he Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) was born Chris Wallace in Brooklyn, NY. In his youth, Biggie spent nine months in prison for selling crack after dropping out of high school. Legal problems (with assaults, drugs, and weapons charges) continued into his emergence as a successful rapper until his death at age 24 in 1997. Biggie's success in music began when his demo made it to the desk of Uptown Records and eventually Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy) who took Biggie with him to Bad Boy Records. Biggie's notoriety started when he contributed a remix to Mary J. Blige's LP, What's The 411? and a track on the Who's The Man? soundtrack.
August 1994: Biggie topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for a week with "Juicy."
September 1994: Biggie's debut release, Ready To Die, was released and established Biggie as a rapping force in the industry. The Notorious B.I.G. hit the Top 40 with "Juicy / Unbelievable."
November 1994: The single "Juicy / Unbelievable" was certified gold and Ready To Die was certified gold. Tupac Shakur (2pac) is shot 4 times during a robbery in New York City: he loses $40K of jewelry, and he says Biggie is involved someway in the shooting.
January 1995: Biggie hit the Top 40 with "Big Poppa." The Notorious B.I.G. topped the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart for 9 weeks with "Big Poppa/Warning."
February 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. topped the Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for a week with "Big Poppa/Warning." The single "Big Poppa" was certified gold.
March 1995: Biggie hit the Top 10 with "Big Poppa." Ready To Die was certified platinum.
April 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. helped out Total with the Top 40 track "Can't You See."
May 1995: The single "Big Poppa" was certified platinum.
June 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. topped the Billboard Singles Sales chart for 5 weeks, the R&B Singles chart for 9 weeks, the R&B Singles Sales chart for 9 weeks, and the Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 5 weeks with "One More Chance/The What." After a few modest hits on the radio, the Notorious B.I.G. crossed over all music platforms in 1995 with his Top 10 song "Big Poppa." The song became Biggie's signature song and was followed up with another Top 10 hit, "One More Chance" (hitting the Top 40 in June). Ready To Die sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. and established Biggie as a premiere hip-hop artist representing the East Coast sound of rap music. Biggie also contributed his rap vocals to hits by many other artists including Total, the Junior M.A.F.I.A., 112, Da Brat, and Lil' Kim. As Biggie's East Coast rap sounds grew in popularity, so did the rivalry between East and West Coast rappers, especially with 2Pac. The Notorious B.I.G. won 2 Billboard Music Awards for Rap Artist of the Year and Rap Single of the Year ("One More Chance").
July 1995: The single "One More Chance" was certified platinum.
August 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. hit the Top 10 with ""One More Chance."
December 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. topped the Billboard Year-End Chart-Toppers as the Top Pop Artist - Male (singles & albums), Top Hot 100 Singles Artist - Male, Top R&B Artist - Male (singles & albums), Top Hot R&B Singles Artist - Male, Top Hot R&B Singles Sales ("One More Chance / Stay With Me"), Top Hot Rap Artist, Top Hot Rap Single ("One More Chance / Stay With Me"), Top Hot Rap Artist - Male, and Top Hot Dance Maxi-Singles Sales Artist. Ready To Die was certified 2x platinum.
Mid 1996: Tupac releases 'Hit Em Up' a scathing diss track aimed at Biggie and the Bad Boy Roster in which he states he slepped with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans.
February 1996: The Notorious B.I.G. helped out the Junior M.A.F.I.A. with "Get Money" and hit the Top 40. The Notorious B.I.G. was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance ("Big Poppa").
June 1996: The Notorious B.I.G. hit the Top 40 helping out 112 with "Only You." When 2Pac was murdered there was much speculation that the Notorious B.I.G.'s camp was involved in some manner. There was often talk that Biggie and Combs may have been involved with a robbery and shooting of 2Pac in 1994.
June 1996: Biggies bitter rival, and ex-friend, Tupac Shakur (2pac) is shot in a drive-by shooting, Las Vegas NV. He dies in hosptial five days later.
January 1997: An arrest warrant was issued for the Notorious B.I.G. in New Jersey after he did not show up to answer assault charges in court. A civil court later ordered Biggie to pay over $40,000 in damages to the man while the criminal charges were pending. The charges stem from a May, 1995 incident with a concert promoter. Additional charges Biggie was facing included charges from 1996 alleged drug and weapons violations and an additional assault charge stemming from a New York City nightclub incident.
9 March 1997: On March 9th, after a party for the Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles, the Notorious B.I.G. was shot and murdered at the age of 24. No one has been arrested for the murder, but some have speculated it might somehow be a retaliation for 2Pac's death. Biggie is survived by his estranged wife, Faith Evans, and 2 children.
18 March 1997: His body is flown to La Guardia Airport, where it travels by limousine motorcade to lie in state (open casket) at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home. And then off to eventual cremation in New Jersey.
March 1997: Three weeks after his death, his second LP was released, ironically titled Life After Death. The LP debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums and R&B Albums charts (where it stayed for 4 weeks).
April 1997: "Hypnotize" topped the Billboard R&B Singles chart for 3 weeks, the Billboard R&B Singles Sales chart for 3 weeks, and the Billboard Rap Singles chart for 7 weeks.
May 1997: The Notorious B.I.G. hit the Top 40 with "Hypnotize." "Hypnotize" topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for 3 weeks and the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 3 weeks. A few weeks later, a tribute to Biggie by his estranged wife, Faith Evans, and producer, Puff Daddy, "I'll Be Missing You," went to #1.
June 1997: "Hypnotize" went Top 10. The single "Hypnotize" was certified platinum.
July 1997: Biggie hit the Top 40 with "Mo Money Mo Problems" with the help of Mase and Puff Daddy.
August 1997: "Mo Money Mo Problems" topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for 2 weeks, the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 4 weeks, the Billboard R&B Singles Airplay chart for 2 weeks, the Billboard Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 2 weeks, and the Billboard Rap Singles chart for 4 weeks and hit the Top 10. Life After Death was certified 6x platinum.
September 1997: "Mo Money Mo Problems" (featuring Mase and Puff Daddy) went to #1 for a week and helped Life After Death sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. The Notorious B.I.G. won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video ("Hypnotize"). The single Mo Money Mo Problems" was certified platinum.
December 1997: Spin magazine deemed The Notorious B.I.G. "Artist Of The Year" for 1997. The editor of the magazine described B.I.G. as a "genuinely fascinating artist, hard and complicated." The slain rapper was also described as "...like Marvin Gaye or Kurt Cobain, one of those artists who music was suffused with depression and death, but still vibrated in the key of life" by the magazine's senior editor. SoundScan proclaimed The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death the sixth best-selling LP of 1997 - selling over 3.2 million copies in the U.S. The single "Sky's The Limit" was certified gold. The Notorious B.I.G. topped the Billboard Year-End Charts with the Top R&B Album (Life After Death), and as the Top R&B Album Artist and Top R&B Album Artist - Male.
January 1998: Life After Death was certified 7x platinum.
February 1998: Biggie was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Solo Performance ("Hypnotize"), Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy)), and Best Rap Album (Life After Death). The Notorious B.I.G. won a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (Life After Death) and nominated for Best R&B/Soul Album and Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video for "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy).
August 1998: Ready To Die was certified 3x platinum.
September 1998: The Notorious B.I.G. was nominated for a MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rap Video ("Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and Puff Daddy).
November 1998: Life After Death was certified 8x platinum.
October 1999: Ready To Die was certified 4x platinum.
December 1999: A collection of previously unreleased material by the Notorious B.I.G., Born Again, was released and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album chart (where it stayed for 1 week) and Billboard R&B Album chart (for a week). Life After Death was certified 9x platinum. MTV: 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made includes "Mo Money, Mo Problems" at # 23.
January 2000: Born Again was certified 2x platinum and Life After Death was certified 10x platinum.
September 2002: A controversial report from the Los Angeles Times reported that the Notorious B.I.G. was directly linked to the murder of 2Pac, including paying for the hit and supply the weapon. The report states the shooter was paid $1 million and given Biggie's own gun for the hit. Faith Evans responded to the story: "...I remember Big calling me and crying. I know for a fact he was in Jersey. He called me crying because he was in shock. I think it's fair to say he was probably afraid, given everything that was going on at that time and all the hype that was put on this so-called beef that he didn't really have in his heart against anyone."
April 2003: VH1: 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists includes the Notorious B.I.G. at # 4.
June 2003: VH1: 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "Mo Money Mo Problems" at # 58.
July 2003: The Notorious B.I.G. will be heard on the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack with the track "Realest Niggaz."
November 2003: Biggie was featured on the Resurrection soundtrack on the track "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" with 2Pac.
December 2003: Rolling Stone: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 133: Ready To Die, # 483: Life After Death.
2004: # 198 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart.
December 2005: Another Notorious B.I.G. LP was released - Duets: The Final Chapter, and featured many duets and collaborations.
January 2006: Duets: The Final Chapter topped the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart and Top Digital Albums chart. The Notorious B.I.G. topped the UK singles chart with "Nasty Girl."
February 2006: The Notorious B.I.G. hit the Top 40 with "Nasty Girl." Duets: The Final Chapter was certified platinum.
