Photo: Kidfly182 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Biggie is the artist I point to when someone asks what unfinished greatness sounds like, except nothing he recorded feels unfinished. In a tragically short career he set a standard for storytelling and flow that rappers still chase three decades later. That unhurried, conversational delivery over grim Brooklyn realities was a magic trick: he made the heaviest material feel effortless. Dead at twenty-four in 1997 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, he occupies that painful space between legend and interrupted sentence. For me he remains the gold standard of East Coast rap, and the what-ifs surrounding him never stop aching.
Overview
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), known professionally as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper and songwriter. Rooted in the East Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap traditions, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive, laidback lyrical delivery, offsetting his lyrics' often grim content.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- The Notorious B.I.G.
- Name (Japanese)
- ノトーリアス・B.I.G.
- Reading
- のとーりあす・B.I.G.
- Born
- May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Rat
- Origin
- Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- rapper / songwriter / musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Rapper — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.