The Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a gangster in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again), Big Poppa, Frank White (from the film King of New York) and his primary stage name, The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of Game),^[1] was a successful American rapper and hip-hop artist of Jamaican origin.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Biggie grew up during the peak years of the 1980s crack epidemic and started dealing drugs from an early age. By the time his debut album Ready to Die was released on the Bad Boy Records label in 1994, he was a central figure in East Coast hip-hop, and helped to increase New York's viability in the hip-hop scene at a time when the genre was mostly dominated by West Coast artists.^[2] The following year Biggie led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A.

During the recording sessions for his sophomore album, Biggie became heavily involved in the East Coast-West Coast feud dominating the hip-hop scene at the time. On March 9, 1997, Biggie was killed during a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles by an unknown assailant. His double-disc set Life After Death, released fifteen days later, hit #1 on the US album charts and was certified diamond in 2000.^[3] Biggie was noted for his “loose, easy flow”,^[4] dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Since his death, a further two albums have been released by his label and he has been celebrated by the media as one of the greatest rappers.^[5][6]

Biggie 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.^[7] His father left the family when Biggie was two years old, leaving his mother to work two jobs whilst raising him. At the Queen of All Saints Middle School, Biggie 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.^[8] From the age of twelve, he began selling drugs, unbeknownst to his mother.^[9]

Biggie transferred out of the private Roman Catholic school that he attended, at 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.^[7] At 17, Biggie 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.^[10] A year later, Biggie was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail until he made bail.^[9]

Biggie had started rapping from a young age, performing with local groups, the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques.^[2] After leaving prison, he made a demo tape under the name of Biggie Smalls, a reference to his childhood nickname and to his stature; he stood at 6'3" (1.90 m) and weighed between 300 and 380 pounds (between 136 and 172 kg) by differing accounts.^[11] The tape was reportedly made with no serious intent on getting a recording deal, but was promoted by New York-based DJ Mister Cee, who had previously worked with Big Daddy Kane, and was heard by the editor of The Source magazine.^[10]

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 reportedly uncommon at the time.^[12] 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.^[2][13]

File:Notorious BIG - Flava in Ya Ear Remix screenshot.jpg

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. On August 10, 1992 Biggie's long-term partner gave birth to his first child, T-yanna.^[14] Biggie continued selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once this was discovered by Combs, he was made to quit.^[2]

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 he would record under for the remainder of his career. The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 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 reggae 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.^[14] 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. In the same year, Biggie collaborated on "Runnin'" and other songs with rapper Tupac Shakur, a New York City native who he met in Los Angeles.

File:Notorious BIG-Juicy still.JPG

On August 4, 1994, Biggie married R&B singer Faith Evans ten days after they first met at a Bad Boy photoshoot.^[15][14] Four days later, Biggie had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with double A-side, "Juicy/Unbelievable", which reached #27 as the lead single to his debut album.

Ready to Die was released on September 14, 1994 and reached #15 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[16] eventually being certified four times platinum.^[17] The album, released at a time when West Coast hip hop was prominent in the US charts, is described by Rolling Stone as "almost single-handedly... [shifting] the focus back to East Coast rap".^[18] It gained strong reviews on release, and has received much praise in retrospect.^[18][19]

In addition to "Juicy", the album produced two hit singles; the platinum-selling "Big Poppa", which reached #1 on the US rap chart,^[4] and "One More Chance" featuring Faith Evans, a loosely related remix of an album track and its best selling single. Ready to Die was remastered and re-released in July 2004 and November 2006 with two of its samples removed, following a legal ruling regarding sample copyright infringement on the album's title track.^[20]

In August 1995, Biggie's protegé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. (Junior Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes), consisting of his friends from childhood released their debut album, Conspiracy. The group included rappers Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease, who went on to have solo careers. The album went gold and its singles, "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money" both featuring Biggie, went gold and platinum respectively. Biggie continued to work with R&B artists, collaborating with Bad Boy groups 112 (on "Only You") and Total (on "Can't You See").

File:Biggie and Tupac still.jpg

By the end of the year, Biggie had become the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on the US pop and R&B charts.^[2] In July 1995, he appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption "The King of New York Takes Over". At the Source Awards, he was named Best New Artist (Solo), Lyricist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year, and his debut Album of the Year.^[21] At the Billboard Awards, he was Rap Artist of the Year.^[10]

In his year of success, Biggie became involved in a feud between the East and West Coast hip-hop scenes with former associate, Tupac Shakur. In an interview with Vibe in April 1995, Shakur (at the time in the Clinton Correctional Facility) accused Biggie and Combs of having prior knowledge of a robbery attempt, which resulted in him being shot repeatedly and losing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry in November 1994. Biggie and his entourage were reported to have been in the same New York recording studios at the time of the shooting. They denied the accusations.^[22]

It just happened to be a coincidence that he was in the studio. He just, he couldn't really say who really had something to do with it at the time. So he just kinda' leaned the blame on me.^[23]

Following his release from prison, Shakur signed to Los Angeles-based Death Row Records in October 1995. From that year onwards, Bad Boy Records and Death Row became involved in an intense feud.^[24]

Biggie began recording his second album in September 1995. The album, which was recorded in New York, Trinidad and Los Angeles, was repeatedly interrupted during its 18 months of creation by injury, legal wranglings and the highly publicized feud in which he had become involved.^[25]

On March 23, 1996, Biggie was arrested outside a nightclub in Manhattan for chasing and threatening to kill two autograph seekers, smashing the windows of their taxicab and then pulling one of the fans out and punching them.^[10] He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was sentenced to 100 hours community service. In the summer of 1996, he was arrested at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey for drug and weapons possession charges.^[10]

In June 1996, Shakur released "Hit 'Em Up"; a diss song in which he explicitly claims to have had sex with Biggie's at-the-time estranged wife Faith Evans, and that Biggie had copied his style and image. Biggie acknowledged the former accusation, referring to it in regards to his wife's pregnancy in his appearance on Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest" ("If Fay' had twins, she'd probably have two-Pac's/Get it? .. Tu-pac's") but did not directly respond to the record, stating later in a radio interview it is "not [his] style" to respond.^[23] Despite this, Jay-Z stated in an interview in the August 2006 issue of XXL that he believed Biggie was dissing Shakur in the song, and the closing lines to his third verse were originally "I'm warnin' ya/The most hated in California".^{[citation needed]}

Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996; rumors of Biggie's possible involvement in the murder were reported almost immediately, and notably in a two-part article by Chuck Philips in the Los Angeles Times in 2002.^[26] He denied the allegation claiming he was in a New York recording studio at the time.^[22] Following his death, an anti-violence hip-hop summit was held; Biggie did not attend and received criticism.^[2]

On October 29, 1996, Faith Evans gave birth to Biggie's first son, Christopher "CJ" Wallace, Jr.^[14] The following month Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album, Hard Core, under Biggie's direction whilst the two were involved in an apparent love affair.^[2]

During the recording sessions for his second album, tentatively named Life After Death... 'Til Death Do Us Part, Biggie was involved in a car crash that shattered his left leg and confined him to a wheelchair temporarily.^[2] The injury forced him to use a cane for the rest of his life.

In January 1997, Biggie was ordered to pay $41,000 in damages following an incident involving a friend of a concert promoter who claimed to have been beaten and robbed following a dispute by Biggie and his entourage in May 1995.^[27] He also faced criminal assault charges for the incident which remain unresolved, but all robbery charges were dropped.^[10] Following the incidents of the previous year, Biggie said his life was "moving too fast" around the time of Ready to Die and spoke of his desire to focus on his "peace of mind". "My mom... my son... my daughter... my family are what matters to me now".^[28]

In March 1997, Biggie traveled to California to promote his upcoming album and record a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize". Life After Death was scheduled for release on March 25, 1997. On March 8, 1997, he presented at the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. Whilst presenting an award to Toni Braxton, booing was heard from the audience.^[22]

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.^[22] 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.^[8]

On March 9, 1997, 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 Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.^[8]

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 Chevrolet Blazer behind. Simultaneously, a black Chevrolet 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.^[8]

Biggie was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by his entourage but was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.

Biggie's death came as a shock to the music industry. He was highly regarded in his Brooklyn neighborhood and his funeral was well-attended. During the procession, the song "Hypnotize" was played, causing fans to begin to jump on cars and clash with police; ten people were arrested for disorderly conduct charges.^[29] The ceremony, held in Manhattan, was attended by music artists including Combs, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Dr. Dre, Lil' Kim and his widow, Evans. Biggie was cremated on March 18, 1997.^[30]

File:Composite-of-BIG-shooting-suspect.jpg

Biggie's murder has not been solved and there are many theories as to the motives and identities of the murderers. Theories regarding the murder have involved the Bloods and the Crips, Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight and the Los Angeles Police Department.

In the month of Biggie's death, The LA Times reported that the Southside Compton Crips may have shot Biggie in retaliation for Bad Boy not paying them money owed for security services provided in the West Coast.^[29] In the same month, MTV News published that witnesses had told the Associated Press they were afraid to speak to the police.^[11]

In 2002, Randall Sullivan released LAbyrinth, a book investigating the deaths of Biggie and Shakur based on evidence provided by retired LAPD detective, Russell Poole. Much of the material in the book had previously been released through articles in Rolling Stone (June 8, 2001) and The New Yorker (May 21, 2001).^[8][32]

In LAbyrinth, Sullivan implicated Suge Knight, an alleged affiliate of the Mob Piru Bloods gang, in both murders and provided evidence that LAPD officers had worked off-duty for Death Row Records in security roles. His theory regarding Biggie's killer revolved around David Mack, a LAPD officer and alleged Death Row employee who owned the same type of car and bullet variety used in Biggie's murder. Sullivan believes that one of Mack's visitors in prison after he was arrested for robbery, Amir Muhammed (aka Harry Billups), closely resembles the facial composite released of the killer.^[33]

Director Nick Broomfield released an investigative documentary, Biggie & Tupac (2002), which also studied the theories regarding the murder of the rappers. The film revolves mainly around the same evidence used in LAbyrinth.^[32] Broomfield implicates Suge Knight for ordering both murders, with Biggie's being ordered to make the two seem as a result of a fictitious East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry. Broomfield proposes the hitmen were off-duty LAPD police officers.^[34]

An article in Rolling Stone written by Sullivan in December 2005, discussed the flaws in the LAPD investigation and mentions that Poole, in a previous investigation, was told to "steer clear of anything having to do with Death Row Records". Sullivan claims Combs "failed to fully cooperate with the investigation of B.I.G.'s death" and according to Poole, encouraged Bad Boy staff to do the same.^[8] He also attempted to debunk theories reported in the Los Angeles Times regarding the involvement of Biggie in Shakur's murder. In a letter to the editor, Marc Duvoisin, the Assistant Managing Editor of the LA Times accused Sullivan of "shoddy tactics", "factual errors and false accusations" in his article. Sullivan, in response, accused the newspaper of "dishonest reporting" and quoted the lead attorney of the Wallace estate calling the Times "a co-conspirator in the cover-up".^[35]

Biggie's murder case was reopened in July 2006.^[36]

In March 2005, Voletta Wallace filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the LAPD for $2 million. Wallace claimed that the LAPD had sufficient evidence to arrest the murderer of her son, but failed to utilize it. The previous case was declared a mistrial by the judge in July 2005, and the criminal case was re-opened.^[37] An attempt to expand the wrongful death suit to include new claims failed in August 2006. The retrial for the case, as of August 2006, was set for January 2007.^[38]

On January 19, 2007, Tyruss Himes better known as Big Syke, a former friend of Shakur who was implicated in the killing by television channel KTTV and XXL magazine in 2005, had his defamation lawsuit regarding the accusations thrown out of court.^[39]

Fifteen days after his death, Biggie's double-disc sophomore album was released as planned with the shortened title of Life After Death and hit #1 on the Billboard 200 charts, after making a premature appearance at #176 due to street-date violations. The album featured a much wider range of guests and producers than its predecessor.^[40] It gained strong reviews and in 2000 was certified diamond; the highest RIAA certification awarded to a solo hip-hop album.

Its lead single, "Hypnotize", was the last music video recording in which Biggie would partake. His biggest chart success was with its follow-up "Mo Money Mo Problems", featuring Combs (under the rap alias "Puff Daddy") and Ma$e. The video, directed by Hype Williams, is noted for having started the "Shiny Suit" era in hip hop.^[41] Both singles reached #1 in the Hot 100, making Biggie the first artist to achieve this feat posthumously.^[2] The third single, "Sky's The Limit", featuring 112, was noted for its use of children in its video, directed by Spike Jonze, who were used to portray Biggie and his contemporaries, including Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes.

During the summer of 1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Biggie on five songs, notably on the third single "Victory". The most prominent single from the album was "I'll Be Missing You", featuring Puff Daddy, Faith Evans and 112, which was dedicated to Biggie's memory. The song sampled The Police's "Every Breath You Take". During the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, they performed the song with former Police vocalist Sting.

Biggie was named Artist of the Year and "Hypnotize" Single of the Year by Spin magazine in December 1997.^[42] At the 1998 Grammy Awards Life After Death and its first two singles were nominated in the rap category. The album award was won by Combs' No Way Out and "I'll Be Missing You" gained the award in the category of "Mo Money Mo Problems".^[43]

In December 1999, Bad Boy released Born Again. The album consisted of previously unreleased material mixed with guest appearances from artists including many Biggie 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".^[44] It had two hit singles: "Notorious B.I.G." featuring Puff Daddy and Lil' Kim and "Dead Wrong", a single that later was remixed with a verse from Eminem.

In 2001, Biggie's verse from his 1996 collaboration with Shaquille O'Neal, "Still Can't Stop the Reign", was used on Michael Jackson's "Unbreakable", from his album Invincible. Biggie previously collaborated with Jackson in 1995 on "This Time Around", from HIStory. In 2002, producer and former friend of Biggie, Irv Gotti, sampled DeBarge's "Stay With Me" in a similar style to "One More Chance (Remix)" for R&B singer Ashanti. "Foolish" hit #1 in the Hot 100, and Biggie's verse from "Fuck You Tonight" (from Life After Death) was used in the remix, "Unfoolish". Gotti paid tribute to Biggie at a Hot 97 performance of the song later that year.

In the same year, 50 Cent sampled Biggie's verses from "Niggas" (from Born Again) for "The Realest Niggas". The song later appeared on the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack. In 2003, Eminem remixed the 1994 Tupac Shakur/Biggie collaboration "Runnin'" and added a sample of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live." Titled "Runnin' (Dying To Live)", the song was released as a single from the Tupac: Resurrection soundtrack.

On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Combs (who was hosting the event) and Snoop Dogg paid a well-received tribute to Biggie: an orchestra played while the lyrics from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. In September 2005, VH1 had its second annual "Hip Hop Honors", with a tribute to Biggie headlining the show.

Duets: The Final Chapter was released on December 20, 2005. The album continued the pattern of Born Again featuring Biggie collaborating with artists including Bob Marley, Korn and Jay-Z. It was critically the least successful Biggie release, a common complaint being that few of the songs featured significant Biggie contributions.^[45][46] The album's lead single "Nasty Girl" became Biggie's first UK #1. Combs and Voletta Wallace have stated Duets will be Biggie's final album featuring new material.^[47] A greatest hits compilation is scheduled for release in March 2007.

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end Biggie mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a "thick, jaunty grumble",^[48] which went deeper on Life After Death.^[49] He was often accompanied on songs with ad libs from Combs.

All Music Guide describe Biggie as having "a loose, easy flow" with "a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession".^[4] TIME magazine write Biggie rapped with an ability to "make multi-syllabic rhymes sound... smooth",^[19] whilst Krims describes Biggie's rhythmic style as "effusive".^[50] Before starting a verse, Biggie sometimes used onomatopoeic vocables to "warm up" (for example "uhhh" at the beginning of "Hypnotize" and "Big Poppa").^[51]

Biggie would occasionally vary from his usual style. On "Playa Hater" from his sophomore album, he sang in a slow-falsetto.^[52] On his collaboration with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, "Notorious Thugs", he modified his style to match the rapid rhyme flow of the group.^[53]

Biggie's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ("Niggas Bleed"), his drug dealing past ("10 Crack Commandments"), materialistic bragging ("Hypnotize"), as well as humor ("Just Playing (Dreams)"),^[54] and romance ("Me & My Bitch")^[55]. Rolling Stone named Biggie in 2004 as "one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs".^[49]

According to Touré of the New York Times (in 1994), Biggie's lyrics "[mixed] autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty".^[9] Marriott of the NY Times (in 1997) believed his lyrics were not strictly autobiographical and wrote he "had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales".^[10] Biggie 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".^[56]

Ready to Die is described by Rolling Stone as a contrast of "bleak" street visions and being "full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop".^[49] All Music Guide write of "a sense of doom" in some of his songs and the NY Times note some being "laced with paranoia";^[4][57] Biggie described himself as feeling "broke and depressed" when he made his debut.^[57] The final song on the album, "Suicidal Thoughts", featured Biggie contemplating suicide and concluded with him committing the act.

On Life After Death, Biggie's lyrics went "deeper".^[49] Krims explains how upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut) alternate with "reality rap" songs on the album and suggests that he was "going pimp" through some of the lyrical topics of the former.^[50] According to Hunter, Life After Death "revels in death" in certain parts (like its predecessor), but "point[s] to the future" with more positive songs like "Sky's the Limit" and "Miss U".^[53]

All Music Guide believe Ready to Die's success is "mostly due to Biggie's skill as a storyteller";^[4] Rolling Stone (in 1994) described Biggie's ability in this technique as painting "a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene".^[18] On Life After Death Biggie notably demonstrated this skill on "I Got a Story to Tell" telling a story as a rap for the first half of the song and then as a story "for his boys" in conversation form.^[52]

File:Biggie grafitti.jpg

Biggie is widely celebrated as one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time and has been described as a "savior of East Coast hip-hop".^[2] In 2001, The Source crowned Biggie as the greatest rapper of all time.^[6] In 2003, when XXL Magazine asked many hip-hop artists to list their five favorite MCs, Biggie's name appeared on more rappers' lists than anyone else. In 2006, he was ranked at #3 in MTV's The Greatest MC's of All Time.^[5]

Since his death, Biggie's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of hip hop, R&B and pop artists including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Nas, Fat Joe, Nelly, Pharrell Williams, Lil' Wayne, Ludacris, Big Pun, Beanie Sigel, Juelz Santana, Usher, Ashanti, Alicia Keys and Nelly Furtado.

Before his death, Biggie founded a hip-hop supergroup called The Commission, which consisted of himself, Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, P. Diddy and Charli Baltimore. The group never completed an album. A song on the Duets album called "Whatchu Want (The Commission)" featuring Jay-Z is based on the group. The Commission was also mentioned in the song "Victory" from No Way Out.

Biggie had also begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to produce plus-sized clothing but fell dormant after he died. In 2004, B.I.G.'s managers, Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow, launched a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, with help from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Biggie on them. A portion of the proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.^[58] In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired Wicked Cow Entertainment to spearhead the estate's branding and licensing efforts. Biggie-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content.^[59]

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 supplies and to honor the memory of the late rapper. 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".^[60]

• 1994: Ready to Die
• 1997: Life After Death
• 1999: Born Again
• 2005: Duets: The Final Chapter
• 2007: The Greatest Hits

• Coker, Cheo Hodari (2004). Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0609808354. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Wallace, Voletta (2005). Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. Atria. ISBN 0743470206. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Atlantic Records: The Notorious B.I.G. Official website
• Duets: The Final Chapter Official website
• NotoriousOnline Fan site

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