Biggie Smalls Wiki
| Author | Cathy Scott |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | True crime, Biography |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| October 11, 2000 | |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 210 |
| ISBN | 978-0-312-26620-2 |
The Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true crime book by author and journalist Cathy Scott. Published in October 2000 by St. Martin's Press, it covers the March 9, 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in a drive-by shooting.
Background[edit]
Biggie & Tupac is a 2002 feature-length documentary film about murdered rappers Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace and Tupac '2Pac' Shakur by Nick Broomfield. Born Again is the first posthumous compilation album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records on December 7, 1999. It is composed primarily of early recorded verses with newer beats and guest rappers.
The book includes a chapter about accusations from fellow rapper Tupac Shakur, that Biggie, 24, and his producer, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, were responsible for Tupac being injured during a 1994 shooting at New York City's Quad Studios, where Biggie was recording that same night. Smalls denied the accusation, as did Combs, and no arrests were ever made in the case. In September 1996, Shakur, 25, was shot a second time, this time in Las Vegas. Shakur died six days later. That murder, too, remains unsolved, which Scott covered in The Killing of Tupac Shakur.
In what was promoted as a Sunday series with 'exclusive information' in the Los Angeles Times, the article quoted a single source saying Biggie Smalls had been in Las Vegas the night Shakur was murdered and that Smalls had paid for and ordered the hit against Shakur. When Voletta Wallace, Smalls' mother, gave proof to the Times that her son had, in fact, been in a New York studio recording music the night Shakur was shot, the newspaper retracted the story and ultimately removed it from its website. Scott commented on the article in a Las Vegas CityLife column. 'Wallace was a rapper, not a killer,' she wrote. 'He was an only child who attended private Catholic school and was raised by an over-protective single mom. While Wallace spewed violence in his songs, he wasn't a street thug like Shakur.'[1]
People magazine interviewed Scott about the claim, quoting her as saying, 'It's easy to point a finger at a dead guy. The dead can't sue.'[2]TruTV's 'Crime Library' quoted one possible scenario from the book that Combs could have been responsible for Smalls' death because 'dead stars sell records without the bothersome upkeep.'[3]
An earlier article in the L.A. Times, which accused Tupac's music producer, Suge Knight, and a rogue Los Angeles Police Department officer as also being involved in Smalls' murder, the informant for the article recanted his claims and described himself to the Times as 'a paranoid schizophrenic.'[4]
Based upon the newspaper's earlier accusations against her son, Voletta Wallace filed suit against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD in a wrongful death suit accusing police of taking part in a conspiracy to kill her son. She lost the suit when, in April 2010, a judge dismissed the claim.[5] The civil suit, along with LAPD's internal investigation, are included in The Murder of Biggie Smalls.
In January 2011, Anderson CooperAC360 reported that a new task force, composed of law enforcement officers based in the Los Angeles area, was taking a fresh look at the Smalls murder case, interviewing author Scott for AC360's blog about the probe that is said to also be looking into Shakur's murder.[6]
The book was optioned in 2000 for a feature film, Record Wars, by Jonathan Sheinberg's development and production company The Machine.[7]
Reception[edit]
According to Booklist magazine's Mike Tribby in his October 2000 review, 'Whereas others who have dealt with this stuff have often neglected to humanize the principals involved, Scott points up biographical details that bring them into focus as human beings. For setting the record straight as well as for limning a major pop music star, this is a valuable book.'[8]
The editors at Barnes & Noble wrote that 'the fatal shooting of rapper Notorious B.I.G. remains shrouded in a blanket of mystery, speculation, and grief, while his popularity is as strong as ever. Cathy Scott's The Murder of Biggie Smalls is an engrossing examination of the death of the beloved Big Poppa and the resulting investigation, which finally seems to be nearing a conclusion.'[9]
Nelson George with Africana-Magazine also reviewed the book, noting, 'The picture painted of the investigation of Biggie's murder is more detailed than anything found in the music press.[10] In 2000, The Murder of Biggie Smalls made Library Booklist's 'Realistic and Urban Fiction' for teens.[11]
The New York Post ran an excerpt upon the book's 2000 release.
Book editions[edit]
The Murder of Biggie Smalls has been reprinted in the UK by Plexus Publishing, a music genre publisher.[12] It has also been made into a talking book, read by narrator Bob Moore.[13]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Las Vegas CityLife, 'Death in Vegas: The Times claim that B.I.G. arranged the killing of Tupac Shakur simply doesn't make sense,' by Cathy Scott, September, 17 2002
- ^People magazine, 'B.I.G. Family Denies Tupac Murder Claim,' September 9, 2002
- ^Bruno, Anthony. 'Hip-Hop Homicide — 'Worth More Dead Than Alive' — Crime Library on'. Trutv.com. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
- ^Los Angeles Times, 'Informant in Rap Star's Slaying Admits Hearsay,' June 3, 2005
- ^The Guardian, 'Notorious BIG death lawsuit dismissed,' April 19, 2010
- ^' An AC360° Cold Case: Mystery still surrounds rappers' deaths,' January 6, 2011
- ^'The Station of the Nation - Internet Radio and E-Zine (scroll down)'. www.Rnation.com. Retrieved 2013-01-31.
- ^Booklist review, 'The Murder of Biggie Smalls,' October 15, 2000
- ^Barnes & Noble, 'Editorial Reviews,' October 2000
- ^Editorial Reviews, Africana-Magazine, October 2000
- ^Library Booklist, 'Realistic and Urban Fiction' (scroll down)
- ^Book listing, Plexus Publishing
- ^Talking Book Topics, Vol. 68, No. 3, May-June 2002 (scroll down)
External links[edit]
Overview (5)
| Born | in Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Died | in Los Angeles, California, USA (homicide) |
| Birth Name | Christopher George Letore Wallace |
| Nicknames | Biggie Smalls The King of New York The Black Frank White Big Poppa Frankie Baby B.I. |
| Height | 6' 2' (1.88 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, was born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Jamaican parents, Voletta Wallace, a pre-school teacher, and George Latore, a welder and small-time politician. He was raised in the poor Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Dropping out of high school at the age of seventeen, Biggie became a crack dealer, which he proclaimed was his only source of income. Hustlin' one's way was a common life for a young Black man trying to make a living in the ghetto. His career choices involved certain risks. However, a trip to North Carolina for a routine drug exchange ended being the soon-to-be MC a nine-month stay behind bars. Once released, Biggie borrowed a friend's four-track tape recorder and laid down some hip-hop tracks in a basement. The tapes were then passed around and played at local radio station in New York.
Not extremely attractive, Wallace named himself Biggie, for his weight. Biggie was a Black man who was overweight, extremely dark skinned, and had a crook in his eye, yet he was a charmer. A young impresario and sometime producer by the name of Sean Combs heard Biggie's early tapes. Impressed, Puffy went to sign Biggie to his new label, Bad Boy Records.
Puffy and Biggie worked on the artist's first album, and the Notorious B.I.G. was born. Biggie was first heard on a remix of a Mary J. Blige song and a track on the Who's the Man? (1991) soundtrack. After these successes, the album worked on earlier went through its final touches and was released in 1994, titled 'Ready to Die.' The record was certified platinum quickly, and the Notorious B.I.G. was named MC of the Year at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards. After the quick success of the album, Biggie went back to get his friends, some who didn't even rhyme. He had several run-ins with the law, on charges that ranged from beatings, to drugs and to weapons, while all claimed that Biggie was a gentle person. He soon met a rapper from the west coast named Tupac Shakur, and the two became friends.
Tupac supported Biggie and was often giving him advice. However, their friendship turned into the most violent era of hip-hop music on November 30, 1994. While Biggie and Puffy were at a recording session at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan, Tupac went there to record with another rapper for his third studio album, 'Me Against The World' at the same time, but in the lobby, Tupac was held at gunpoint and robbed of $40,000 worth of jewelry. Tupac was shot five times. Biggie rushed down just in time to see Tupac being loaded into an ambulance. Extending a middle finger, Pac blamed Biggie for the shooting and said that Biggie knew about it and failed to warn him. This sparked the East Coast, West Coast rivalry. Tupac later recovered from his injuries. During this encounter, Biggie admitted that he was scared for his life. Biggie never responded to any of Tupac's disses. Tupac attacked Biggie in every way he could, even starting strong rumors that there was a love affair between Tupac and Biggie's wife, Faith Evans.
Later, The entire country became divided into two groups, the west side and the east side, which became Death Row Records versus Bad Boy Records, Marion 'Suge' Knight versus Puff Daddy, and Tupac versus Biggie. The two of them finally met again late in 1995, and Tupac secretly said to Biggie, 'I'm just tryin' to sell some records.' Unfortunately, it became very real when on September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting off the Las Vegas strip after he left a fight he was involved in inside of the MGM Grand Hotel after a Mike Tyson boxing match. He died six days later on September 13, 1996 as a result of those gunshot wounds at the age of 25. The case is still unsolved. Biggie was scared for his life, but he wanted to put an end to the rivalry between the two coasts. Biggie went to the west coast for several events, to support for his next release album, 'Life After Death,' but also to make a statement that the rivalry was over. On March 7, 1997, he attended the Soul Train Music Awards and went to the after party hosted by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records on March 8. On March 9, Biggie was sitting in an SUV on the street when he was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant. He died almost instantly. Hip-Hop faced its greatest tragedy when both Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were killed. Biggie was only 24 years old.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rod Reece
Spouse (1)
| Faith Evans | (4 August 1994 - 9 March 1997) ( his death) ( 1 child) |
Trade Mark (3)
