- Also called:
- Biggie Smalls
- Byname of:
- Christopher George Latore Wallace
- Died:
- March 9, 1997, Los Angeles, California (aged 24)
- Awards And Honors:
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (2020)
The Notorious B.I.G.
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Who was The Notorious B.I.G.?
The Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace (1972–1997), was a highly influential American rapper in the 1990s gangsta rap.
Biggie Smalls, as he was once known, caught the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed him to Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. His debut album, Ready to Die, released in 1994 under the name The Notorious B.I.G., included hit singles like "Juicy" and "Big Poppa".
His success revived New York City's East Coast hip-hop scene. This created a rivalry with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, particularly between Wallace and Tupac Shakur. On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed in a drive-by shooting. His second album, Life After Death, was released later that month. His impact has endured, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
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What kind of music did The Notorious B.I.G. make?
The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, was a highly influential American rapper in the gangsta rap scene of the 1990s.
Biggie Smalls recorded a demo that caught the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed him to Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. In 1994, The Notorious B.I.G. released his first album, Ready to Die, featuring popular singles like "Juicy" and "Big Poppa," the latter earning him a Grammy nomination. His success revived the New York City-based "East Coast" hip-hop labels.
Though his career was short, his impact was tremendous, with artists emulating him for decades.
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What are some of The Notorious B.I.G.'s most famous songs?
The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, was a highly influential American rapper known for his impact on the 1990s gangsta rap scene.
Some of his most famous songs include:
* "Juicy"
* "Big Poppa"
* "Party and Bullshit"Biggie Smalls's success is credited with reviving New York City's "East Coast" hip-hop recording labels. His career was cut short when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997. In 2024, the U.S. Library of Congress added Ready to Die to the National Recording Registry.
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How did The Notorious B.I.G. influence rap music?
The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, significantly impacted rap music, and his rapid success is credited with reviving the New York City-based “East Coast” hip-hop recording labels. Before Biggie, the "West Coast" hip-hop labels based in Los Angeles had overtaken them in prominence. His debut album, Ready to Die, was released in 1994 and added to the U.S. Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2024. Even after his death in 1997, artists continued to emulate him, and many of his associates achieved great success.
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What was The Notorious B.I.G.'s connection to East Coast hip-hop?
The Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was central to East Coast hip-hop's resurgence in the 1990s. After Sean "Puffy" Combs discovered him, Wallace signed with Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. His debut album, Ready to Die, released in 1994, featured hits like "Juicy" and "Big Poppa". His success shifted the music industry's focus back to New York City-based labels. This created a rivalry with West Coast hip-hop labels like Death Row Records, particularly between Wallace and Tupac Shakur. Although his career was short, The Notorious B.I.G. had a tremendous impact and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
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How has The Notorious B.I.G.'s legacy affected hip-hop culture today?
The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, was among the most influential artists of 1990s gangsta rap. His rapid success revived the New York City-based "East Coast" hip-hop recording labels.
Even though his career was short, his impact was tremendous, and artists have continued to emulate him. Biggie's work brought Bad Boy Entertainment into competition with Death Row Records, which led to a personal and public dispute between Wallace and Tupac Shakur. The violence that had been confined to songs began to spill over into the world, culminating in the tragic murders of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. In 2024, the U.S. Library of Congress added Ready to Die to the National Recording Registry.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
The Notorious B.I.G. (born May 21, 1972, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.—died March 9, 1997, Los Angeles, California) was an American rapper who was among the most influential artists of 1990s gangsta rap.
Wallace grew up near the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. For most of his education, he attended Roman Catholic school, where he excelled, but he later persuaded his mother to send him to a public high school. He eventually dropped out of school, however, and made money selling crack cocaine.
After developing a talent for rap as a pastime, Wallace recorded a demo under the stage name Biggie Smalls. The recording came to the attention of Sean (“Puffy”) Combs, who then worked with Wallace at Uptown Records and in 1993 signed him to a new record label, Bad Boy Entertainment. Wallace’s first single as a solo artist, “Party and Bullshit,” was released the following year, and his first album, Ready to Die, was released in 1994 under the name The Notorious B.I.G. Popular singles from that album include “Juicy” and “Big Poppa”—the latter earning him a Grammy nomination for best rap solo performance. Both before and after the release of the album, he collaborated with a number of other artists, including Mary J. Blige and Michael Jackson.
Wallace’s rapid success was credited with single-handedly reviving the New York City-based “East Coast” hip-hop recording labels, which had been overtaken in prominence by the “West Coast” hip-hop labels based in Los Angeles. His work brought Bad Boy Entertainment into competition with Death Row Records in Los Angeles, and that competition in turn made its way into marketing. The rivalry became hyperbolized as an East Coast versus West Coast feud, although it was manifested primarily in a personal but public dispute between Wallace and his erstwhile friend Tupac Shakur.
On March 9, 1997, Wallace was leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles when he was killed in a drive-by shooting. The shooter and the motive remained unknown. Wallace’s second solo album, Life After Death, was released later that month.
Although Wallace’s career was short, it made a tremendous impact. Artists continued to emulate him in the decades to come, and many of his associates achieved great success. Combs, his producer, launched a highly successful solo career of his own, and his debut album includes a tribute to Wallace—the chart-topping single “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997). Lil’ Kim, whose music career was launched in a collaborative project with Wallace, became one of the first female rappers to achieve platinum status. She too paid tribute to him in her performances, although in 2010 she revealed that her relationship with him had been violent. After making an impact for more than two decades, Wallace was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. In 2024 the U.S. Library of Congress added Ready to Die to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”