The Notorious B.I.G.

Clinton Hill Beginnings

Christopher George Latore Wallace was born on May 21, 1972, at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn. He grew up in Clinton Hill, near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and spent much of his childhood on Fulton Street. His mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher. He attended the parish school of St. Peter Claver, Queen of All Saints Middle School and George Westinghouse High School, a public school whose students also included Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes.

From Demo Tape to Bad Boy

In 1991 Wallace recorded a demo, "Microphone Murderer," with DJ 50 Grand. Brooklyn DJ Mister Cee helped promote it, and in March 1992 he was featured in The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column. That attention led to a deal with Sean Combs, first at Uptown Records and then at Combs's new Bad Boy Records, where he recorded as The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls.

Ready to Die and Life After Death

His debut album, Ready to Die (1994), reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and became a multi-platinum seller. Its singles included "Juicy," a first-person account of rising from poverty to success, and "Big Poppa," which topped the U.S. rap chart. In 1994 he also formed Junior M.A.F.I.A., a group that included Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease; their album Conspiracy followed in August 1995. In August 1994 he married singer Faith Evans.

On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at age 24. His second album, Life After Death, was released weeks later and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its singles "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" both reached No. 1.

Legacy

Wallace's recording career lasted about five years and produced two studio albums, the second released after his death. Both are regarded as landmarks of East Coast rap, and his storytelling and detailed, conversational flow remain widely studied. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Clinton Hill and the surrounding blocks of central Brooklyn remain closely tied to his story, and his recordings with Bad Boy defined much of the label's early identity.