Music has always been a big part of humanity’s growth and has had a huge impact on the

development of most cultures. Back in the 1990’s, hip-hop and rap absolutely dominated the
pop-music landscape. The notorious B.I.G, also known as Christopher George Latore Wallace
or biggie, biggie smalls, big poppa, etc. was one outstanding artist from that era. Other famous
artists even looked up to him. In fact, some of the most legendary rappers alive today still
consider him to be one of the most iconic and legendary artists of all time. Biggie had a lot of
connections and was a part of the famous hip-hop group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. Junior M.A.F.I.A
consisted of many famous rappers who were some of Biggie's best friends. The group wrote
songs together, and made numerous albums that still are listened to this day.Talking about best
friends, Tupac Shakur, (another legendary and misunderstood artist) was one of Biggie’s best
friends before the shooting incident that would change their destinies. Tupac and Biggie
recorded songs and were best of friends but they transformed from friends to enemies one
night. This essay will explore this star-crossed connection and also the cultural impact these 2
artists had on hip-hop and 90’s music in general.

Christopher George Latore Wallace, aka biggie was born in Brooklyn, New York on May, 21st
1972. Biggie was born to his mom, Voletta (a preschool teacher.) and his dad, or should I say
pop, Sewlyn (A welder and local Jamaican politician). Both of Biggie’s parents hailed from the
Caribbean island of Jamaica. Biggie’s pop left when he was only 2 but his mom, Voletta
worked 2 jobs so that she could afford to send her son to a private school. Roman Catholic
Bishop Loughlin Memorial high school is the school Biggie’s mom sent him to, but Biggie
transferred to a different school called George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education
high. The school consisted of famous rappers, DMX, Busta Rhymes and Jay-Z. Biggie was
especially good at English but due to leaving school without permission all the time, he
dropped out in 1989 when he was 17. Because he was “Big”, he had a childhood nickname
called, “Big.” Biggie’s life started going down low when he started selling drugs at age 12.
“according to an interview he gave to the New York Times in 1994, working the streets near his
mom's apartment on St. James Place.” Biggie was selling drugs at a nearby street of his mom’s
apartment despite the fact she spent tons of time and energy to work extra jobs and making
money for her son. Voletta never knew what biggie was doing, she always thought Biggie was
going through a normal life in his highschool. After dropping out, “Biggie stepped up the drug
dealing.” Due to his drug dealing, he had some issues with the law. In 1989, the same year he
dropped out of high school, he received a five-year probationary sentence for weapon
possession charges. Same year he got arrested for ”violating the probation.” A year later he
spent 9 months in jail for being charged with dealing cocaine in North Carolina until he waited
long enough to make bail. Biggie started getting deep concentration to rap to obtain his skill and
his flow. Both Tupac and Biggie had so much consideration of getting fame, they both improved
they’re overall rap level high.

In 1993, at age 21, Biggie signed a contract with Bad Boy Records to release his first album
“Ready to die” in the same year for him to obtain his fame. In one night he became not just
another young gangster but to become a future rap artist that had set a high bar and had
expectations placed on him. His first album led to his superior career and was one big step for
Biggie to get famous and have people know his name.

Biggie was caught dealing drugs a few times and was sentenced to a 5 year- probationary
period and was arrested in the following year due to the violation spending 9 months behind
bars. After a few years of drug dealing and a few other crimes, the new album “Ready to Die,”
was a huge hit and made a big impact on east coast music, hitting number 6 on the Billboard
Hot 100, which made west coast rappers notice him. Biggie Smalls was an east coast rapper at
the time. At this time in the 90’s R & B, Hip-Hop, and rap music were dominated by west coast
rappers including one of the most iconic, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr.Dre and many more.
Biggie started off his career with his awesome album, ‘Ready to Die’, that put him on the map
as an east coast heavyweight in a genre that was being dominated by the west coast style.
Then Biggie Smalls continued creating albums like Life after death, and conspiracy. Which both
are albums that people think are the best. Biggie’s rapping career was booming. During the
90’s, his best friend Tupac Shakur, also started to gain popularity. Tupac and Biggie were an
iconic duo and they even collaborated on recordings together until one night at Times Square,
where everything changed. Shortly after Tupac recorded at Quad Recording Studios, he was
fatally shot a few times and died from the bullet trauma in the holes in his body. The same night
on November 29th 1994, a lot of artists were recording at the same studio, and so was Junior
M.A.F.I.A. consisting of Biggie, who was the leader. In the hospital bed, a photo was taken of
Tupac holding up the finger to the camera. According to slate.com, Tupac apparently was not
mad at the media or the camera, but at Biggie who he thought was behind all of it since they’ve
had lots of beef before the night. We don’t know much more about the night and the conflicts
between the two since they’re both long gone but, we know that Biggie was sad when Tupac
died. According to wbur.org, “When it was announced that Tupac passed away, Big was
deeply shaken. He was deeply shaken. He felt like Tupac had turned fans against him with this
East Coast, West Coast war. But at the end of the day, Tupac, he was still somebody that
Biggie cared deeply about. Though Biggie and Tupac were no longer friends, Biggie still was
devastated by his death. Tupac was from the west and Biggie from the east, conflicts between
them created a whole war against both sides and so Biggie was shot, from the people from the
east.

In the 1990’s R & B and rap music was dominated by the west coast, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube,
2pac, Tyler the creator, etc. I think this was one of the best eras of musical culture.West coast
rap was the standard bearer, when out of nowhere Biggie appears and blows every single
person’s mind with his bars and voice. He hit 4th in the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles out of all the
other artists from the west. He totally changed the public’s impression of east-coast music and
following him, was created the Junior M.A.F.I.A. Biggie's death had many in tragedy but also in
inspiration. Junior M.A.F.I.A had the responsibility to take over Biggie and they did so really
well. Lil Kim and other people from the group each made songs from then on and had Biggie
most likely proud.

Biggie gave a big impact on hip-hop 90’s history and I feel like he is one of the most legendary
rappers. He made music that changed the whole impression and he’s a true legend that is
admired by many. He had the most potential but it is sad for me to see him pass away before I
even knew him as a rapper. Overall his career, and his overall existence as a human himself
gave a positive impact to rappers to this day.