Wednesday 19 February 2014

Who The Fuck Is Biggie Smalls?!

I was just wondering what people's reactions would be if I pretended I didn't know Notorious B.I.G. was dead, when somebody very close to me - naming no names - made it evident that they don't actually know who B.I.G. was/is in the first place. I don't know whether it's just me being a little ignorant or not, but I was kind of under the impression that everybody knows about Biggie Smalls. If not, I feel like you probably should know, because he's got to be in the top ten of most important rap artists to have ever lived - he's in mine at least.
Born Christopher Wallace in New York City, he spent some time as a crack dealer before making a demo tape that caught the attention of some producers, as it does, and making his way into the hip hop scene. West Coast (California) hip hop was bigger at the time, but Biggie did a lot for East Coast hip hop and, as a result, ended up part of the fighting between the two sides, and ultimately was killed in a drive-by shooting. The murderer and motive are still unknown, but a lot of people suggest it was due to the fighting, which also resulted in Tupac Shakur's death (you may just have heard of him . . .).
As does tend to happen in hip hop, Biggie collaborated with a lot of people in his time, notably Puff Daddy, Lil Kim and Snoop Dogg amongst others - some while alive, some in remastered versions of songs after he died.
"How will I know if I like him?" I hear you ask. Conveniently enough, I've included links to some of my favourite Biggie Smalls songs here. Maybe it's not a very original-sounding selection, but they're some of his more popular songs for a reason:

Juicy

Nasty Girl (feat. Puff Daddy, Avery Storm, Nelly & Jagged Edge)

Big Poppa

Mo Money Mo Problems (feat. Mase & Puff Daddy)

Suicidal Thoughts