thoughtsâ, left off: Big turning his pistol on himself while a desperate Combs helplessly listens from the other end of a phone line. Sirens wail and a mournful piano rings out over the New York night sky. A sorrowful Puffy sits next to his friendâs hospital band. The sound of a flat-lining heart monitor melds into first song proper, âSomebody Gotta Dieâ. The albumâs narrative hinges on how you read this mystery. Has Biggie died and crossed over to another dimension? Did the rapper miraculously recover and weâve moved forward in the tale? Has he folded the timeline back onto itself, undoing Ready to Dieâs grisly climax? Perhaps heâs dreaming. You never remember how a dream starts, and âSomebody Gotta Dieâ begins eerily, as Big quietly sits âdreaminâ about Learjets and coupes.â He sounds like Guy Pearceâs Leonard in Memento, snapping into consciousness before his doorbell pulls him into the stormy night to exact revenge on the man who murdered his friend. The song is a masterpiece in story line-driven writing, half Luc Besson, half Edgar Allen Poe. Sneakers stained with blood, silencers on the uzis, âHecklers, Kochs, and Calicosâ â Biggieâs slow flow crams enough minutiae to flood the largest cinema screen. Yet, the track retains that blurry, dream-like quality. An alternate reality to Ready to Dieâs blood-in-your-mouth chronicles. Puffy wasnât a beatmaker in the traditional sense, but like a movie director, he orchestrated much of the music coming out of his Bad Boy stable from behind the boards. By 1997, the labelâs rap record formula had been nailed down. Brass-knuckle hip-hop was mixed with more radio friendly jams. It was hardly a revolutionary ideology, but Bad Boyâs sample-heavy singles were soulful, thumping cuts. Still, Puff had to take his artists by his hand. Craig Mack didnât want to rap over the offbeat horn stabs and crashing drums of his Molotov cocktail classic âFlava in Ya Earâ. Nor was Biggie initially sweet when his first major single âJuicyâ was put in front of him. When Big heard the outline of âHypnotizeâ, though, according to producer Deric âD-Dotâ Angelettie, he âflipped out.â Itâs a skyscraper-shaker of a rap single. Only a handful of songs can match the party power of that intro â the mountainous bass line and galactic synth stab mined from Herb Alpertâs 1979 hit âRise.â Plus, Bigâs jump around chants of âuh!â¦uh!â The beat was as large as the rapper himself â as funky as the uptown cool Blaxploitation hits that formed part of his persona. The albumâs other smash was âMoâ Money Moâ Problemsâ, a cruise back in time to the Saturday night fever of New Yorkâs scuzzy â70s disco scene. Producer Stevie J, another beatmaker in the Bad Boy stable, rides Diana Rossâ âIâm Coming Outâ until the wheels almost come off. Itâs a fluorescent glamourama, but it doesnât really feel like a Biggie track. Puffy and his latest prodigy Mase take the reins, building a podium on which they would both spring solo careers from. The headliner, though, makes a late entrance. On âMoâ Money Moâ Problemsâ, Biggie is Orson Welles in The Third Man â screen time is limited, but he leaves the greatest impression. Though it sometimes feels as though Puffy and Big are wrestling for control of the wheel, Combsâ pop proclivities act as a release valve to dread that creeps under the albumâs floorboards. âWhatâs Beef?â, for example, is a sobering account of living in the pressure cooker that had so captivated hip-hop. For listeners, the East Coast-West Coast feud was a good time. For the chief players, it was real life. âBeef is when you need two Gats to go to sleep,â raps Biggie over the trackâs doomed, string-driven concerto. âBeef is when your moms ainât safe up in the streets.â Biggieâs flow underlines his more jaded mindset. Ready to Die tracks like âGimme the Lootâ and âMachine Gun Funkâ had seen him deploy his shoot-the-lights-out spit, rattling out syllables with Gatling gun-style ferocity. By Life After Death, heâd sunk into a slower, more studied rap style. His impossibly deep baritone booms throughout the track like thunder echoing over skyscrapers. On âKick in the Doorsâ, DJ Premier harnesses the horror movie terror of Screaming Jay Hawkinsâ âI Put a Spell on Youâ. Few rappers had the full-toned voice to scale those horns. Bigâs maturing vision is laid out on his drug-slinging classic âTen Crack Commandmentsâ. Ready to Die had been the wild genesis. Three years and 100 life lessons later, Biggieâs criminal playbook has been cast in concrete. âTen Crack Commandmentsâ are unbending rules. Number 5, for example: âNever sell no crack where you rest at/ I donât care if they want a ounce, tell âem âbounce!ââ Itâs one thing to spit bottomless platitudes if your not shackled by any kind of outline. Big somehow raps his formal list with self-help tape clarity. If Ready to Die was the quintessential New York rap album, then Life After Death broadened Biggieâs scope. He fused both coasts with the fat g-funk bop of âGoing Back to Caliâ and tackles Bone Thugs-n-Harmonyâs odd melodies on âNotorious Thugsâ. He occasionally pauses to enjoy life, too, drawing from his âashy to classyâ manifesto on âSky Is the Limitâ, indulging in syrupy R&B on the R Kelly-led sex jam âFuck You Tonightâ and testing his singing voice, perhaps inadvisably, on âPlaya Haterâ. The epic needed an ending. After an album of investigating the dark side of conflict, Big unleashes hell on penultimate track âThe Long Kiss Goodbyeâ. His cousin and protégé Lil Cease has said the track is about Tupac. But heâs also said it wasnât. Puffy, too, has denied the claim. People are going to believe what they want to believe. But if it was a late-in-the-quarter shotgun blast from Biggie aimed directly at his deceased rival, a line like âNow you rest eternally, sleepy/ You burn when you creep meâ is a hell of a punctuation mark. The sad divination of Life After Death is etched into the albumâs closing track: âYouâre Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)â. The song opens with Puffy reading Psalms 23:4-6, which is often recited at Christian funerals. âI donât wanna die/ God tell me whyâ is whispered underneath the hook. On the album cover, Big stands next to a funeral hearse. Bad Boy later issued a statement that the record had not been altered in any way following his death. In the earlier hours of March 9, 1997, four bullets entered his body as he sat in his SUV at a red light at the corner of Wilshire Blvd & South Fairfax, Los Angeles. He was just 24 years-old, but heâll always be Big Poppa. Christopher Wallace was a somebody in life, though. He was The Notorious B.I.G. Leader of New York hip-hop. Disciple of Big Daddy Kane. Brooklynâs finest who climbed the highest peaks of rap stardom. Life After Death is as much a celebration of all that as it is a grim meditation on mortality. Itâs a work that hopefully offered its burdened creator the briefest moments of catharsis before forever becoming scripture.
(Redirected from Murder of Christopher Wallace)
The murder of Christopher Wallace, better known by his stage names 'the Notorious B.I.G.' and 'Biggie Smalls', occurred in the early hours of March 9, 1997. The hip hop artist was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California, one of which was fatal. Despite numerous witnesses and enormous media attention and speculation, no one was ever formally charged for the murder of Wallace. The case remains officially unsolved, as police have searched for years for more details without success. In 2006, Wallace's mother, Voletta Wallace; his widow, Faith Evans and his children, T'yanna Jackson and Christopher Jordan Wallace (CJ) filed a $400 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department alleging that corrupt LAPD officers were responsible for Wallace's murder. Retired LAPD Officer Greg Kading alleged that Marion 'Suge' Knight, the head of Death Row Records, hired fellow Blood gang member Wardell 'Poochie' Fouse to murder Wallace and paid Poochie $13,000. He also alleged that Theresa Swan, the mother of Knight's child, was also involved in the murder, and was paid $25,000 to set up meetings both before and after the shooting took place. In 2003, Poochie himself was murdered in a drive-by by rival gang members.
Prior events[edit]Christopher Wallace traveled to Los Angeles, California in February 1997 to promote his upcoming second studio album, Life After Death, and to film a music video for its lead single, 'Hypnotize'. On March 5, he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on San Francisco's KYLD, in which he stated that he had hired security because he feared for his safety. Wallace cited not only the ongoing East CoastâWest Coast hip hop feud and the murder of Tupac Shakur six months prior, and his role as a high-profile celebrity in general, as his reasons for the decision.[1]Life After Death was scheduled for release on March 25, 1997. On March 7, Wallace presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience.[2] The following evening, March 8, he attended an after-party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in West Los Angeles.[2] Other guests included Faith Evans, Aaliyah, Sean Combs, and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs.[3] Shooting[edit]On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. (PST), Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Los Angeles Fire Department closed the party early because of overcrowding.[4] 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 SUVs were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy Records' director of security.[3] By 12:45 a.m. (PST), the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's SUV stopped at a red light on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue[5] just 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A dark-colored Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside Wallace's SUV. The driver of the Impala, a black male, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace.[3] 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. (PST). He was 24 years old. His autopsy was released to the public in December 2012, fifteen years after his death. According to the report, three of the four shots were not fatal. The first bullet hit 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 left thigh and exited through his inner thigh. The report said that the third bullet struck 'the left side of the scrotum, causing a very shallow, 3â8 inch [10 mm] linear laceration.' The fourth bullet was fatal, entering through his right hip and striking several vital organs, including his colon, liver, heart, and the upper lobe of his left lung, before stopping in his left shoulder area.[6] Wallace's death was mourned by fellow hip hop artists and fans worldwide. Rapper Nas felt at the time of Wallace's death that his passing, along with that of Tupac Shakur, 'was nearly the end of rap.'[7] Investigation[edit]Immediately following the shooting, reports surfaced linking Wallace's murder with that of Shakur six months earlier, due to similarities in the drive-by shootings and the highly publicized East CoastâWest Coast hip hop feud, of which Shakur and Wallace had been central figures.[8] Media reports had previously speculated that Wallace was in some way connected to Shakur's murder, though no evidence ever surfaced to seriously implicate him. Shortly after Wallace's death, Los Angeles Times writers Chuck Philips and Matt Lait reported that the key suspect in his murder was a member of the Southside Crips acting in service of a personal financial motive, rather than on the gang's behalf.[9] The investigation stalled, however, and no one was ever formally charged. In a 2002 book by Randall Sullivan, called LAbyrinth, information was compiled about the murders of Wallace and Shakur based on information provided by retired LAPD detective Russell Poole.[3][10] In the book, Sullivan accused Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records and a known Bloods affiliate, of conspiring with corrupt LAPD officer David Mack to kill Wallace and make both deaths appear to be the result of the rap rivalry.[11][12] The book stated that one of Mack's alleged associates, Amir Muhammad, was the hitman who killed Wallace. The theory was based on evidence provided by an informant[13] and the general resemblance of Muhammad to the facial composite generated during the investigation.[11][12] In 2002, filmmaker Nick Broomfield released a documentary, Biggie & Tupac, based on information from the book.[10]The New York Times described Broomfield's low-budget documentary as a 'largely speculative' and 'circumstantial' account relying on flimsy evidence, failing to 'present counter-evidence' or 'question sources.'[14] Moreover, the motive suggested for the murder of Wallace in the documentaryâto decrease suspicion for the Shakur shooting six months earlierâwas, as The New York Times put it, 'unsupported in the film.'[14] 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 Combs 'failed to fully cooperate with the investigation', and according to Poole, encouraged Bad Boy staff to do the same.[3] The accuracy of the article was later challenged in a letter by the Assistant Managing Editor of the Los Angeles Times, who accused 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.'[15] In alluding to Sullivan and Poole's theory that formed the basis of the Wallace family's dismissed $500 million lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, The New York Times wrote: 'A cottage industry of criminal speculation has sprung up around the case, with documentaries, books and a stream of lurid magazine articles implicating gangs, crooked cops and a cross-country rap rivalry,'[16] noting that everything associated with Wallace's death had been 'big business.' More recently, the film City of Lies was produced based on Poole's investigation and Sullivan's book: LAbyrinth, and casts Johnny Depp as Poole. The film has yet to be released.[17] In examining Sullivan's assertion that the Los Angeles Times was involved in a cover-up conspiracy with the LAPD, it is instructive to note that conflicting theories of the murder were offered in different sections of the Times. The Metro section of the Times wrote that police suspected a connection between Wallace's death and the Rampart police corruption scandal, consistent with Sullivan and Poole's theory.[18] The Metro section also ran a photo of Muhammad, identified by police as a mortgage broker unconnected to the murder who appeared to match details of the shooter, and the paper printed his name and driver's license. But Chuck Philips, a staff writer for the Business section of the Times who had been following the investigation and had not heard of the RampartâMuhammad theory, searched for Muhammad, whom the Metro reporters could not find for comment. It took Philips only three days to find Muhammad, who had a current ad for his brokerage business running in the Times. Muhammad, who was not an official suspect at the time, came forward to clear his name. The Metro section of the paper was opposed to running a retraction, but the business desk editor, Mark Saylor,[19] said, 'Chuck is sort of the world's authority on rap violence' and pushed, along with Philips, for the Times to retract the article.[18] The May 2000 Los Angeles Times correction article was written by Philips, who quoted Muhammad as saying, 'I'm a mortgage broker, not a murderer' and asking, 'How can something so completely false end up on the front page of a major newspaper?'[20] The story cleared Muhammad's name.[18][21] A later 2005 story by Philips showed that the main informant for the Poole-Sullivan theory was a schizophrenic with admitted memory lapses known as 'Psycho Mike' who confessed to hearsay.[22] John Cook of Brill's Content noted that Philips' article 'demolished'[21] the Poole-Sullivan theory of Wallace's murder. In the 2000 book The Murder of Biggie Smalls, investigative journalist and author Cathy Scott suggested that Wallace and Shakur's murders might have been the result of the East CoastâWest Coast feud and motivated by financial gain for the record companies, because the rappers were worth more dead than alive.[23] The criminal investigation into Wallace's murder was re-opened in July 2006 to look for new evidence to help the city defend the civil lawsuits brought by the Wallace family.[24][25] Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading, who worked for three years on a gang task force that included the Wallace case, alleges that the rapper was shot by Wardell 'Poochie' Fouse, an associate of Knight, who died on July 24, 2003, after being shot in the back while riding his motorcycle in Compton. Kading believes Knight hired Poochie via his girlfriend, 'Theresa Swann,' to kill Wallace to avenge the death of Shakur,[26] who, Kading alleges, was killed under the orders of Combs.[27] In December 2012, the LAPD released the autopsy results conducted on Wallace's body to generate new leads. The release was criticized by the long-time lawyer of his estate, Perry Sanders Jr., who objected to an autopsy.[28] The case remains officially unsolved. Lawsuits[edit]Wrongful death claim[edit]In March 2006, Wallace's mother Voletta filed a wrongful death claim against the City of Los Angeles based on the evidence championed by Poole.[12] 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.[12] The case came for trial before a jury on June 21, 2005. On the eve of the trial, a key witness who was expected to testify, Kevin Hackie, revealed that he suffered memory lapses due to psychiatric medications. He had previously testified to knowledge of involvement between Knight, Mack, and Muhammed, but later said that the Wallace attorneys had altered his declarations to include words he never said. Hackie took full blame for filing a false declaration.[13] 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 an LAPD officer and provided detailed information about the existence of evidence concerning the Wallace murder. 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 a cellmate of imprisoned Rampart officer Rafael Perez 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 murder. As a result of the newly discovered evidence, the judge declared a mistrial and awarded the Wallace family its attorneys' fees.[29] 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, 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 murder, and participated in the murder of Christopher Wallace'. The Wallace family said the LAPD 'consciously concealed Rafael Perez's involvement in the murder of .. Wallace'.[30] United States District JudgeFlorence-Marie Cooper granted summary judgment to the city 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.[31] The Wallace family refiled the suit, dropping the state law claims on May 27, 2008.[32] The suit against the City of Los Angeles was finally dismissed in 2010. It was described by The New York Times as 'one of the longest running and most contentious celebrity cases in history.'[16] The Wallace suit had asked for $500 million from the city.[16] Defamation[edit]On January 19, 2007, Tyruss 'Big Syke' Himes, a friend of Shakur who was implicated in Wallace's murder by the Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV and XXL magazine in 2005, had a defamation lawsuit regarding the accusations thrown out of court.[33] Vsphere client 5.5 download. Download URLs for VMware vSphere Client (2089791). This article provides vSphere Client download URLs. VMware vSphere Client 5.5 Update 1. See also[edit]References[edit]
Coordinates: 34°03â²46â³N118°21â²41â³W / 34.06278°N 118.36145°W
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_the_Notorious_B.I.G.&oldid=899001866'
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 â March 9, 1997), known professionally as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or Biggie,[1] was an American rapper. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time.[2] Wallace was born and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His debut album Ready to Die (1994) made him a central figure in East Coast hip hop and increased New York City's visibility in the genre at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated the mainstream.[3] The following year, he led Junior M.A.F.I.A.âa protégé group composed of his childhood friendsâto chart success. In 1996, while recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the growing East CoastâWest Coast hip hop feud. On March 9, 1997, he was murdered by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His second album, Life After Death (1997), released two weeks later, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. In 2000, it became one of the few hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond.[4] Wallace was noted for his 'loose, easy flow';[5] dark, semi-autobiographical lyrics; and storytelling abilities, which focused on crime and hardship. Three more albums have been released since his death, and he has certified sales of over 17 million records in the United States,[6] including 13.4 million albums.[7]
Life and career1972â1991: Early life and arrestsWallace was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 21, 1972, the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents. His mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher, while his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician.[8][9] His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, and his mother worked two jobs while raising him. Wallace grew up at 226 St. James Place in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill,[10] near the border with Bedford-Stuyvesant.[8][11] Wallace excelled at Queen of All Saints Middle School winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed 'Big' because he was overweight by the age of 10.[12] Wallace said he started dealing drugs when he was around the age of 12. His mother, often away at work, did not know of his drug dealing until he was an adult.[13] He began rapping as a teenager, entertaining people on the streets, and performed with local groups the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques.[3] At his request, Wallace transferred from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, where future rappers DMX, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes were also attending. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good student but developed a 'smart-ass' attitude at the new school.[9] At age 17, Wallace dropped out of school and became more 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.[14] A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail before making bail.[13] 1991â1994: Early career and first childAfter being released from jail, Wallace made a demo tape called 'Microphone Murderer', 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 300 to 380 lb (140â170 kg) according to differing accounts.[15] The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent of getting a recording deal. However, it was promoted by New York-based DJ Mister Cee, who had previously worked with Big Daddy Kane, and in 1992 it was heard by the editor of The Source.[14] In March 1992, Wallace was featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column, dedicated to aspiring rappers, and made a recording off the back of this success.[16] The demo tape was heard by Uptown RecordsA&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's 'A Buncha Niggas' (from the album Blue Funk).[3][17] Soon after Wallace signed his recording contract, Combs was fired from Uptown and started a new label, Bad Boy Records.[18] Wallace followed and signed to the label in mid-1992.[19] On August 8, 1993, Wallace's longtime girlfriend gave birth to his first child, T'yanna.[19] Wallace had split with the girlfriend some time before T'yanna's birth.[20] Despite having dropped out of high school himself, Wallace wanted his daughter to complete her education. He promised her 'everything she wanted', saying that if his mother had promised him the same he would have graduated at the top of his class.[21] He continued selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once Combs discovered this, he forced Wallace to quit.[3] Later in the year, Wallace, recording as the Notorious B.I.G., gained exposure after featuring on a remix to Mary J. Blige's single 'Real Love'. He recorded under this name for the remainder of his career, after finding the original moniker 'Biggie Smalls' was already in use.[22] '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 Bullshit', appeared on the Who's the Man? soundtrack.[23] 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', which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[24] 1994: Ready to Die and marriage to Faith EvansOn August 4, 1994, Wallace married R&B singer Faith Evans after they met at a Bad Boy photoshoot.[25] Five 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.[26] Ready to Die was released on September 13, 1994. It reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart[27] and was eventually certified four times Platinum.[28] The album shifted attention back to East Coast hip hop at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated US charts.[29] It gained strong reviews and has received much praise in retrospect.[29][30] 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,[5] and 'One More Chance', which sold 1.1 million copies in 1995.[31][32]Busta Rhymes claimed to have seen Wallace giving out free copies of Ready to Die from his home, which Rhymes reasoned as 'his way of marketing himself'.[33] Around the time of the album's release, Wallace became friends with a fellow rapper named Tupac Shakur. Cousin Lil' Cease recalled the pair as close, often traveling together whenever they were not working. According to him, Wallace was a frequent guest at Shakur's home and they spent time together when Shakur was in California or Washington, D.C.[34]Yukmouth, an Oakland emcee, claimed that Wallace's style was inspired by Shakur.[35] 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'.[36] In 2015, Daz Dillinger, a frequent Shakur collaborator, said that he and Wallace were 'cool', with Wallace traveling to meet him to smoke cannabis and record two songs.[37] 1995: Junior M.A.F.I.A., Conspiracy and coastal feudIn 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.[38] 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.[3] 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.[39] At the Billboard Awards, he was Rap Artist of the Year.[14] In his year of success, Wallace became involved in a rivalry between the East and West Coast hip hop scenes with Shakur, now his former friend. 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 five times 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.[40] 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.'[41] In 2012, a man named Dexter Isaac, serving a life sentence for unrelated crimes, claimed that he attacked Shakur that night and that the robbery was orchestrated by entertainment industry executive and former drug trafficker, James Rosemond.[42] Following his release from prison, Shakur signed to Death Row Records on October 15, 1995. This made Bad Boy Records and Death Row business rivals, and thus intensified the quarrel.[43] 1996: Collaboration with Michael Jackson, more arrests, accusations regarding Shakur's death, and second childWallace began recording his second studio album in September 1995 over 18 months in New York City, Trinidad, and Los Angeles. The recording was interrupted by injury, legal disputes, and a highly publicized hip hop dispute.[44] During this time, Wallace also worked with pop singer Michael Jackson on the album HIStory.[45]Lil' Cease later claimed that Wallace refused requests to meet Jackson, citing that he did not 'trust Michael with kids' following the 1993 child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson.[46] On March 23, 1996, Wallace was arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub for chasing and threatening to kill two fans seeking autographs, smashing the windows of their taxicab, and punching one of them.[14] 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.[14] In June 1996, Shakur released 'Hit 'Em Up', a diss track in which he claimed to have had sex with Faith Evans, who was estranged from Wallace at the time, and that Wallace had copied his style and image. Wallace referenced the first claim on Jay-Z's 'Brooklyn's Finest', in which he raps: 'If Faye have twins, she'd probably have two 'Pacs. Get it? 2Pac's?' However, he did not directly respond to the track, stating in a 1997 radio interview that it was 'not [his] style' to respond.[41] Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 7, 1996, and died six days later. Rumors of Wallace's involvement with Shakur's murder spread. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times series titled 'Who Killed Tupac Shakur?', based on police reports and multiple sources, Chuck Philips reported that the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang, the Southside Crips, to avenge a beating by Shakur hours earlier, and that Wallace had paid for the gun.[47][48]Los Angeles Times editor Mark Duvoisin wrote that 'Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy, .. [and] remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying.'[49] Wallace's family denied the report,[50] producing documents purporting to show that he was in New York and New Jersey at the time. However, The New York Times called the documents inconclusive, stating: 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.'[51] Evans remembered her husband calling her on the night of Shakur's death and crying from shock. She said: 'I think it's fair to say he was probably afraid, given everything that was going on at that time and all the hype that was put on this so-called beef that he didn't really have in his heart against anyone.' Wayne Barrow, Wallace's co-manager at the time, said Wallace was recording the track 'Nasty Girl' the night Shakur was shot.[52] Shortly after Shakur's death, he met with Snoop Dogg, who claimed that Wallace played the song 'Somebody Gotta Die' for him, in which Snoop Dogg was mentioned, and declared he never hated Shakur.[53] On October 29, 1996, Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher 'C.J.' Wallace, Jr.[19] 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'.[3] Lil' Kim recalled being Wallace's 'biggest fan' and 'his pride and joy'.[54] In a 2012 interview, Lil' Kim said Wallace had prevented her from making a remix of the Jodeci single 'Love U 4 Life' by locking her in a room. According to her, Wallace said that she was not 'gonna go do no song with them,'[55] likely because of the group's affiliation with Tupac and Death Row Records. 1997: Life After Death and car accidentDuring the recording for his second album, Life After Death, Wallace and Lil' Cease were arrested for smoking marijuana in public and had their car repossessed. Wallace chose a Chevrolet Lumina rental car as a substitute, despite Lil' Cease's objections. The car had brake problems but Wallace dismissed them.[56] The car collided with a rail, shattering Wallace's left leg and Lil' Cease's jaw. Wallace spent months in a hospital following the accident; he was temporarily confined to a wheelchair,[3] forced to use a cane,[40] and had to complete therapy. Despite his hospitalization, he continued to work on the album. The accident was referred to in the lyrics of 'Long Kiss Goodnight': 'Ya still tickle me, I used to be as strong as Ripple be / Til Lil' Cease crippled me.'[57] 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 following a dispute in May 1995.[58] He faced criminal assault charges for the incident, which remains unresolved, but all robbery charges were dropped.[14] Following the events, Wallace spoke of a desire to focus on his 'peace of mind' and his family and friends.[59] DeathIn February 1997, Wallace traveled to California to promote Life After Death and record 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 a security detail since he feared for his safety; but that this was due to being a celebrity figure in general, not specifically because he was a rapper.[60] On March 8, 1997, Wallace 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.[40] After the ceremony, he attended an afterparty hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.[40] Guests included Evans, Aaliyah, Combs, and members of the Crips and Bloods gangs.[12] On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. (PST), after the fire department closed the party early due to overcrowding, Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel.[61] He traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates, Damion 'D-Roc' Butler, 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,[12] Paul Offord.[62] By 12:45 a.m. (PST), the streets were crowded with people leaving the party. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A black Chevy Impala 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. His entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. (PST).[12] Wallace's funeral was held on March 18, 1997, at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan. There were among 350 mourners at the funeral, including Queen Latifah, Flava Flav, Mary J. Blige, Lil' Kim, Lil' Cease, RunâD.M.C., DJ Kool Herc, Treach from Naughty by Nature, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella, Foxy Brown, Sister Souljah and others. After the funeral, his body was cremated and the ashes were given to his family.[63] Posthumous releasesSixteen 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. Theatre lighting design software free. 176 due to street-date violations. The record album featured a much wider range of guests and producers than its predecessor.[64] 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.[3] 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 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.[65] 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's 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.[66] In 1996, Wallace started putting together a hip hop supergroup, the Commission, which consisted himself, Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, Combs, and Charli Baltimore. The Commission was mentioned by Wallace in the lyrics of 'What's Beef' on Life After Death and 'Victory' from No Way Out, but a Commission album was never completed. A track on Duets: The Final Chapter, '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 new 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'.[67] Nevertheless, the album sold 2 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' and 'Realest Niggas' by Ashanti 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, which was criticized for the lack of significant vocals by Wallace on some of its songs.[68][69] 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.[70] A duet album, The King & I, featuring Evans and Notorious B.I.G., was released on May 19, 2017, which largely contained previously unreleased music.[71] Musical style
Wallace mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a 'thick, jaunty grumble',[72] which went deeper on Life After Death.[73] He was often accompanied on songs with ad libs from Sean 'Puffy' Combs. In The Source's Unsigned Hype column, his style was described as 'cool, nasal, and filtered, to bless his own material'.[74] AllMusic describe Wallace as having 'a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession'.[5]Time magazine wrote Wallace rapped with an ability to 'make multi-syllabic rhymes sound.. smooth',[30] while Krims describes Wallace's rhythmic style as 'effusive.'[75] Before starting a verse, Wallace sometimes used onomatopoeicvocables 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').[76] Lateef of Latyrx notes that Wallace had, 'intense and complex flows',[77]Fredro Starr of Onyx says, 'Biggie was a master of the flow',[78] and Bishop Lamont states that Wallace mastered 'all the hemispheres of the music'.[79] He also often used the single-line rhyme scheme to add variety and interest to his flow.[77]Big Daddy Kane suggests that Wallace didn't need a large vocabulary to impress listeners â 'he just put his words together a slick way and it worked real good for him'.[80] Wallace was known to compose lyrics in his head, rather than write them down on paper, in a similar way to Jay-Z.[81][82] Wallace would occasionally vary from his usual style. On 'Playa Hater' from his second album, he sang in a slow-falsetto.[83] 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 lyricsWallace's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ('Niggas Bleed'), his drug-dealing past ('10 Crack Commandments'), materialistic bragging ('Hypnotize'), as well as humor ('Just Playing (Dreams)'),[84] and romance ('Me & My Bitch').[84]Rolling Stone named Wallace in 2004 as 'one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs'.[73] Guerilla Black, in the book How to Rap, describes how Wallace was able to both 'glorify the upper echelon'[85] and '[make] you feel his struggle'.[86] According to Touré of The New York Times in 1994, Wallace's lyrics '[mixed] autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty'.[13] 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'.[14] Wallace described his debut as 'a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in my life involving bitches and niggaz.. from the beginning to the end'.[87] 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'.[73]AllMusic write of 'a sense of doom' in some of his songs and the NY Times note some being 'laced with paranoia';[5][88] Wallace described himself as feeling 'broke and depressed' when he made his debut.[88] 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'.[73] 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 pimp' through some of the lyrical topics of the former.[75]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'.[89] AllMusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is 'mostly due to Wallace's skill as a storyteller';[5] 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'.[29] 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.[83] Legacy
Mural of the Notorious B.I.G at 5 Pointz
Mural of the Notorious B.I.G in Little Haiti
A stencil of the Notorious B.I.G. in Asakusa, Tokyo (2006)
Considered one of the best rappers of all time, Wallace was described by AllMusic as 'the savior of East Coast hip-hop'.[3]The Source magazine named Wallace the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue in 2002.[90][91] 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'.[92] Editors of About.com ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987â2007).[93] In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 Lyrical Leaders of all time.[94]Rolling Stone has referred to him as the 'greatest rapper that ever lived'.[95] In 2015, Billboard named Wallace as the greatest rapper of all time.[2] 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.[96] In September 2005, VH1 held its second annual 'Hip Hop Honors', with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show.[97] 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.[98] In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the estate's licensing efforts.[99] Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content.[100] 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 to honor Wallace's memory. 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'.[101] There is a large portrait mural of Wallace as Mao Zedong on Fulton Street in Brooklyn a half-mile west from Wallace's old block.[102] A fan petitioned to have the corner of Fulton Street and St. James Place, near Wallace's childhood home renamed in his honor, garnering support from local businesses and attracting more than 560 signatures.[102] A large portrait of Wallace features prominently in the Netflix series Luke Cage, due to the fact that he served as muse for the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Marvel Comics character Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes. BiopicNotorious is a 2009 biographical film about Wallace and his life that stars rapper Jamal Woolard as Wallace. The film was directed by George Tillman Jr. and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Producers included Sean Combs, Wallace's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, as well as Voletta Wallace.[103] 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.[104] The film received mixed reviews and grossed over $44 million worldwide.[105][106] In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of Wallace began.[107] Actors, rappers and unknowns all tried out. Beanie Sigel auditioned[108] for the role, but was not picked. Sean Kingston claimed that he would play the role of Wallace, but producers denied it.[109] Eventually, it was announced that rapper Jamal Woolard was chosen to play Wallace[110] while Wallace's son, Christopher Wallace Jr. was cast to play Wallace as a child.[111] Other cast members include Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, Antonique Smith as Faith Evans, Naturi Naughton as Lil' Kim, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur.[112] Bad Boy also released a soundtrack album to the film on January 13, 2009; the album contains many of Wallace's hit singles, including 'Hypnotize' and 'Juicy', as well as rarities.[113] DiscographyStudio albums
Collaboration albums
Posthumous studio albums
Posthumous collaboration albumsLife And Death Of Biggie Smalls
MediaFilmography
Television appearances
Awards and nominations
References
Further reading
External links
Death Photos Of Biggie Smalls
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