John F. Kennedy
Famous Military Veterans
Marilyn Monroe
Anthony Weiner
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
Best Known For
Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G., was a revered hip-hop artist and face of East Coast gangsta rap. He was shot and killed on March 9, 1997.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowBiggie Smalls. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:08, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735.
Biggie Smalls. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Biggie Smalls." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 02:08 http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735.
"Biggie Smalls," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Biggie Smalls," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Biggie Smalls [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735.
Biggie Smalls, http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Biggie Smalls. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Born as Christopher Wallace on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G., became a drug dealer at a young age. He started experimenting with music as a teenager and, not long after, befriended Sean "Puffy" Combs. His 1994 debut album, Ready to Die, was a smash hit, and his long-running feud with fellow rapper, Tupac Shakur,
Quotes
"Excellence is my presence. Never tense, never hesitant."
helped to shape his career. Biggie was killed in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.
Early Years
American hip-hop star Biggie Smalls was born as Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Biggie, or Notorious B.I.G, as he'd later become known, experienced a rough childhood—at an early age, he was surrounded by drug addicts and dealers. As a result, by his early teens, Biggie had joined the life that was all around him. "Hustlers were my heroes," he once said. "Everything happened on the strip I grew up in. It didn't matter where you went, it was all in your face."
At the age of 17, Biggie was arrested for selling crack, and spent nine months in a North Carolina prison before making bail. As he navigated his young, uncertain life, Biggie started making music. He hooked on with a crew called the "Old Gold Brothers," and began experimenting on his own.
Commercial Success
Around his neighborhood, Biggie Smalls, as he called himself then, began building a reputation as a musician. After a tape of his landed in the hands of Mister Cee, a well-known DJ, Smalls was featured in the hip-hop publication, The Source.
The article was enough to catch the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, a young producer at Uptown Entertainment, a New York-based label specializing in hip-hop and rhythm and blues. When Combs split off from Uptown to start his own label, Bad Boy Entertainment, he brought Smalls with him.
Immediately, Notorious B.I.G., as he now called himself, got to work, appearing on a 1993 remix of Mary J. Blige's single, Real Love, and followed it up with a second Blige remix, What's the 411? His debut as a solo artist came with the single, Party and Bullshit, on the soundtrack to the film, Who's the Man? (1993)
In 1994, Notorious B.I.G. released his debut album, Ready to Die, which told the story of his life, from drug dealer to rapper. Backed with hits like Juicy and Big Poppa, the record went platinum and the young hip-hop artist became a full-fledged star.
That same year, The Source named Notorious B.I.G. Best New Artist, Best Live Performer, and Lyricist of the Year.
As his star power increased, Biggie did his best to share his prestige. He backed the work of several rappers that he'd originally performed with while starting out in Brooklyn, and took to the studio in support of other artists on Sean "Puffy" Combs's label. He also teamed up with such stars as Michael Jackson and R. Kelly. By the close of 1995, Biggie was one of music's best-selling and most sought after performers.
Troubled Times
However, success and wealth hardly brought peace to Biggie's life.
profile name: Biggie Smalls profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Mysterious Deaths
View groupAn unsolved crime never fails to fascinate us, especially when it involves the death of a celebrity. Over the years many famous individuals, from movie stars to politicians to rockers, have died in mysterious circumstances. Conspiracy theories and accusations of foul play abound, but we may never know fact from fiction. Here's a look at some of the most famous mysterious deaths.
Mysterious Deaths 28 people in this group
-
Famous Geminis 529 people in this group
-
Famous Rappers
View groupSince its emergence in the 1980s, rap and hip-hop music has grown from an underexposed form of expression into a way for people of all backgrounds to shed light on their lives through rhythm and poetry. Pioneering rappers, such as Jay-Z, Queen Latifah and the Beastie Boys, helped spark the fire for rap to grow into the hot genre that it is today. Browse through a collection of famous rappers who influenced the hip-hop scene.
Famous Rappers 41 people in this group
