The Murder of Biggie Smalls

The Notorious B.I.G. – Christopher Wallace, born in 1972, spent the majority of his life in the Bed-Sty neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 12, he began selling drugs. He became a central figure in the east-coast hip-hop scene after he was discovered by Sean “Puffy” Combs, with his platinum-selling album Ready to Die in 1995. The gangster-life was brought to an end on March 9, 1997, where Biggie was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.

Setting
Christopher Wallace was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Wallace grew up in neighboring Clinton Hill. Biggie also went to the private Roman Catholic Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in the same area of his home. In 1991 Biggie was arrested in North Carolina for dealing drugs. He spent nine months in the jail, until he was bailed out.

In February 1997, Wallace traveled to California to promote his upcoming album and to record a music video for the single “Hypnotize”. On March 9, 1997, Biggie’s rap career came to an end, Wallace was killed by an unknown male in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.

Short Summary
In 1994, Biggie was accused of the shooting on former friend Tupac Shakur. His hip-hop career was focused by the struggle between Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records, which occupied most of his life. Tupac was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. Rumors of Biggie’s involvement in Tupac’s murder were showing up almost immediately.

Biggie Smalls, age 24, was pronounced dead at 1:15 A.M. On Sunday, March 1997. He was cut down in a fashion eerily similar to that of Tupac Shakur: on a crowded street during a drive-by shooting in a bold attack in front of hundreds of potential witnesses, attending an out-of-town party.

Biggie’s death shook the Hip-Hop world, and because of it, hip-hop has never been the same. Unfortunately, Biggie’s murder was not the last in the rap scene. From Tupac Shakur to Big L, murderous violence has taken the lives of rappers before they were able to show their true potential.

Description of the main character
Christopher Wallace was a rapper under the names “The Notorious B.I.G. and “Biggie Smalls.” As he got older, his mother called him Chris, or Christopher, but to the neighborhood kids he was “Big”, the name would help carry him into one of the shortest but most successful rap careers in the history of hip-hop.

As a teenager, he grew to become even bulkier, but not obese. At the age of 17, Biggie dropped out of high school. He was claimed to be a very good student, winning several awards as an English student. Upon dropping out he became further involved in crime. At the time of his death on March 9, 1997, Biggie carried nearly 400 pounds, nearly 180 kilos.

Themes
The books intention is to get a better view of what really happened to the rapper Christopher Wallace a.k.a. Biggie Smalls a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie Smalls had a sudden death, and the police or the FBI never caught the killer. Biggie didn’t have high security that day, and he did not use a bulletproof car.

Rumors were that Suge Knight had arranged the killing of Biggie Smalls. After the killing, Biggie’s mother had brought a law suit against the LAPD, but it was declared a miss trial. The off duty LAPD officers who were claimed to be killing Biggie, used to provide security for Suge Knight. Both officers and Suge belonged to the notorious gang “the Bloods.”

The security rules was that celebrities never was supposed to sit near the window, especially not in the front seat with easy access, and Biggie did not wear a bulletproof vest that day. What is weird is that no one ever caught the license plate of the car, or that the police couldn’t stop the car. The book takes you through biggie’s life, and gives you information about what happened after the murder.

Conclusion
No one has ever been arrested for Biggie’s, or Tupac’s murder. Why are rappers murder cases never solved? Is it because witnesses fail to report what happened, or maybe the potential witnesses was afraid of being labeled a snitch? It’s hard to believe that no one knows who killed Tupac or Biggie.The Murder of Biggie Smalls is a griping story, but much of the story was focused on other subjects. There was a whole chapter which was dedicated to the murder of Tupac Shakur, and a whole chapter which was dedicated to Puff Daddy. There was a lot of unnecessary, boring information about police structures and such that in my opinion aren’t interesting.Good or not, this is the only book touching on the subject of Christopher Wallace’s life. Fans don’t want to miss it, but casuals may want to skip it.