The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in 1975's Let's Do it Again) and Frank White (from King of New York), but best known as

Christopher Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in 1975's Let's Do it Again) and Frank White (from King of New York), but best known as The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of Game and, since his death, Books Instead of Guns), was a popular Brooklyn-born rapper of the mid-1990s. Following his untimely death in 1997, he has been immortalized as a hip hop legend.

The 6'3", 300 pound (136 kg) rapper, was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in New York City. B.I.G.'s mother Voletta Wallace was a preschool teacher who claimed that Christopher lived a comfortable life. He would later profess otherwise on songs such as "Juicy". As an honor-roll student, he dropped out of school at 17 to work as a small-time crack cocaine dealer in his hometown. He would later traffic the drug into Virginia where it could be sold at a higher price. He rapped as a hobby and was soon discovered by DJ Mister Cee (Big Daddy Kane's former DJ), with whom he released his demo tape.