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A star was born.
Christopher Wallace, later known by his stage name "Biggie Smalls", was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. -
Just Christopher and his mom...
When Christopher was two years old, his father left him and his mother behind. His mother had to work two jobs to support them. -
Christopher becomes "Big"
At the Queen of All Saints Middle School, Wallace excelled in class, winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed "Big" because of his overweight size by age 10. -
Christopher walks down the wrong road...
At the age of 12, Christopher began selling illegal drugs. His mother, often away at work, did not know of her son's drug sales until he was much older. -
Christopher continues his downward spiral
At seventeen, Wallace dropped out of school and became further involved in crime by dealing crack. He was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. -
Biggie Smalls is born!
During his 9 months in jail, Christopher began writing rhymes every day. He came out of jail with hundreds or rhymes ready to be recorded. After being released from jail, Wallace made a demo tape under the name "Biggie Smalls" (in refrence to his stature: 6 feet 3 inches and over 300 pounds). -
Christopher does BIG time
Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail before making bail. -
Biggie Smalls gets noticed
Wallace was featured in The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column, dedicated to aspiring rappers, and was invited to produce a recording with other unsigned artists ...The demo tape was heard by Uptown Records A&R and record producer, Sean Combs, who arranged for a meeting with Wallace. -
P.Diddy gets Biggie on the right track
Wallace signed to P.Diddy's new imprint label, Bad Boy Records. He started his rap career. -
Biggie has a baby!
Wallace's longtime girlfriend gave birth to his first child, T'yanna. He continued selling drugs after the birth to support his daughter financially. Once P.Diddy discovered this, he forced Wallace to choose drugs or a rap career... Biggie chose the career. -
His first album and marriage!
Biggie married R&B singer Faith Evans after they met at a Bad Boy photoshoot. Four days later, Wallace had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with his tracks, "Juicy/Unbelievable", which reached No. 27 as the lead single to his debut album: Ready to Die -
Biggie's last day...
Wallace traveled to California to promote his upcoming second studio album and film a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize". At the time, there was an east coast and west coast division in rap music. It was not safe for Biggie to be in California... -
Biggie passed.
Wallace left a Soul Train Music award after party around 12:30am. As his car was waiting at a red light, he was shot four times from a 9mm blue-steel pistol. He was pronounced dead at 1:15am.
