Best Notorious Big Album

The New York MC on why he's named his forthcoming album Hip Hop Is Dead and what he actually thinks of the current state of American popular music.

Wallace attended the before transferring out at his own request At Queen of All Saints Middle School, Wallace excelled, winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed 'Big' because of his overweight size by age 10.

He said he started when he was around the age of 12. His mother, often away at work, did not know of his drug dealing until he was an adult.

Wallace began as a teenager, entertaining people on the streets and performed with local groups the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques. At his request, Wallace transferred from to, where future rappers, and were also attending. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good student but developed a 'smart-ass' attitude at the new school. At seventeen, Wallace dropped out of school and became more involved in crime. In 1989, he was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. In 1990, he was arrested on a violation of his probation. A year later, Wallace was arrested in for dealing.

He spent nine months in jail before making bail. 1991–1994: Career beginnings and first child After being released from jail, Wallace made a under the name Biggie Smalls, a reference to a character in the 1975 film as well as his stature; he stood at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighed 300 to 380 lb (140–170 kg) according to differing accounts. The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent of getting a recording deal.

However, it was promoted by New York-based DJ, who had previously worked with, and in 1992 it was heard by the editor of. In March 1992, Wallace was featured in The Source 's Unsigned Hype column, dedicated to aspiring rappers, and made a recording off the back of this success.

The demo tape was heard by and record producer, who arranged for a meeting with Wallace. He was signed to Uptown immediately and made an appearance on label mates 's 'A Buncha Niggas' (from the album ). Soon after Wallace signed his recording contract, Combs was fired from Uptown and started a new label,. Wallace followed and signed to the label in mid-1992. On August 8, 1993, Wallace's longtime girlfriend gave birth to his first child, T'yanna.

Wallace had split with the girlfriend some time before T'yanna's birth. Despite having dropped out of high school himself, Wallace wanted his daughter to complete her education. He promised her 'everything she wanted', saying that if his mother had promised him the same he would have graduated at the top of his class. He continued selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once Combs discovered this, he forced Wallace to quit.

Later in the year, Wallace, recording as the Notorious B.I.G., gained exposure after featuring on a remix to 's single '. He recorded under this name for the remainder of his career, after finding the original moniker 'Biggie Smalls' was already in use. 'Real Love' peaked at No. 7 on the chart and was followed by a remix of Blige's '.

He continued this success, to a lesser extent, on remixes with ('Buddy X') and artist ('Dolly My Baby', also featuring Combs) in 1993. In April 1993, his solo track, ', appeared on the soundtrack. In July 1994, he appeared alongside and Busta Rhymes on a remix to label mate 's ', which reached No. 1994: Ready to Die and marriage. Main article: In February 1997, Wallace traveled to California to promote Life After Death and record a music video for its lead single, '.

On March 5, 1997, he gave a radio interview with on in San Francisco. In the interview, he stated that he had hired a security detail, since he feared for his safety; this was because he was a celebrity figure in general, not because he was a rapper. On March 8, 1997, Wallace presented an award to at the 11th Annual in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience. After the ceremony, he attended an afterparty hosted by and at the in Los Angeles. Guests included Evans, Combs, and members of the and gangs.

On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. , after the fire department closed the party early due to overcrowding, Wallace left with his entourage in two to return to his hotel.

He traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates, Damion 'D-Roc' Butler, Lil' Cease and driver Gregory 'G-Money' Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a carrying Bad Boy's director of security, Paul Offord.

By 12:45 a.m. (PST), the streets were crowded with people leaving the party. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A black pulled up alongside Wallace's truck.

The driver of the Impala, an African-American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban. Four bullets hit Wallace.

His entourage rushed him to, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. Wallace's funeral was held on March 18, 1997, at the in. There were among 350 mourners at the funeral, including, Lil' Cease, and others. After the funeral, his body was cremated and the ashes were given to his family. Posthumous releases Sixteen days after his death, Wallace's double-disc second album was released as planned with the shortened title of and hit No. 1 on the charts, after making a premature appearance at No. 176 due to street-date violations.

The record album featured a much wider range of guests and producers than its predecessor. It gained strong reviews and in 2000 was certified, the highest certification awarded to a solo hip hop album. Its lead single, ', was the last music video recording in which Wallace would participate. His biggest chart success was with its follow-up ', featuring Sean Combs (under the rap alias ').

Both singles reached No. 1 in the Hot 100, making Wallace the first artist to achieve this feat posthumously. The third single, ', featuring the band 112, was noted for its use of children in the music video, directed by, who were used to portray Wallace and his contemporaries, including Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. Wallace was named Artist of the Year and 'Hypnotize' Single of the Year by magazine in December 1997. In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, which featured Wallace on five songs, notably on the third single '. The most prominent single from the record album was ', featuring Combs, Faith Evans and 112, which was dedicated to Wallace's memory. At the 1998, Life After Death and its first two singles received nominations in the rap category.

The album award was won by Combs' No Way Out and 'I'll Be Missing You' won the award in the category of Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group in which 'Mo Money Mo Problems' was nominated. In 1996, Wallace started putting together a hip hop, the Commission, which consisted himself, Jay-Z, Combs,. The Commission was mentioned by Wallace in the lyrics of 'What's Beef' on and ' from, but a Commission album was never completed. A track on Duets: The Final Chapter, 'Whatchu Want (The Commission)', featuring Jay-Z, was based on the group. In December 1999, Bad Boy released. The album consisted of previously unreleased material mixed with new guest appearances, including many artists Wallace had never collaborated with in his lifetime. It gained some positive reviews, but received criticism for its unlikely pairings; The Source describing it as 'compiling some of the most awkward collaborations of his career'.

Nevertheless, the album sold 2 million copies. Wallace appeared on Michael Jackson's 2001 album,.

Over the course of time, his vocals were heard on hit songs such as ' and 'Realest Niggas' by in 2002, and the song ' with Shakur the following year. In 2005, continued the pattern started on Born Again, which was criticized for the lack of significant vocals by Wallace on some of its songs. Its lead single ' became Wallace's first UK No. Combs and Voletta Wallace have stated the album will be the last release primarily featuring new material. A duet album, featuring Evans and Notorious B.I.G., was released on May 19, 2017, which largely contained previously unreleased music.

Musical style. Wallace tells vivid stories about his everyday life as a criminal in (from ). Problems playing these files? Wallace mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a 'thick, jaunty grumble', which went deeper on Life After Death. He was often accompanied on songs with from Sean 'Puffy' Combs. In The Source 's Unsigned Hype column, his style was described as 'cool, nasal, and filtered, to bless his own material'. AllMusic describe Wallace as having 'a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession'.

Time magazine wrote Wallace rapped with an ability to 'make sound. Smooth', while Krims describes Wallace's rhythmic style as 'effusive.' Before starting a verse, Wallace sometimes used to 'warm up' (for example 'uhhh' at the beginning of 'Hypnotize' and 'Big Poppa', and 'whaat' after certain rhymes in songs such as 'My Downfall'). Of notes that Wallace had, 'intense and complex flows', of says, 'Biggie was a master of the flow', and states that Wallace mastered 'all the hemispheres of the music'.

He also often used the single-line to add variety and interest to his flow. Suggests that Wallace didn't need a large vocabulary to impress listeners – 'he just put his words together a slick way and it worked real good for him'. Wallace was known to compose lyrics in his head, rather than write them down on paper, in a similar way to.

Wallace would occasionally vary from his usual style. On 'Playa Hater' from his second album, he sang in a slow. On his collaboration with, ', he modified his style to match the rapid rhyme flow of the group. Themes and lyrics Wallace's lyrical topics and themes included tales ('Niggas Bleed'), his drug dealing past ('10 Crack Commandments'), materialistic bragging ('), as well as humor ('Just Playing (Dreams)'), and ('Me & My Bitch'). Rolling Stone named Wallace in 2004 as 'one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs'., in the book, describes how Wallace was able to both 'glorify the upper echelon' and 'make you feel his struggle'.

According to of in 1994, Wallace's lyrics 'mixed autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty'. Marriott of The New York Times (in 1997) believed his lyrics were not strictly autobiographical and wrote he 'had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales'. Wallace described his debut as 'a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in my life involving bitches and niggaz.

From the beginning to the end'. Ready to Die is described by as a contrast of 'bleak' street visions and being 'full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop'. AllMusic write of 'a sense of doom' in some of his songs and the NY Times note some being 'laced with paranoia'; Wallace described himself as feeling 'broke and depressed' when he made his debut. The final song on the album, ', featured Wallace contemplating suicide and concluded with him committing the act.

On, Wallace's lyrics went 'deeper'. Krims explains how upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut) alternate with ' songs on the record and suggests that he was 'going pimp' through some of the lyrical topics of the former. Wrote that Wallace 'revamped his image' through the portrayal of himself between the albums, going from 'midlevel hustler' on his debut to '. AllMusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is 'mostly due to Wallace's skill as a storyteller'; in 1994, Rolling Stone described Wallace's ability in this technique as painting 'a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene'. On Life After Death, Wallace notably demonstrated this skill on 'I Got a Story to Tell', creating a story as a rap for the first half of the song and then retelling the same story 'for his boys' in conversation form. Sample opening prayer for service. A stencil of the Notorious B.I.G. In (2006) Considered one of the best rappers of all time, Wallace was described by as 'the savior of East Coast hip-hop'.

Magazine named Wallace the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue in 2002. In 2003, when asked several hip hop artists to list their five favorite, Wallace's name appeared on more rappers' lists than anyone else.

In 2006, ranked him at No. 3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly 'the most skillful ever on the mic'. Editors of ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2012, The Source ranked him No.

3 on their list of the Top 50 Lyrical Leaders of all time. Rolling Stone has referred to him as the 'greatest rapper that ever lived'. In 2015, Billboard named Wallace as the greatest rapper of all time. Since his death, Wallace's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of hip hop, R&B and pop artists including Jay-Z,. On August 28, 2005, at the 2005, Sean Combs (then using the rap alias 'P. Diddy') and paid tribute to Wallace: an orchestra played while the vocals from ' and ' played on the arena speakers. In September 2005, held its second annual 'Hip Hop Honors', with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show.

Wallace had begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to produce plus-sized clothing but fell dormant after he died. In 2004, his managers, Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow, launched the clothing line, with help from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Wallace on them. A portion of the proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the estate's licensing efforts. Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content. Vijeo designer training. The Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds an annual black-tie dinner ('B.I.G.

Night Out') to raise funds for children's school equipment and to honor Wallace's memory. For this particular event, because it is a children's schools' charity, 'B.I.G.' Is also said to stand for 'Books Instead of Guns'.

There is a large portrait mural of Wallace as on Fulton Street in Brooklyn a half-mile west from Wallace's old block. A fan petitioned to have the corner of Fulton Street and St. James Place, near Wallace's childhood home renamed in his honor, garnering support from local businesses and attracting more than 560 signatures. A large portrait of Wallace features prominently in the series, due to the fact that he served as muse for the creation of the 's version of character. Biopic is a 2009 about Wallace and his life that stars rapper as Wallace.

The film was directed by and distributed. Producers included Sean Combs, Wallace's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, as well as Voletta Wallace. On January 16, 2009, the movie's debut at the Grand 18 theater in Greensboro, North Carolina was postponed after a man was shot in the parking lot before the show. The film received mixed reviews and grossed over $44 million worldwide. In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of Wallace began. Actors, rappers and unknowns all tried out.

Auditioned for the role, but was not picked. Claimed that he would play the role of Wallace, but producers denied it. Eventually, it was announced that rapper Jamal Woolard was chosen to play Wallace while Wallace's son, Christopher Wallace, Jr. Was cast to play Wallace as a child. Other cast members include as Voletta Wallace, as, as, as, and as. Bad Boy also released a to the film on January 13, 2009; the album contains many of Wallace's hit singles, including 'Hypnotize' and 'Juicy', as well as rarities. Main article: Studio albums.

(1994). (1997) Collaboration albums.

(with ) (1995) Posthumous studio albums. (1999). (2005) Posthumous collaboration albums. (with ) (2017) Media Filmography. (1995) as himself. Ryme & Reason (1997 (1997) as himself.

(2004) archive footage. (2009) archive footage. (2017) archive footage Television appearances.

New York Undercover (1995) as himself. Martin (1995) as himself. Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? (2017). (2018) Awards and nominations Award Year of ceremony Nominee/work Category Result 1995 The Notorious B.I.G. Rap Artist of the Year Won ' Rap Single of the Year Won ' Nominated ' Best Rap Solo Performance Nominated ' (with and ) Nominated Nominated ' Won 'Mo Money Mo Problems' (with Mase and Puff Daddy) Best Rap Video Nominated 1998 Life After Death Best R&B/Soul Album, Male Won 'Mo Money Mo Problems' (with Mase and Puff Daddy) Best R&B/Soul Album Nominated Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video Nominated References.