He is often called the savior of “east-coast hip hop,” and the nickname is well deserved.
Biggie Smalls, or Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace), was the leader and mentor of the
group Junior M.A.F.I.A., the group of east coast and New York rap. More than that, he is hailed
as the best MC of all time, the most skillful, and certainly the most popular.
B.I.G. is the only child of Voletta Wallace, and was very close to his mother. Biggie
Smalls earned the nickname “Big” in middle school because of his size. Also in middle school,
he won many English accolades and began selling illegal drugs. He grew up in Brooklyn, and
would later represent his city in many verses. Big rose to fame in a time where West Coast rap
was very popular, and when he was signed by Sean “P.Diddy” Combs to Uptown Records, he
increased New York fame on the charts. He had a problem with selling drugs, but after his daughter T'yanna was born was forced to quit by P. Diddy. He gained real notoriety with his platinum song, "Big Poppa".
After Biggie became invovled with Junior M.A.F.I.A., he was also entered into a coastal feud between Bad Boy Records (east) and Death Row Records (Tupac Shakur's record label). The feud increased when Shakur released a "diss song" that Wallace refused to respond to. In 1996 Shakur was inexplicably shot (there is much mystery surrounding the gang-like feud and both their deaths), and Wallace had his second child, C.J. Wallace continued to surround himself with drugs and gang members until he was shot four times in 1997 in a drive-by. Reports often like the Shakur and Wallace shootings. Nonetheless, Biggie Smalls' career thrived, even posthumously, with songs like "Hypnotize". While working with Junior M.A.F.I.A., Wallace worked with many artists like Lil’ Kim and Lil’ Cease, who went on to become solo artists. But Biggie is one of the widest known rap celebrities, when working with a group or a as a solo artist, of all time.
All general knowledge taken from Wikipedia's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biggie_Smalls on 03/11/13
Photo 1: 03/11/13 Bossip.com http://bossip.com/?s=biggie+smalls&x=0&y=0
Photo 2: 03/11/13 Tumblr.com http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/biggiesmalls
