Notorious B.I.G.- 13 Years and Still Remembered
It seems hard to believe that it has been 13 years since the death of Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G. Tuesday, March 9 marked the anniversary of his tragic death. At the time, I was only 8 years old, but I remember the impact it made on the music industry. Much like Michael Jackson impacted pop music, Biggie had a major influence on the styles of hip hop MCs during the 1990s, as well as current artists today who continue to strive for the greatness that Biggie achieved.
A native of Brooklyn, NYC, Biggie grew up during the times when the west coast dominated the hip hop scene. Biggie began rapping at an early age, entertaining people on the street and performing with small groups. He produced a demo tape under the stage name “Biggie Smalls” and was invited to produce a record with other unsigned artists with Sean “P.Diddy” Combs at Uptown Records. Biggie was signed immediately, but later moved to Bad Boy records after Diddy was fired from Uptown. He saw major success collaborating with other artists, such as Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, and Busta Ryhmes and then released his own solo track “Party and Bullshit” on the soundtrack Who’s the Man? Biggie released his first album Ready to Die in September of ’94, and it was certified platinum four times. He started the trend of developing his protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A and released their album Conspiracy in ’95. At the end of 1995, Biggie was the top selling male artist in the U.S.
Throughout his entire career, there was an intense bi-coastal competition between many hip hop artists. Although hip hop originated in the west, it was the east coast who was taking the country by storm. With the emergence of MCs such as Biggie, Tupac Shakur, LL Cool J, and Busta Ryhmes, the west coast didn’t know what hit. Sadly, Biggie was a casualty of this war when he was fatally shot in the chest in a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, at 1:15am. He left behind a legacy that will carry on for many years and remains one of the top MCs of all time.
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Biggie…biggie…biggie, can’t you see, sometimes your rhymes just hypnotize me.