Tribute Tuesday...

This mornings tribute goes out to yet another successful American rapper and hip-hop retaining legendary status in hip-hop music. He is regarded by some as the greatest MC ever. Christopher George Latore Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Biggie grew up during the peak years of the 1980s crack epidemic. By the time his debut album Ready to Die was released in 1994, he was a central figure in East Coast hip-hop, and helped to make New York known for its hip-hop scene during a time when the genre was mostly dominated by West Coast artists. He was shot and killed on March 9, 1997 in Los Angeles. His posthumously released double-disc set Life After Death was certified diamond.
Biggie was noted for his storytelling and freestyling abilities, and his easy to understand lyrics. His short career was overshadowed by the Bad Boy/Death Row Records feud dominating the hip-hop scene at the time.

(May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997)

Christopher Wallace was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. He was the only child to Voletta Wallace, a pre-school teacher of Jamaican origin and George Latore Wallace, a welder and small-time Jamaican politician.[3] His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, leaving his mother to work two jobs whilst raising him. At the Queen of All Saints Middle School, Wallace was a good student, winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed "Big" because of his size before he turned ten years old.[4] From the age of twelve, he began selling drugs, unbeknownst to his mother.[5]
Wallace transferred out of the private Roman Catholic school that he attended, a his request, to attend the state-funded Westinghouse High School, where Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes were also students. According to his mother, he was still a good student, but developed a "smart-ass" attitude.[3]
At 17, Wallace dropped out of high school and became further 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.[6] A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack. He spent nine months in jail until he made bail.[5]

In March 1992, Biggie featured in The Source's Unsigned Hype column, dedicated to aspiring rappers and was invited to produce a recording with other unsigned artists, in a move that was apparently unusual at the time.[9][10] The demo tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R and producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs, who arranged for a meeting with Biggie. He was signed to Uptown immediately and made an appearance on label mates, Heavy D & the Boyz' "A Buncha Niggas", from Blue Funk.[7] [11]

Biggie (shown alongside Combs) performed the first verse of the Flava In Ya Ear remix, which reached #9 in the Hot 100 in 1994. It marked Biggie's first appearance in a music video directed by Hype Williams. Audio sample (help·info)
Soon after signing his recording contract, Combs left Uptown and started a new label. Biggie followed and in the summer of 1992 signed to Combs' new imprint label, Bad Boy Records. Biggie's first child, T-Yanna, was born on August 10, 1992.[12] With his new daughter in immediate financial need, Biggie continued to sell drugs. Once discovered by Combs, Biggie quit and became a full-time hip hop artist.[7]
Biggie's first single "Cruisin'", released in 1992, failed to chart. He gained his first exposure later in the year on a remix to Mary J. Blige's single "Real Love", under the pseudonym The Notorious B.I.G.; the name Biggie would record under for the remainder of his career. The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and was followed by a remix of Blige's "What's the 411".
He continued this success, to a lesser extent, on remixes with Neneh Cherry ("Buddy X") and Bad Boy artist Supercat ("Dolly My Baby", also featuring Combs) in 1993. In April 1993, his solo track, "Party and Bullshit", appeared on the Who's the Man? soundtrack.[12]
In July 1994, he appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes on a remix to label mate Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear", reaching #9 on the Hot 100. This was his first remix to chart that featured solely hip hop artists. In the same year, Biggie collaborated on "Runnin'" (which later appeared on the album One Million Strong) and other songs with rapper Tupac Shakur, a New York City native who he met in Los Angeles. In later years, the two would be involved in a highly publicized feud.

On August 4, 1994, Biggie married R&B singer Faith Evans ten days after they first met at a Bad Boy photoshoot.[13][12] Four days later, Biggie had his first success as a solo artist with double A-side "Juicy/Unbelievable", which reached #27 on the Hot 100 and was certified gold. This was the lead single to his debut album, Ready to Die.
Ready to Die was released on September 14, 1994 and reached #15 on The Billboard 200 chart,[14] eventually being certified four times platinum.[15] Rolling Stone describe the album, released at a time when West Coast hip hop was prominent in the US charts, as "almost single-handedly... [shifting] the focus back to East Coast rap".[16]
The album was autobiographical in part and its production, by Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier and Combs, made heavy use of '60s/'70s soul samples. It gained positive reviews on release, and has received much praise in retrospect; since its release it has appeared in multiple "Essential Recordings" lists.[16][17]
In addition to "Juicy", the album produced two popular singles. "Big Poppa", which sampled The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets", reached #1 on the US Rap Chart in January 1995 and was certified platinum.[18] The album's final single, "One More Chance" featuring Faith Evans, was a loosely related remix of an album track. It was his highest selling single and went platinum in less than two months.[15]
The album was remastered and re-released in July 2004 and November 2006, with two of its samples removed. These were removed following a lawsuit in which Bridgeport Music Inc., owners of part of the Ohio Players catalog, claimed the album's title track sampled "Singing in the Morning" without permission. Bridgeport (who had previously sued over sampling rights) were awarded $4.2 million and between March 19, 2006 and the November 14, 2006 re-release, sales of the album were halted.[19]

After the awards ceremony, Biggie attended a Soul Train Awards party hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.[21] Other guests included Faith Evans, Combs, DJ Quik who arrived with ten members of the Treetop Piru Bloods, and a dozen or so members of the Crips.[4]
On March 9, 1997, at 12:30 a.m. an announcer warned the crowd that fire marshals would soon shut the party down. Biggie left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel. Biggie traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his friends, Gregory "G-Money" Young, the driver, Damion "D-Rock" Butler, who sat behind the driver, and Lil' Cease, who sat behind Biggie. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevy Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.[4]
By 12:45 a.m. the street was crowded with people leaving the event. Biggie's truck stopped at a red light just 50 yards from the museum. While waiting for the light to change, a white Toyota Land Cruiser made a U-turn and cut in-between Biggie's vehicle and the Chevy Blazer behind. Simultaneously, a black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside Biggie's truck. The driver of the Impala (an African-American male neatly dressed in a blue suit and bow tie) rolled down his window, drew a 9mm blue-steel pistol and shot numerous rounds into the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Biggie in the chest.[4]
Wallace was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by his entourage but was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.