The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace, 1972–1997) was a Brooklyn rapper and one of the most important MCs in hip hop history. Ready to Die (1994) rebuilt East Coast hip hop's commercial template, and the posthumous Life After Death went to number one two weeks after his still-unsolved murder. Dig into The Notorious B.I.G. vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Christopher George Latore Wallace, performing as The Notorious B.I.G. (also Biggie Smalls and Biggie), was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 21, 1972 and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. He launched his recording career in the early 1990s and signed with Sean Combs's (Puff Daddy / P. Diddy / Diddy) Bad Boy Records. His 1994 debut Ready to Die became one of the most important debut albums in hip hop history - establishing East Coast hip hop's contemporary commercial template. His public feud with Tupac Shakur across 1995-1996 (intertwined with the broader East Coast / West Coast hip hop rivalry between Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records) became a defining cultural moment of the era. Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. The Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 at age 24, six months after Tupac's death. Both cases remain officially unsolved. His posthumous double album Life After Death (released two weeks after his death on March 25, 1997) reached number one on the Billboard 200. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 (posthumously). His foundational influence on East Coast hip hop and broader hip hop history is widely cited.
The Notorious B.I.G.'s sound combines hip hop, East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop, gangsta rap, mafioso rap, and conscious hip hop with his distinctive flow (range from intricate technical material to relaxed conversational delivery), virtuosic technical lyrical approach, and lyrical content addressing Brooklyn life, the drug trade, ambition, and contemporary urban experience drawing on autobiographical material.
Original Bad Boy Records / Arista pressings of the Notorious B.I.G. catalog are foundational items in hip hop collecting. Multiple anniversary editions of Ready to Die and Life After Death, audiophile reissues, and the comprehensive Bad Boy / Atlantic reissue programs have been released.
Listeners new to The Notorious B.I.G. typically start with Ready to Die (1994).
