Notorious B.I.G. Caricature

Notorious B.I.G. Caricature, illustrated here from a photo shoot for the 1994 November issue of Interview Magazine (Page 82) in the summer of 1994 on Jay Street in Brooklyn, NYC, age 21.

Christopher Wallace, known professionally as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or Biggie, was an American rapper. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. The Notorious B.I.G. was noted for his “loose, easy flow”; dark, semi-autobiographical lyrics; and storytelling abilities, which focused on crime and hardship.

The Notorious B.I.G. was born and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His debut album Ready to Die (1994) made him a central figure in East Coast hip hop and increased New York City’s visibility in the genre at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated the mainstream. The following year, he led Junior M.A.F.I.A.—a protégé group composed of his childhood friends—to chart success. In 1996, while recording his second album, The Notorious B.I.G. was heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud.

Following Tupac Shakur’s death by a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 7, 1996, rumors of his involvement with Shakur’s murder spread. On March 9, 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His second album, Life After Death (1997), released two weeks later, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. In 2000, it became one of the few hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond.

Top ten hits: “Kick In The Door”, “Big Poppa”, “Get Money”, “Warning”, “I’ve Got A Story To Tell”, “Sky’s The Limit”, “What’s Beef?”, “Suicidal Thoughts”, “The World Is Filled…” and “Brooklyn’s Finest”.

On March 8, 1997, Wallace presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. After the ceremony, he attended an after party hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Just after midnight, Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel.

Wallace’s truck stopped at a red light 50 yards from the museum. A black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside Wallace’s truck. The driver of the Impala, an African-American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban. Four bullets hit Wallace.

His entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. Biggie Smalls was 24 years old.

Rolling Stone has referred to him as the “greatest rapper that ever lived” and Billboard named him as the greatest rapper of all time.