The Life Story of Notorious B.I.G.

There is a man who changed the world of hip hop with his dark stories and incredible flow. It has been said that through him many people from the culture followed him and named him as the ‘’King of New York’’. He was given nicknames like ‘’Biggie Smalls’’ and ‘’Frank White’’.

The man came off the steps of Bedford Stuyvesant was one of the most influential rappers of all time. He would be recognize by the world with the release of his first album Ready To Die. But the rapper’s legacy would be cut short after he was shot and killed by an unknown assailant after the 1997 Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles. His second album Life after Death release 16 days after his death on March 9th 1997. At 24 years old Big would die but the legend will be remembered that is the man we know and love.

The Notorious Big was born Christopher George Latore Wallace on the day May 21 1972 in St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn New York. His mother Voletta Wallace raised him as an only child after his father left the household when Wallace was two years old.

His mother worked two jobs to care for young Wallace. Big was raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn,New York. At Queen of all Saints Middle School Wallace excelled in class and would win awards for his talents as a English student.

His nickname at 10 was ‘’Big’’ because of his overweight size. At 12 years old Wallace would deal drugs. His mother who was off at work knew no knowledge of Wallace’s drug dealing until he was an adult.

At the request of Wallace,he dropped out of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He soon was enrolled in George Westinghouse Career and Technical High School with future rappers Jay-Z, DMX, and Busta Rhymes. He would hardly show up to class as he was dealing drugs still. At seventeen he would drop out of school to be involved in crime.

He was arrested many times from 1989 through 1991 for Weapons,Violation of parole, and for Drug Dealing.Christopher began rapping as a teenager and would be respected for his talent on the streets of Brooklyn.He performed with many crews and released mixtapes.

One mixtape went into the hands on Uptown Records manager, Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy. He liked what he heard and signed Biggie to Uptown. He was gaining success from his feature in Mary J Blige’s ‘’Real Love’’ and would appear on tracks with label mates.

After Puff Daddy was fired from Uptown He would start Bad Boy Records. And Wallace was the second signed to Bad Boy. He released his first album Ready to Die on September 13th 1994 with the hit singles‘’Juicy and ‘’Big Poppa.The album was a success and established a major rapper in the hip hop scene.

On March 9th 1997 at 24 years old Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting after leaving the soul train awards in Los Angeles in an SUV. Wallace’s album Life after Death came out 16 days after his death. Wallace is survived by his wife and 3 children.