The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in 1975's Let's Do it Again) and Frank White (from King of New York), but best known as The Notorious B.I.G (Business Instead of Game and, since his death, Books Instead of Guns), was a popular Brooklyn-born rapper of the mid-1990s. Following his untimely death in 1997, he has been immortalized as a hip hop legend.

East Coast/West Coast feud and death

Although Ready to Die brought massive fame to Biggie, he is most famed for his alleged involvement in rap's most infamous feud between the East and West Coast scenes. Before Ready To die was released, Biggie began to associate with rap superstar Tupac Shakur, a Bronx native who moved to California. The two recorded a number of songs together, and Biggie even performed alongside Tupac in a now-famous Madison Square Garden freestyle in 1994. However, their friendship ended when Shakur was shot in November of 1994 and suspected Biggie and Puff Daddy of culpability. Shakur subsequently joined Death Row Records after his release from prison in late 1995. Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment were the two most succesful labels of the 1990's, and with the two biggest stars in rap, it escalated more. When Tupac was shot and killed in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas, where he had been watching a Mike Tyson boxing match, rumors of Biggie's possible involvement in the murder cropped up almost immediately. Biggie denied the allegations. Also around this time, Biggie was involved in a car accident that shattered his leg and would force him to use a cane for the rest of his life. On March 9, 1997, the events came full circle when Biggie was shot and killed in Los Angeles, where he had been attending a party by VIBE Magazine near the Peterson Automotive Museum.

Related Topics:
Tupac Shakur - California - Madison Square Garden - 1994 - Puff Daddy - Death Row Records - Las Vegas - Mike Tyson - March 9 - 1997 - VIBE Magazine - Peterson Automotive Museum

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Neither murder has been conclusively solved, though theories abound as to the motives and identities of the murderers. Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight and the Mob Piru Bloods gang with whom he associates are among the prime suspects for involvement. In his book, LAbyrinth, LAPD officer Randall Sullivan probes the circumstances and figures involved in the shootings. Additionally, Director Nick Broomfield has released an investigative documentary called Biggie & Tupac which implicates the LAPD and Suge Knight, and the Los Angeles Times ran an almost universally discredited article entitled "Who Shot Tupac Shakur?" by reporter Chuck Phillips, which concludes that Biggie Smalls was ultimately behind the Las Vegas shooting of Tupac. Evidence to the contrary, most notably a dated and timed excerpt from a recording that Biggie made in a studio in New York when he was supposedly providing the murder weapon to hitmen in Las Vegas has since surfaced. The fact that the article claims that Biggie checked in and out of a hotel without being noticed by a single individual, despite being a 6'3", 300 lbs national celebrity also damages the credibility of the article.

Related Topics:
Suge Knight - Nick Broomfield - Biggie & Tupac - Los Angeles Times - Las Vegas

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