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Feud with Tupac Shakur and other Legal Problems

It resonated with fans and made Biggie a rap and hip-hop icon almost overnight. It became sort of therapeutic for him, being able to get a lot of his anger and frustrations off his chest. He rapped about his harsh life-growing up dealing drugs and feeling alone, rapping about his fears and hopes. He had a way with words, and was able to deliver them through rap music skillfully.īiggie's songs were also brutally honest. Having grown up in a hard and violent world, Biggie's lyrics reflected a gritty "realness," and many people responded positively to it. His talent for rap, cultivated since he was young, was evident in his records. was named Rap Artist of the Year at the Billboard Awards the following year. The album sold more than one million copies, and The Notorious B.I.G. Bad Boy Entertainment released Biggie's first album, Ready to Die, in 1994. He changed his name to "The Notorious B.I.G." in late 1993 after finding out that the name "Biggie Smalls" was already taken.Ĭombs left Uptown and started his own label, taking Biggie with him. Andre Harrell, the president of Uptown, was impressed with Biggie and his music and immediately signed him. Entering the Music IndustryĪs fate would have it, his music made its way to Uptown Entertainment through Sean "Puffy" Combs. It became the first step toward a successful career in the rap industry. After he got out, he recorded a demo tape with his friend just for fun. He spent nine months in jail after he was arrested in North Carolina for selling crack. He chose his stage name "Biggie Smalls" because even as a child he was quite large-by the time he was an adult, he was over six feet tall and at his heaviest he weighed almost 400 pounds. He started rapping at a young age, performing with local groups. His early life was far from easy, and at the age of 12 he started selling crack, concealing it well from his mother.Īt the age of 17, Biggie quit high school and lived on the streets. His father left when Christopher was only two years old. When Biggie was Still Smallīorn Christopher Wallace on May 21, 1972, Biggie Smalls grew up in Brooklyn to Jamaican parents. He lived an extraordinary life, and died an extraordinary-and senseless-death. His life and death is frequently used as an example of the culture of violence that he illustrated with such authenticity in his songs. Anyone who's a rap and hip-hop fan knows of The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls.