"The Notorious B.I.G. was one of the premier rappers and hip-hop artists of the ‘90s. Born on May 21, 1972 in New York City, his given name was Christopher Wallace. He grew up in Brooklyn, one of the areas that gives the American inner city its infamous reputation. He was fortunate to have gotten interested in rap from an early age, because as he himself has said, he might otherwise have spent his life embroiled in the dangers and intrigues of the cocaine underground that plagues America.He had his first trip to a recording studio when he was a teenager, when he accompanied the group the Techniques as a young rapper. He got his name from his nickname Biggie Smalls, which was given to him because of his large frame, and would eventually reach well over six feet and close to 400 pounds. He started living on the streets when he was 17, seduced by the flash and hype that surrounded dealing drugs. Fortunately his life began to turn around when he was busted for dealing and sent to jail for nine months.He started recording and eventually found a producer in Sean ""Puffy"" Combs. When Combs left Uptown he took Biggie Smalls with him. Around that time Biggie changed his name to Notorious B.I.G. and met and married Faith Evans. In November of 1994 his one-time friend, Tupac Shakur, was shot in a hotel lobby in New York and robbed of thousands of dollars in jewelry. Shakur lived and accused Notorious BIG of the crime. Another attempt, this time successful, was made on Shakur's life in September of 1996. Not long after, on March 9, 1997, Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in his vehicle while leaving a party with his bodyguard and Lil' Cease. The murder is still unsolved today but there is a movie about Notorious B.I.G. being released in 2009."