That same year in 1989, he was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. At age 17 in 1989, Wallace dropped out of high school and became more involved in crime. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good student but developed a "smart-ass" attitude at the new school. At his request, Wallace transferred from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene to George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn, which future rappers Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes were also attending. He began rapping as a teenager, entertaining people on the streets, and performed with local groups, the Old Gold Brothers as well as the Techniques.
His mother, often at work, first learned of this during his adulthood. Wallace claimed to have begun dealing drugs at about age 12. He was nicknamed "Big" because he was overweight by the age of 10. He attended St Peter Claver Church in the borough. Raised Catholic, Wallace excelled at Queen of All Saints Middle School, winning several awards as an English student. James Place in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill, near the border with Bedford-Stuyvesant. His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, and his mother worked two jobs while raising him. His mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher, while his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician. Mary's Hospital in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 21, 1972, the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents. 1.5 1996: More arrests, accusations regarding Shakur's death, car accident and second childĬhristopher George Latore Wallace was born at St.1.4 1995: Collaboration with Michael Jackson, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Conspiracy and coastal feud.1.3 1994: Ready to Die and marriage to Faith Evans.1.2 1991–1994: Early career and first child.In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly "the most skillful ever on the mic".
The Source magazine named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue. Rolling Stone has called him the "greatest rapper that ever lived", and Billboard named him the greatest rapper of all time. With two more posthumous albums released, Wallace has certified sales of over 28 million copies in the United States, including 21 million albums. It reached number one on the Billboard 200, and eventually achieved a diamond certification in the United States. Wallace's second album Life After Death, a double album, was released two weeks later. On March 9, 1997, six months after Shakur's death, Wallace was murdered by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting while visiting Los Angeles. Following Tupac Shakur's death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996, speculations of involvement in Shakur's murder by criminal elements orbiting the Bad Boy circle circulated as a result of Wallace's public feud with Shakur. The following year, he led his protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A., a team of himself and longtime friends, including Lil' Kim, to chart success.ĭuring 1996, while recording his second album, Wallace became ensnarled in the escalating East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. Wallace was awarded the 1995 Billboard Music Awards' Rapper of the Year.
The album made him the central figure in East Coast hip hop, and restored New York's visibility at a time when the West Coast hip hop scene was dominating hip hop music. His debut album Ready to Die (1994) was met with widespread critical acclaim, and included his signature songs " Juicy" and " Big Poppa". īorn and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Wallace signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' label Bad Boy Records as it launched in 1993, and gained exposure through features on several other artists' singles that year. His music was often semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality, but also of debauchery and celebration. Wallace became known for his distinctive laid-back lyrical delivery, offsetting the lyrics' often grim content. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta rap, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper.
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