Ethan Rhodes
Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. He was born on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York, and quickly became a prominent figure in the East Coast hip-hop scene. But where exactly was he born? Some sources claim that he was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, while others state that he was born at Cumberland Hospital, also in Brooklyn. Regardless of the specific location, his birth marked the beginning of a remarkable journey that would shape the course of hip-hop music and leave an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Christopher George Latore Wallace |
| Nicknames | Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G., Big Poppa, Frank White |
| Date of Birth | May 21, 1972 |
| Hospital Born In | St. Mary's Hospital or Cumberland Hospital |
| Place of Birth | Brooklyn, New York |
| Parents | Voletta Wallace, Selwyn George Latore |
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What You'll Learn
Biggie Smalls' birth name and parents
Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., was born Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21, 1972, at either St. Mary's Hospital or Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, Voletta Wallace (1947–2025) and Selwyn George Latore (1933–1996), were Jamaican immigrants. Voletta was a preschool teacher, while Selwyn worked as a welder and local politician.
Biggie's father left the family when he was two years old, leaving Voletta to raise him while working two jobs. Despite the challenges, she ensured that her son received a good education, sending him to private school. Biggie's mother played a significant role in his life, and he even derived his name from the Winnie-the-Pooh character, as his mother called him "Chrissy-Pooh" when he was a child.
Biggie's music career began as a teenager when he started rapping to entertain his neighbourhood. He adopted the stage name MC CWest and formed a group called the Techniques with his friends Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams. However, it was his second stage name, Biggie Smalls, derived from the 1975 film 'Let's Do It Again', that propelled him into the spotlight. The name change occurred after he recorded a demo tape as Biggie Smalls, which caught the attention of The Source magazine. They profiled him in their Unsigned Hype column in March 1992, leading Sean "Puffy" Combs of Uptown Records to arrange a record deal for him.
Biggie's association with Bad Boy Records and Sean "Puffy" Combs further boosted his career. However, he initially signed with Uptown Records, and his first solo single, "Party and Bullshit", was released by the label in 1993. After Combs left Uptown Records, Biggie followed him to his new label, Bad Boy Records, becoming the first artist to sign with them. His debut studio album, "Ready to Die", was released in 1994 to critical acclaim and established him as a leading figure in East Coast hip-hop.
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The origin of his stage name
Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known by his stage names, The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was born on May 21, 1972, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Jamaican parents, Voletta Wallace, a preschool teacher, and Selwyn George Latore, a welder and local politician.
Biggie Smalls was a name he took from a character in the 1975 film *Let's Do It Again*, in which the character Biggie Smalls was played by actor Calvin Lockhart. However, in the early 1990s, a young rapper from the West Coast named Tim Bigelow was already performing under the name Biggy Smallz. He started recording music at just 12 years old in 1991 and released three songs before B.I.G.’s breakout. As B.I.G.'s popularity grew, he was threatened with legal action from the original Biggy Smallz, so he changed his name to The Notorious B.I.G. before releasing more music.
Biggie was also referred to as "Big" from an early age, due to his weight. He also adopted the stage name MC CWest and formed the Techniques with his two friends Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams.
The acronym "B.I.G." in his name stood for "Business Instead of Game".
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His childhood and youth
Christopher George Latore Wallace, known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was born on May 21, 1972, at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He was born to Jamaican immigrant parents; his mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher, and his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician. Three months before his third birthday, his father left the family, leaving his mother to raise him while working two jobs. He grew up in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill, near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Wallace began attending preschool at Quincy-Lexington Open Door Day Care Center at the age of five, where he was already bigger than most of the other children. He went on to attend the Queen of All Saints Middle School, where he excelled in English and won many awards. He became overweight by the age of 10 and was nicknamed "Big". From an early age, he was exposed to drug addicts and dealers in his neighbourhood.
Wallace's interest in music began early in his life, influenced by Black artists like the Dramatics, Blue Magic, Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. During visits to Jamaica, he was influenced by native genres such as jazz, reggae, soul, and mento. As he entered adolescence, he started listening to artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J. He adopted the stage name MC CWest and formed the Techniques with his two friends, Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams. They worked on their first songs with saxophonist Donald Harrison at his home studio.
Wallace's childhood and youth were marked by a life of crime and his immersion in street life. He started dealing drugs around the age of 12, operating along Brooklyn's Fulton Street. He was arrested on weapons possession charges in 1989 and received a five-year probationary sentence, which he violated the following year. Despite his young age, he was already nearly six feet tall and heavyset, earning him the nickname "Biggie Smalls" from Calvin Lockhart's character in the 1975 film *Let's Do It Again*.
Wallace's talent for rap was evident from a young age, as he performed with local rap crews and honed his skill with words, both verbal and written. He made demos in his basement with friends, and one of these demos caught the ear of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who was working at Uptown Records. Despite his private school education and middle-class background, Wallace chose to pursue a life of crime and drug dealing, which would ultimately cut his life and career short.
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His career and success
Christopher George Latore Wallace, known by his stage names Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G., or simply Biggie, was an American rapper widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 21, 1972, and had a rough childhood. His father, a local Jamaican politician and welder, left the family when he was just two years old, leaving his mother, a preschool teacher, to raise him while working two jobs.
Wallace was influenced by Black artists like the Dramatics, Blue Magic, Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. During visits to Jamaica, he was influenced by native genres such as jazz, reggae, soul, and mento. As an adolescent, he began listening to artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J. He adopted the stage name MC CWest and formed the Techniques with his two friends, Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams. They worked on their first songs with Donald Harrison, a saxophonist from New Orleans.
Wallace initially gained recording attention by appearing on other artists' singles. However, it was his partly autobiographical debut album, "Ready to Die" (1994), that received critical acclaim and delivered the hits "Juicy," "One More Chance," and "Big Poppa." The album became a huge success, making him a prominent figure in the East Coast hip-hop scene at a time when West Coast hip-hop dominated the mainstream. It received six platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and established him as the top-selling male solo rapper in the United States.
In 1993, when Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, the record producer of Uptown Records, was fired, Biggie Smalls signed with Combs' new label, Bad Boy Records. That same year, he worked on the remix of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love," using the pseudonym "The Notorious B.I.G.," which he used for the rest of his career. He followed up with another remix of Blige's "What's the 411?" and debuted as a solo artist in the film "Who's the Man?" with the single "Party and Bullshit."
In 1995, his protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A., composed of his childhood friends, released their debut album "Conspiracy," which achieved gold certification and chart success. Two of its singles, "Get Money" and "Player's Anthem," went platinum and gold, respectively. In 1996, he began recording songs for "Life After Death," which was released shortly after his death in 1997. The album achieved four-time platinum certification and became the highest-selling release of the year, tying with MC Hammer's "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" (1990) as one of the best-selling rap albums of all time at release. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and the single "Hypnotize" featuring "Mo Money Mo Problems" became Wallace's biggest chart success, making him the first artist to achieve two posthumous No. 1 singles.
Biggie Smalls' influence extended beyond hip-hop, and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in January 2020. He was featured on several songs on Puff Daddy's 1997 album "No Way Out," and a single from that album, "I'll Be Missing You," dedicated to Biggie's memory, won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1998. There have also been two posthumous albums using previously unreleased material: "Born Again" in 1999 and "Duets: The Final Chapter" in 2005, featuring artists such as Eminem, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Bob Marley.
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His death
On March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., was shot and killed at the age of 24. The murder took place in the early hours of the morning, shortly after the rapper left a Soul Train Awards after-party hosted by Vibe Magazine at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Biggie was riding in an SUV with a bodyguard and fellow rapper Lil' Cease. Their vehicle stopped at a red light at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue when a dark-coloured 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up alongside them. The driver of the Impala, described as a black male wearing a light blue suit and bow tie, lowered his window, drew a 9mm pistol, and fired six shots into the SUV. Four of the bullets hit Biggie, and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:15 am.
Biggie's murder is widely believed to be connected to the killing of fellow rapper Tupac Shakur, with whom he had a bitter rivalry. Shakur was killed in a similar drive-by shooting in Las Vegas six months prior to Biggie's death. The rivalry between the two rappers was part of the larger East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud, and it has been speculated that Biggie's shooting was a form of retaliation for Shakur's murder. However, no conclusive evidence has been found, and the case remains unsolved.
Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading alleged that Marion "Suge" Knight, the head of Death Row Records, orchestrated the murder in revenge for Shakur's death. Kading claimed that Knight conspired with corrupt LAPD officer David Mack, and that the hitman who killed Biggie was either Amir Muhammad or Wardell "Poochie" Fouse, a Mob Piru gang member and associate of Knight. Knight has been named as a possible suspect by multiple sources, but he was incarcerated for an unrelated crime in 2018.
Biggie's death came just weeks before the scheduled release of his second studio album, "Life After Death", which was posthumously released on March 25, 1997. The album was a commercial success and included collaborations with artists such as Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, and Lil' Kim.
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Frequently asked questions
Christopher George Latore Wallace.
St. Mary's Hospital, Brooklyn, New York.
21 May 1972.
Biggie was nicknamed "Big" because he was overweight as a child.
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