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.

Posthumous career

Life After Death, Biggie's second album, debuted at #1 on the charts. The album was released only two weeks after Biggie's murder. Its lead single was "Hypnotize", which was also the last video Biggie would take part in. Life After Death hit number one on the Billboard charts and spawned several hit singles in the United States. The album sold 10 million copies, and, as of 2005, is the best selling hip-hop album of all time. Biggie's biggest chart hit was with the song "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," an upbeat number featuring rappers Mase and Puff Daddy, and sampling the disco song "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross for the beat. The video is noted for having started the "Shiny Suit" era in hip hop. The last video single from Life After Death was "Sky's The Limit" featuring 112. The video for this song, directed by Spike Jonze, was noted for the use of children portraying a day in the life of Biggie.

Related Topics:
Life After Death - As of 2005 - Mase - Puff Daddy - Disco - Diana Ross - 112 - Spike Jonze

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During the summer of 1997, Puff Daddy released his debut album "No Way Out," which featured Biggie on a number of songs, notably in the chorus of the single "Been Around the World" over David Bowie's sample ("Let's Dance"). However, the single that carried this album to the top was "I'll Be Missing You", a tribute and a massively successful single dedicated to Biggie. The song featured Puff Daddy, Wallace's widow Faith Evans and R&B group 112. The song sampled the melody of The Police's hit song "Every Breath You Take." All these artists performed the song with (former Police vocalist) Sting during the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

Related Topics:
David Bowie - Faith Evans - The Police - Sting - 1997 - MTV Video Music Award

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The year 1999 saw another release of a posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album. Puff Daddy released Biggie's third album, Born Again. It had two hit singles called "N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S." featuring Puff Daddy and Lil' Kim (interpolation to the Duran Duran's song of the same name), and "Dead Wrong" a single that later was remixed with a verse from Eminem. The video for "N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S." also featured appearances by 98 Degrees and Fat Joe, and is also the last Notorious B.I.G. solo video to date (as of 2005).

Related Topics:
1999 - Born Again - Duran Duran - Eminem - 98 Degrees - Fat Joe - As of 2005

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In 2002, Puff Daddy gave 50 Cent rights to sample Biggie's verses from "Niggas" (a song from the Born Again album) into a song called "The Realest Niggas". It got out as a single and hit New York radio stations as a big hit. Many have attributed that song as a major key to the rise of 50 Cent, who is now one of hip-hop's biggest superstars. The song (which also featured and was produced by Eminem) was later put on the soundtrack for the 2003 hit movie Bad Boys 2 with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. Later on in 2003, Biggie appeared on "Runnin (Dying To Live)" along with 2Pac. The song was produced by Eminem.

Related Topics:
2002 - Puff Daddy - 50 Cent - Eminem - 2003 - Bad Boys 2 - Martin Lawrence - Will Smith - 2Pac

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On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Biggie was paid tribute to by host Diddy, and Snoop Dogg. The setup had an orchestra playing while the lyrics from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. It was a well-received tribute for that evening. In September 2005, VH1 had its second annual hip hop honors, with a tribute to Biggie headlinig the show. It was announced that the long awaited Biggie Duets album would be relesed in November.

Related Topics:
August 28 - 2005 - Video Music Awards - Diddy - Snoop Dogg - September - Biggie Duets

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