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The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace was born at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on the 21st of May 1972, entering a world that would soon become his canvas and his cage. He was the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents, raised in the shadow of the crack epidemic that was ravaging his neighborhood of Clinton Hill. His father, Selwyn George Latore, a welder and politician, walked out on the family three months before Christopher turned three, leaving his mother, Voletta, a preschool teacher, to raise him alone while working two jobs. By the time he was five, the young Christopher was already larger than most of the other children, a physical trait that would eventually earn him the nickname Big. He spent his childhood on Fulton Street, a place where drug dealing, alcoholism, and gambling were not hidden secrets but daily realities. Despite attending St. Peter Claver Church and excelling in English at Queen of All Saints Middle School, the pull of the streets was too strong. He dropped out of Westinghouse High School at the age of sixteen, trading his honor student status for the life of a drug dealer. He concealed the money he earned on the roof of his apartment, a secret his mother would not discover until he was twenty. His early life was a stark contrast of academic promise and criminal desperation, a duality that would later define his art. He was arrested in 1989 on weapons charges and sentenced to five years of probation, only to be arrested again the following year for violating that probation. A year later, he was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine and spent nine months in jail before making bail. These years of incarceration and probation were not merely a pause in his life but a forge that shaped the voice that would soon shake the music industry.
The tape that would change everything was recorded in 1991, a demo titled Microphone Murderer, produced with a disc jockey named 50 Grand. Wallace reportedly had little ambition for the project, yet it was this very tape that caught the ear of Mister Cee, a local disc jockey known for his work with Big Daddy Kane. Mister Cee sent the tape to Matteo Capoluongo, an editor at The Source magazine, who featured the track in the Unsigned Hype section in March 1992. That single feature launched a chain reaction that would see Wallace signed to Uptown Records by Sean Combs in March 1992. Combs connected Wallace to rhyme on the remix of Mary J. Blige's hit Real Love, a move that would set the stage for his solo career. In 1993, Wallace's girlfriend, Jan Jackson, became pregnant, and he was signed to Uptown Records. His first chance to record a solo track came in 1993 when Combs was creating a song for the soundtrack of the hip-hop comedy Who's the Man? The song was Party and Bullshit, produced by the Brooklyn-based Easy Mo Bee. The song was heavily inspired by When the Revolution Comes by the Last Poets, using sarcasm and humor to critique young Black people's lack of seriousness in the struggle for equality. In July 1993, a month before Wallace's first child was born, Combs was fired from Uptown Records by his mentor Andre Harrell, resulting in the loss of access to the songs recorded at that time. Jan gave birth to T'yanna Dream Wallace on the 8th of August 1993. Wallace promised his daughter everything she wanted, believing that if he had experienced the same support in his own childhood, he would have graduated at the top of his class. Soon after he was fired, Combs started his own record, Bad Boy Records, and promptly signed Wallace to the label. Combs discovered that Wallace continued dealing drugs and insisted he stop. When Wallace found out the name Biggie Smalls was already taken, he adopted a new moniker, settling on the Notorious B.I.G. Wallace explained that the acronym B.I.G. stood for Business Instead of Game. Combs and Clive Davis, then CEO of Arista Records, reached an agreement in which Davis provided Combs with a 1.5 million dollar advance and full creative control. Combs promptly used the money to repurchase the tracks recorded for Wallace's album from Harrell. This was the moment the street poet became a mogul, and the world began to listen.

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Tupac ShakurReady to Die

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1972 births1997 deaths1997 murders in the United StatesAmerican drug traffickersAmerican murder victimsAmerican rappers of Jamaican descentArista Records artistsBad Boy Records artistsBishop Loughlin Memorial High School alumniDeaths by firearm in CaliforniaEast Coast hip-hop musiciansFaith EvansMusicians from Teaneck, New JerseyPeople from Clinton Hill, BrooklynPeople murdered in Los AngelesRappers from BrooklynUnsolved murders in California20th-century American male musicians20th-century American male rappers20th-century American rappers

Common questions

When was Christopher George Latore Wallace born and where?

Christopher George Latore Wallace was born on the 21st of May 1972 at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He was the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents and grew up in the Clinton Hill neighborhood.

What was the title of The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut studio album and when was it released?

The Notorious B.I.G. released his debut studio album titled Ready to Die on the 13th of September 1994. The album reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified four times platinum.

How did The Notorious B.I.G. die and on what date?

The Notorious B.I.G. was shot four times in a drive-by shooting on the 8th of March 1997 and was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. the following day. He was twenty-four years old at the time of his death.

Which album was released sixteen days after The Notorious B.I.G. died and what certification did it achieve?

The album Life After Death was released sixteen days after The Notorious B.I.G. died on the 25th of March 1997. It achieved four-time platinum certification and became the highest-selling release of the year.

What vocal range did The Notorious B.I.G. possess and how was his rapping style described?

The Notorious B.I.G. had the vocal range of a baritone and typically rapped in a deep tone described as a thick, jaunty grumble. His style was characterized as cool, nasal, and filtered with an ability to layer multiple rhymes in rapid succession.

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On the 13th of September 1994, Wallace released his debut studio album, Ready to Die, a record that would shift the attention back to East Coast hip-hop at a time when West Coast hip-hop dominated U.S. charts. The album reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold 500,000 copies in its first week, and was certified four times platinum. Wallace originally wanted to name the album The Teflon Don, drawing inspiration from John Gotti, who was then making headlines for his ability to avoid legal troubles. Combs disagreed, arguing that the title should make an impact in a way that would represent for the masses. Wallace agreed to follow Combs' decision, and the two conceived the name Ready to Die. The album produced hit singles like Juicy, which reached No. 27 as the lead single, and Big Poppa, which topped the U.S. rap chart. One More Chance sold one million copies in 1995, the year of its release. In 1994, Wallace formed the hip-hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which included many of his childhood friends, such as Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease. The name is a backronym for Masters at Finding Intelligent Attitudes. Wallace also befriended basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, who requested a collaboration with Wallace, which resulted in the song You Can't Stop the Reign. According to Combs, Wallace would not collaborate with anybody he didn't really respect and that Wallace paid O'Neal his respect by shouting him out. In 1995, Wallace became the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on both the U.S. pop and R&B charts. In July 1995, Wallace appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption The King of New York Takes Over, a nod to his alias Frank White, inspired by the character from the 1990 film King of New York. At The Source Awards in August 1995, he won Best New Artist, Lyricist of the Year, and Live Performer of the Year, while his debut album was named Album of the Year. He was also honored as Rap Artist of the Year at the Billboard Awards. This was the peak of his early career, a time when he was the central figure of East Coast hip-hop, restoring its prominence at a time when the West Coast was dominating the genre.
In 1995, Wallace became embroiled in the East Coast, West Coast hip-hop rivalry, which involved his now-former friend, Shakur. In an April 1995 interview with Vibe while serving time in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur accused Harrell, Combs, and Wallace of having prior knowledge of a robbery on the 30th of November 1994, during which he was shot five times and lost thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry. They denied any involvement. Wallace stated, I had nothing to do with that, it just happened to be a coincidence that he was in the studio. He couldn't really say who really had something to do with it at the time, so he just kind of leaned the blame on me. In 1995, Shakur signed with Death Row Records in October 1995. This made Bad Boy Records and Death Row business rivals, further escalating the conflict between Shakur and Wallace. In October 1995, Wallace revealed that he still had not received any earnings from Ready to Die, despite the album having sold two million copies at the time. With each CD priced at 15 dollars, the album should have generated approximately 30 million dollars in revenue. Amid the rivalry between Wallace and Shakur, many speculated that Who Shot Ya?, released in late February 1995 as a secondary B-side to Big Poppa, was intended to taunt Shakur. According to Lil' Cease, the song was not intended to be a comment on the shooting, stating, He knew that song wasn't about him. He was around at that time. In June 1996, Shakur released Hit 'Em Up, a diss track directed towards Wallace and other East Coast rappers. Shakur claimed to have had an affair with Evans, who was estranged from Wallace at the time, and accused Wallace of copying his style and image. Described as manic, Hit 'Em Up disses Wallace, Combs, and their associates, including Junior M.A.F.I.A., Evans, and Bad Boy Records. On the 7th of September 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died six days later. Because of Shakur's accusations in his records, Wallace, along with other New York rappers like Mobb Deep, Capone, and Noreaga, became suspects in his murder. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times series titled Who Killed Tupac Shakur?, journalist Chuck Philips reported, based on police reports and multiple sources, that the shooting was carried out by the Southside Crips, a Compton gang, seeking revenge for a beating Shakur had allegedly inflicted earlier that day. The report also claimed that Wallace had paid for the gun used in the shooting. The night Shakur died, Wallace called Evans in tears; Evans recalled that he was in shock and it's fair to say he was probably afraid. Wallace expressed regret over Shakur's death but declined to attend his funeral when asked by a friend. He explained his decision by saying, Shakur made my life miserable. He told lies, fucked with my marriage, and turned my fans against me. The Los Angeles Times editor Mark Duvoisin stated that Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy and remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying. Wallace's family denied the report, providing documents that claimed he was in New Jersey at the time of the incident. The New York Times called the documents inconclusive, stating the pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called Nasty Boy on the night Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace wrote half the session, was in and out/sat around and laid down a ref, shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. We would have heard about it, Mr. Alfred said. Wayne Barrow, Wallace's co-manager at the time, stated that Wallace was recording the track Nasty Girl on the night Shakur was shot. Shortly after Shakur's death, Wallace met with Snoop Dogg, who claimed he never hated Shakur. During the recording of his second album, Life After Death, Wallace and Lil' Cease were arrested for public marijuana use, resulting in the repossession of their car. Wallace opted to rent a Chevrolet Lumina rental SUV, despite Lil' Cease's concerns about its faulty brakes. The car was ultimately crashed into a rail, breaking Wallace's left leg and fracturing Lil' Cease's jaw. Wallace spent months in the hospital, initially using a wheelchair, later relying on a cane, which he used until his death, and undergoing therapy. Despite his hospitalization, he continued working on the album, referencing the accident in Long Kiss Goodnight with the line, Ya still tickle me, I used to be as strong as Ripple be. Til Lil' Cease crippled me. On the 29th of October 1996, Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher C.J. Wallace Jr. Around this time, Wallace began recording the songs for Life After Death. The following month, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album Hard Core. Lil' Kim described herself as Wallace's biggest fan and referred to herself as his pride and joy. In a 2012 interview, Lil' Kim revealed that Wallace stopped her from recording a remix of Jodeci's single Love U 4 Life by locking her in a room. According to Kim, Wallace told her she was not gonna go do no song with them, likely due to Jodeci's association with Shakur and Death Row Records. While working on Life After Death, Wallace began to lose weight, losing around 20 pounds, according to his mother.
On the 8th of March 1997, Wallace attended a Soul Train Awards after-party hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. Guests included Evans, Aaliyah and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs. With over 2,000 people overcrowding the venue, fire marshals shut it down at 12:35 a.m. on the 9th of March. After taking a few photos, Wallace and his crew headed downstairs to the Chevrolet Suburbans they had rented from Budget Rent a Car. He traveled in the front passenger seat alongside associates Damion D-Roc Butler, Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory G-Money Young. Combs traveled in the other Suburban with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy director of security Paul Offord. Soon after Wallace's Suburban stopped at the red light, a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up to the right side of the car Wallace was in. The Impala's driver, described as an unidentified African-American man in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9mm blue-steel pistol, and fired at Wallace's vehicle. Wallace was struck by four bullets. His entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where an emergency thoracotomy was performed, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. He was twenty-four years old. An autopsy report, released fifteen years after his death, revealed that only the final shot proved fatal. The bullet entered through his right hip, damaging his colon, liver, heart, and left lung before coming to rest in his left shoulder. Wallace's funeral was held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan on the 18th of March. There were more than 350 mourners at the funeral, including Lil' Cease, Queen Latifah, Flavor Flav, Mary J. Blige, Lil' Kim, Run-D.M.C., DJ Kool Herc, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella, Foxy Brown, and Sister Souljah. David Dinkins and Clive Davis also attended the funeral. After the funeral, his body was cremated at the Fresh Pond Crematory in Fresh Pond, Queens, and the ashes were given to his family. The murder of Christopher Wallace was not just the end of a life but the end of an era, leaving a void that would never be filled. The circumstances surrounding his death remain a subject of intense speculation and investigation, with no one ever being charged with the crime. The mystery of who pulled the trigger continues to haunt the hip-hop community, a dark shadow over the legacy of a man who had already achieved so much.
Sixteen days after his death, Wallace's second studio album, Life After Death, was released on the 25th of March 1997. The album achieved four-time platinum certification and became the highest-selling release of the year, tying with MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em as one of the best-selling rap albums of all time at release. Life After Death debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It had briefly appeared earlier at No. 176 due to street-date violations. The follow-up single of Hypnotize, Mo Money Mo Problems, featuring Combs and Mase, became Wallace's biggest chart success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist to achieve two posthumous No. 1 singles. The third single, Sky's the Limit, featuring the band 112, featured a Spike Jonze-directed video with children portraying Wallace and his contemporaries, including Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. In December 1997, Spin named Wallace Artist of the Year, with Hypnotize as Single of the Year. In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on five tracks, including the single Victory. The album's second single, I'll Be Missing You, featuring Combs, Evans, and 112, was dedicated to Wallace's memory and became a worldwide chart-topper. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Life After Death and its first two singles, Hypnotize and Mo Money Mo Problems, received nominations in the rap category. Combs' No Way Out won Best Rap Album, while I'll Be Missing You won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, where Wallace's Mo Money Mo Problems was also nominated. In December 1999, Bad Boy Records released Born Again, an album featuring previously unreleased material from Wallace, mixed with new guest appearances from artists he had not collaborated with during his lifetime, including Eminem and Missy Elliott. It spawned two singles: Dead Wrong and Notorious B.I.G., released on the 26th of October 1999, and the 11th of December 1999, respectively. Notorious B.I.G. peaked at No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wallace featured on Michael Jackson's album Invincible, providing lead vocals for the track Unbreakable, which was released on the 30th of October 2001. Wallace's vocals appeared on Ashanti's Unfoolish in 2002, and the track Runnin' Dying to Live with Shakur in 2003. Duets: The Final Chapter, a remix album, was released on the 20th of December 2005, which spawned the singles Nasty Girl and Spit Your Game. Nasty Girl features Combs, Nelly, Jagged Edge and Avery Storm, and Spit Your Game includes guest appearances from Krayzie Bone, Twista, and 8Ball & MJG. The album peaked at No. 3 on Billboard 200, while Nasty Girl peaked at No. 44 on the Hot 100. Combs and Voletta both stated Duets: The Final Chapter would be the last album primarily featuring new material. A compilation album, Greatest Hits, was released on the 6th of March 2007, three days before the tenth anniversary of Wallace's death. It included tracks like Juicy and Big Poppa, but was criticized by AllMusic for not containing hits like Mo Money Mo Problems and Going Back to Cali. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. On the 19th of May 2017, The King & I, a duet album featuring Evans and Wallace, was released, showcasing mostly unreleased tracks. The album peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard 200. Wallace's certified U.S. sales exceed 28 million copies, including 21 million albums. Rolling Stone called him the greatest rapper that ever lived, and, in 2015, Billboard named him the greatest rapper of all time. The Source named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue. In 2006, MTV 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. In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The posthumous releases ensured that his voice would never be silenced, turning his death into a legend that would outlive his life.
Wallace had the vocal range of a baritone. He typically rapped in a deep tone that Rolling Stone described as a thick, jaunty grumble, which became even deeper on Life After Death. Wallace was frequently joined by Combs, who contributed ad libs to his tracks. The Source Unsigned Hype column described his style as cool, nasal, and filtered, blessing his own material. AllMusic noted Wallace's talent for layering multiple rhymes in rapid succession, while Time magazine highlighted his ability to deliver multi-syllabic rhymes smoothly. Scholar Adam Krims described his rhythmic style as effusive. Wallace often used onomatopoeic sounds, like uhhh at the start of tracks such as Hypnotize and Big Poppa. Lateef of Latyrx described Wallace as having intense and complex flows, while Onyx's Fredro Starr called him a master of the flow. Rapper Bishop Lamont praised Wallace's ability to capture all the hemispheres of the music. Wallace often employed single-line rhyme schemes to bring variety and depth to his flow. Big Daddy Kane noted that Wallace did not need an extensive vocabulary to impress; instead, he just put his words together a slick way, and it worked well for him. Known for composing lyrics in his head rather than writing them down, Wallace occasionally deviated from his usual style. For example, he sang in a slow falsetto on Playa Hater and adapted to the rapid-fire rhyme flow of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on Notorious Thugs. Wallace's lyrics explored a range of themes, including mafioso narratives, reflections on his drug-dealing past, materialistic boasting, humor, and romantic experiences. In 2004, Rolling Stone praised him as one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs. In the book How to Rap, rapper Guerilla Black highlighted Wallace's ability to glorify the upper echelon while also making listeners feel his struggle. According to The New York Times journalist Touré, Wallace's lyrics mixed autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty. Another writer for The New York Times, Michel Marriott, noted in 1997 that his lyrics were not entirely autobiographical, as he had a talent for exaggeration to improve his storytelling and sales appeal. Wallace described his debut album, Ready to Die, as a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in his life involving bitches and niggas from the beginning to the end. Rolling Stone described Ready to Die as a contrast of bleak street visions and being full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop. AllMusic noted a sense of doom in some of his songs, while Jon Pareles of The New York Times described a thread of paranoia in others. Wallace himself stated that he felt broke and depressed while creating his debut album. The final track on Ready to Die, Suicidal Thoughts, portrays a character contemplating and ultimately committing suicide. On his follow-up album, Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics delved even deeper, as observed by Rolling Stone. Krims observed that the record alternates between upbeat, dance-oriented tracks and gritty reality rap, reflecting a thematic shift toward a more pimp persona. XXL Mag noted that Wallace revamped his image between the two albums, evolving from a mid-level hustler on his debut to a drug lord on his sophomore effort. AllMusic credited Wallace's storytelling ability as a key factor in the success of Ready to Die. His artistry was a complex tapestry of street life, personal struggle, and musical innovation, making him a unique voice in the history of hip-hop.
Christopher George Latore Wallace was born at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on the 21st of May 1972, entering a world that would soon become his canvas and his cage. He was the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents, raised in the shadow of the crack epidemic that was ravaging his neighborhood of Clinton Hill. His father, Selwyn George Latore, a welder and politician, walked out on the family three months before Christopher turned three, leaving his mother, Voletta, a preschool teacher, to raise him alone while working two jobs. By the time he was five, the young Christopher was already larger than most of the other children, a physical trait that would eventually earn him the nickname Big. He spent his childhood on Fulton Street, a place where drug dealing, alcoholism, and gambling were not hidden secrets but daily realities. Despite attending St. Peter Claver Church and excelling in English at Queen of All Saints Middle School, the pull of the streets was too strong. He dropped out of Westinghouse High School at the age of sixteen, trading his honor student status for the life of a drug dealer. He concealed the money he earned on the roof of his apartment, a secret his mother would not discover until he was twenty. His early life was a stark contrast of academic promise and criminal desperation, a duality that would later define his art. He was arrested in 1989 on weapons charges and sentenced to five years of probation, only to be arrested again the following year for violating that probation. A year later, he was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine and spent nine months in jail before making bail. These years of incarceration and probation were not merely a pause in his life but a forge that shaped the voice that would soon shake the music industry.
The tape that would change everything was recorded in 1991, a demo titled Microphone Murderer, produced with a disc jockey named 50 Grand. Wallace reportedly had little ambition for the project, yet it was this very tape that caught the ear of Mister Cee, a local disc jockey known for his work with Big Daddy Kane. Mister Cee sent the tape to Matteo Capoluongo, an editor at The Source magazine, who featured the track in the Unsigned Hype section in March 1992. That single feature launched a chain reaction that would see Wallace signed to Uptown Records by Sean Combs in March 1992. Combs connected Wallace to rhyme on the remix of Mary J. Blige's hit Real Love, a move that would set the stage for his solo career. In 1993, Wallace's girlfriend, Jan Jackson, became pregnant, and he was signed to Uptown Records. His first chance to record a solo track came in 1993 when Combs was creating a song for the soundtrack of the hip-hop comedy Who's the Man? The song was Party and Bullshit, produced by the Brooklyn-based Easy Mo Bee. The song was heavily inspired by When the Revolution Comes by the Last Poets, using sarcasm and humor to critique young Black people's lack of seriousness in the struggle for equality. In July 1993, a month before Wallace's first child was born, Combs was fired from Uptown Records by his mentor Andre Harrell, resulting in the loss of access to the songs recorded at that time. Jan gave birth to T'yanna Dream Wallace on the 8th of August 1993. Wallace promised his daughter everything she wanted, believing that if he had experienced the same support in his own childhood, he would have graduated at the top of his class. Soon after he was fired, Combs started his own record, Bad Boy Records, and promptly signed Wallace to the label. Combs discovered that Wallace continued dealing drugs and insisted he stop. When Wallace found out the name Biggie Smalls was already taken, he adopted a new moniker, settling on the Notorious B.I.G. Wallace explained that the acronym B.I.G. stood for Business Instead of Game. Combs and Clive Davis, then CEO of Arista Records, reached an agreement in which Davis provided Combs with a 1.5 million dollar advance and full creative control. Combs promptly used the money to repurchase the tracks recorded for Wallace's album from Harrell. This was the moment the street poet became a mogul, and the world began to listen.
On the 13th of September 1994, Wallace released his debut studio album, Ready to Die, a record that would shift the attention back to East Coast hip-hop at a time when West Coast hip-hop dominated U.S. charts. The album reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold 500,000 copies in its first week, and was certified four times platinum. Wallace originally wanted to name the album The Teflon Don, drawing inspiration from John Gotti, who was then making headlines for his ability to avoid legal troubles. Combs disagreed, arguing that the title should make an impact in a way that would represent for the masses. Wallace agreed to follow Combs' decision, and the two conceived the name Ready to Die. The album produced hit singles like Juicy, which reached No. 27 as the lead single, and Big Poppa, which topped the U.S. rap chart. One More Chance sold one million copies in 1995, the year of its release. In 1994, Wallace formed the hip-hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which included many of his childhood friends, such as Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease. The name is a backronym for Masters at Finding Intelligent Attitudes. Wallace also befriended basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, who requested a collaboration with Wallace, which resulted in the song You Can't Stop the Reign. According to Combs, Wallace would not collaborate with anybody he didn't really respect and that Wallace paid O'Neal his respect by shouting him out. In 1995, Wallace became the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on both the U.S. pop and R&B charts. In July 1995, Wallace appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption The King of New York Takes Over, a nod to his alias Frank White, inspired by the character from the 1990 film King of New York. At The Source Awards in August 1995, he won Best New Artist, Lyricist of the Year, and Live Performer of the Year, while his debut album was named Album of the Year. He was also honored as Rap Artist of the Year at the Billboard Awards. This was the peak of his early career, a time when he was the central figure of East Coast hip-hop, restoring its prominence at a time when the West Coast was dominating the genre.
In 1995, Wallace became embroiled in the East Coast, West Coast hip-hop rivalry, which involved his now-former friend, Shakur. In an April 1995 interview with Vibe while serving time in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur accused Harrell, Combs, and Wallace of having prior knowledge of a robbery on the 30th of November 1994, during which he was shot five times and lost thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry. They denied any involvement. Wallace stated, I had nothing to do with that, it just happened to be a coincidence that he was in the studio. He couldn't really say who really had something to do with it at the time, so he just kind of leaned the blame on me. In 1995, Shakur signed with Death Row Records in October 1995. This made Bad Boy Records and Death Row business rivals, further escalating the conflict between Shakur and Wallace. In October 1995, Wallace revealed that he still had not received any earnings from Ready to Die, despite the album having sold two million copies at the time. With each CD priced at 15 dollars, the album should have generated approximately 30 million dollars in revenue. Amid the rivalry between Wallace and Shakur, many speculated that Who Shot Ya?, released in late February 1995 as a secondary B-side to Big Poppa, was intended to taunt Shakur. According to Lil' Cease, the song was not intended to be a comment on the shooting, stating, He knew that song wasn't about him. He was around at that time. In June 1996, Shakur released Hit 'Em Up, a diss track directed towards Wallace and other East Coast rappers. Shakur claimed to have had an affair with Evans, who was estranged from Wallace at the time, and accused Wallace of copying his style and image. Described as manic, Hit 'Em Up disses Wallace, Combs, and their associates, including Junior M.A.F.I.A., Evans, and Bad Boy Records. On the 7th of September 1996, Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died six days later. Because of Shakur's accusations in his records, Wallace, along with other New York rappers like Mobb Deep, Capone, and Noreaga, became suspects in his murder. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times series titled Who Killed Tupac Shakur?, journalist Chuck Philips reported, based on police reports and multiple sources, that the shooting was carried out by the Southside Crips, a Compton gang, seeking revenge for a beating Shakur had allegedly inflicted earlier that day. The report also claimed that Wallace had paid for the gun used in the shooting. The night Shakur died, Wallace called Evans in tears; Evans recalled that he was in shock and it's fair to say he was probably afraid. Wallace expressed regret over Shakur's death but declined to attend his funeral when asked by a friend. He explained his decision by saying, Shakur made my life miserable. He told lies, fucked with my marriage, and turned my fans against me. The Los Angeles Times editor Mark Duvoisin stated that Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy and remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying. Wallace's family denied the report, providing documents that claimed he was in New Jersey at the time of the incident. The New York Times called the documents inconclusive, stating the pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called Nasty Boy on the night Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace wrote half the session, was in and out/sat around and laid down a ref, shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. We would have heard about it, Mr. Alfred said. Wayne Barrow, Wallace's co-manager at the time, stated that Wallace was recording the track Nasty Girl on the night Shakur was shot. Shortly after Shakur's death, Wallace met with Snoop Dogg, who claimed he never hated Shakur. During the recording of his second album, Life After Death, Wallace and Lil' Cease were arrested for public marijuana use, resulting in the repossession of their car. Wallace opted to rent a Chevrolet Lumina rental SUV, despite Lil' Cease's concerns about its faulty brakes. The car was ultimately crashed into a rail, breaking Wallace's left leg and fracturing Lil' Cease's jaw. Wallace spent months in the hospital, initially using a wheelchair, later relying on a cane, which he used until his death, and undergoing therapy. Despite his hospitalization, he continued working on the album, referencing the accident in Long Kiss Goodnight with the line, Ya still tickle me, I used to be as strong as Ripple be. Til Lil' Cease crippled me. On the 29th of October 1996, Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher C.J. Wallace Jr. Around this time, Wallace began recording the songs for Life After Death. The following month, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album Hard Core. Lil' Kim described herself as Wallace's biggest fan and referred to herself as his pride and joy. In a 2012 interview, Lil' Kim revealed that Wallace stopped her from recording a remix of Jodeci's single Love U 4 Life by locking her in a room. According to Kim, Wallace told her she was not gonna go do no song with them, likely due to Jodeci's association with Shakur and Death Row Records. While working on Life After Death, Wallace began to lose weight, losing around 20 pounds, according to his mother.
On the 8th of March 1997, Wallace attended a Soul Train Awards after-party hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. Guests included Evans, Aaliyah and members of the Bloods and Crips gangs. With over 2,000 people overcrowding the venue, fire marshals shut it down at 12:35 a.m. on the 9th of March. After taking a few photos, Wallace and his crew headed downstairs to the Chevrolet Suburbans they had rented from Budget Rent a Car. He traveled in the front passenger seat alongside associates Damion D-Roc Butler, Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory G-Money Young. Combs traveled in the other Suburban with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy director of security Paul Offord. Soon after Wallace's Suburban stopped at the red light, a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up to the right side of the car Wallace was in. The Impala's driver, described as an unidentified African-American man in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9mm blue-steel pistol, and fired at Wallace's vehicle. Wallace was struck by four bullets. His entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where an emergency thoracotomy was performed, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. He was twenty-four years old. An autopsy report, released fifteen years after his death, revealed that only the final shot proved fatal. The bullet entered through his right hip, damaging his colon, liver, heart, and left lung before coming to rest in his left shoulder. Wallace's funeral was held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan on the 18th of March. There were more than 350 mourners at the funeral, including Lil' Cease, Queen Latifah, Flavor Flav, Mary J. Blige, Lil' Kim, Run-D.M.C., DJ Kool Herc, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella, Foxy Brown, and Sister Souljah. David Dinkins and Clive Davis also attended the funeral. After the funeral, his body was cremated at the Fresh Pond Crematory in Fresh Pond, Queens, and the ashes were given to his family. The murder of Christopher Wallace was not just the end of a life but the end of an era, leaving a void that would never be filled. The circumstances surrounding his death remain a subject of intense speculation and investigation, with no one ever being charged with the crime. The mystery of who pulled the trigger continues to haunt the hip-hop community, a dark shadow over the legacy of a man who had already achieved so much.
Sixteen days after his death, Wallace's second studio album, Life After Death, was released on the 25th of March 1997. The album achieved four-time platinum certification and became the highest-selling release of the year, tying with MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em as one of the best-selling rap albums of all time at release. Life After Death debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It had briefly appeared earlier at No. 176 due to street-date violations. The follow-up single of Hypnotize, Mo Money Mo Problems, featuring Combs and Mase, became Wallace's biggest chart success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist to achieve two posthumous No. 1 singles. The third single, Sky's the Limit, featuring the band 112, featured a Spike Jonze-directed video with children portraying Wallace and his contemporaries, including Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. In December 1997, Spin named Wallace Artist of the Year, with Hypnotize as Single of the Year. In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on five tracks, including the single Victory. The album's second single, I'll Be Missing You, featuring Combs, Evans, and 112, was dedicated to Wallace's memory and became a worldwide chart-topper. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Life After Death and its first two singles, Hypnotize and Mo Money Mo Problems, received nominations in the rap category. Combs' No Way Out won Best Rap Album, while I'll Be Missing You won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, where Wallace's Mo Money Mo Problems was also nominated. In December 1999, Bad Boy Records released Born Again, an album featuring previously unreleased material from Wallace, mixed with new guest appearances from artists he had not collaborated with during his lifetime, including Eminem and Missy Elliott. It spawned two singles: Dead Wrong and Notorious B.I.G., released on the 26th of October 1999, and the 11th of December 1999, respectively. Notorious B.I.G. peaked at No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wallace featured on Michael Jackson's album Invincible, providing lead vocals for the track Unbreakable, which was released on the 30th of October 2001. Wallace's vocals appeared on Ashanti's Unfoolish in 2002, and the track Runnin' Dying to Live with Shakur in 2003. Duets: The Final Chapter, a remix album, was released on the 20th of December 2005, which spawned the singles Nasty Girl and Spit Your Game. Nasty Girl features Combs, Nelly, Jagged Edge and Avery Storm, and Spit Your Game includes guest appearances from Krayzie Bone, Twista, and 8Ball & MJG. The album peaked at No. 3 on Billboard 200, while Nasty Girl peaked at No. 44 on the Hot 100. Combs and Voletta both stated Duets: The Final Chapter would be the last album primarily featuring new material. A compilation album, Greatest Hits, was released on the 6th of March 2007, three days before the tenth anniversary of Wallace's death. It included tracks like Juicy and Big Poppa, but was criticized by AllMusic for not containing hits like Mo Money Mo Problems and Going Back to Cali. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. On the 19th of May 2017, The King & I, a duet album featuring Evans and Wallace, was released, showcasing mostly unreleased tracks. The album peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard 200. Wallace's certified U.S. sales exceed 28 million copies, including 21 million albums. Rolling Stone called him the greatest rapper that ever lived, and, in 2015, Billboard named him the greatest rapper of all time. The Source named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue. In 2006, MTV 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. In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The posthumous releases ensured that his voice would never be silenced, turning his death into a legend that would outlive his life.
Wallace had the vocal range of a baritone. He typically rapped in a deep tone that Rolling Stone described as a thick, jaunty grumble, which became even deeper on Life After Death. Wallace was frequently joined by Combs, who contributed ad libs to his tracks. The Source Unsigned Hype column described his style as cool, nasal, and filtered, blessing his own material. AllMusic noted Wallace's talent for layering multiple rhymes in rapid succession, while Time magazine highlighted his ability to deliver multi-syllabic rhymes smoothly. Scholar Adam Krims described his rhythmic style as effusive. Wallace often used onomatopoeic sounds, like uhhh at the start of tracks such as Hypnotize and Big Poppa. Lateef of Latyrx described Wallace as having intense and complex flows, while Onyx's Fredro Starr called him a master of the flow. Rapper Bishop Lamont praised Wallace's ability to capture all the hemispheres of the music. Wallace often employed single-line rhyme schemes to bring variety and depth to his flow. Big Daddy Kane noted that Wallace did not need an extensive vocabulary to impress; instead, he just put his words together a slick way, and it worked well for him. Known for composing lyrics in his head rather than writing them down, Wallace occasionally deviated from his usual style. For example, he sang in a slow falsetto on Playa Hater and adapted to the rapid-fire rhyme flow of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on Notorious Thugs. Wallace's lyrics explored a range of themes, including mafioso narratives, reflections on his drug-dealing past, materialistic boasting, humor, and romantic experiences. In 2004, Rolling Stone praised him as one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs. In the book How to Rap, rapper Guerilla Black highlighted Wallace's ability to glorify the upper echelon while also making listeners feel his struggle. According to The New York Times journalist Touré, Wallace's lyrics mixed autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty. Another writer for The New York Times, Michel Marriott, noted in 1997 that his lyrics were not entirely autobiographical, as he had a talent for exaggeration to improve his storytelling and sales appeal. Wallace described his debut album, Ready to Die, as a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in his life involving bitches and niggas from the beginning to the end. Rolling Stone described Ready to Die as a contrast of bleak street visions and being full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop. AllMusic noted a sense of doom in some of his songs, while Jon Pareles of The New York Times described a thread of paranoia in others. Wallace himself stated that he felt broke and depressed while creating his debut album. The final track on Ready to Die, Suicidal Thoughts, portrays a character contemplating and ultimately committing suicide. On his follow-up album, Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics delved even deeper, as observed by Rolling Stone. Krims observed that the record alternates between upbeat, dance-oriented tracks and gritty reality rap, reflecting a thematic shift toward a more pimp persona. XXL Mag noted that Wallace revamped his image between the two albums, evolving from a mid-level hustler on his debut to a drug lord on his sophomore effort. AllMusic credited Wallace's storytelling ability as a key factor in the success of Ready to Die. His artistry was a complex tapestry of street life, personal struggle, and musical innovation, making him a unique voice in the history of hip-hop.
African-American male rappers
Atlantic Records artists
G-funk artists
Gangsta rappers
Murdered African-American people