By: Kristen Teesdale
Ask any hip hop artist in the industry today to list their influences and it’s a good bet that Notorious B.I.G. is among them.
Christopher Wallace was born May 21, 1972 in New York City. When he reached his teenage years, drug epidemics permeated his Brooklyn neighborhood and Wallace found himself entwined in life on the streets. He dropped out of high school and began dealing. After three arrests, Wallace redirected his focus. Assuming the stage name Biggie Smalls, the boy from Brooklyn dedicated more time to his raps. Biggie was already a neighborhood entertainer, but it was his demo tape that catapulted him to new heights.
With little expectation in place, Biggie’s tape was promoted by Mister Cee, a local DJ. The material found its way to A&R executives at Uptown Records and Biggie was signed immediately. When his friend Sean Combs was released from Uptown, Biggie followed. Combs founded Bad Boy Records and signed Wallace to the roster.
While he was making advances in the industry, Wallace’s home life was also growing. His girlfriend gave birth to a daughter in 1993. But his street and financial struggles still plagued him. To support his family, Wallace returned to selling drugs. When Sean Combs discovered this, he forced Wallace to quit dealing.
Biggie began to collaborate with other artists under the name Notorious B.I.G. Following his newly charted success, B.I.G. released his first studio album, Ready to Die, which saw immediate success among peers and on the charts. During a time when rap was synonymous with the West Coast, B.I.G. managed to refocus fans’ attention to the streets of the East. Its lead track, “Juicy,” jumped to #27 on the charts. The two subsequent singles released, “Big Poppa” and “One More Chance,” garnered increased popularity as they rose to #1 on U.S. charts and became best selling singles. B.I.G.’s smooth flow and semi-autobiographical lyrics resonated with listeners. The rapper famously married unedited, gritty content with pop-friendly beats and the combination expanded his audience exponentially. B.I.G. broke boundaries as his first album found mainstream popularity in spite of, or perhaps as a result of, its dark and menacing material.
Wallace rose to intense levels of personal and professional success in 1995 and 1996. In the midst of reaping almost unparalleled fame and celebrity, he met and married Faith Evans with whom he had his first son. But success was priced high for the East Coast artist. B.I.G. found himself wrapped up in a feud with former friend and associate Tupac Shakur. When Shakur was shot in a robbery attempt, he blamed Wallace, Combs and their affiliates. After the feud was ignited, Shakur signed to Death Row Records. The battle consumed Death Row and Bad Boy as they represented their respective coasts and fan base. The opposition culminated in the deaths of Tupac Shakur and ultimately Notorious B.I.G. a year later. While neither of the crimes has been solved, many parties have theories in which the men’s rivalry is to blame.
Christopher Wallace died just before the release of his second studio album, ominously titled Life After Death. The album received critical praise and commercial success and was one of just three rap albums to receive the honor of diamond certification in record sales by the RIAA. The success realized by the 1997 release cemented B.I.G. as a major influence in hip hop and in the industry.
Since his death, many artists have sampled lyrics and beats from Biggie’s work. Notorious B.I.G.’s influences can be heard in music released by friends who had the opportunity to work with him and fans who are just beginning their journey in the rap game. B.I.G. burst onto the scene during a volatile time and chose to portray his tense, cold reality in rhymes. He paved the way for artists that followed and popularized a genre, sharing his life experiences, good and bad, with no apologies.
Notorious B.I.G.’s ability to translate life into lyrics made him a household name. His capacity for telling the story of the struggle in an unforgiving, unrelenting city helped him portray the reality so many endured. His aptitude for honesty broke the boundaries that others feared to cross. As an artist, B.I.G. is survived by his flow, his talent and the musical legacy he left behind. As a person, Christopher Wallace is survived by his family, his friends and the artists that continue to be influenced by his work. His unbridled skill made him a hit-maker. His untimely passing and thwarted potential made him a legend.
