Article by: Matt McQuaid

Yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of the death of one of the best to emcees to ever rock a microphone, Christopher Wallace, aka theNotorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls.

Wallace was only 24 years old when he was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
Raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Wallace rose to fame after hooking up with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’
Bad Boy Records,where he released his classic album Ready to Die (Bad Boy, 1994).

Later in his career, he was at the center of a high-profile feud with fellow rapper Tupac Shakur.

The Notorious B.I.G. was known for his loose flow, piling multiple rhymes on top of one another, and his unique story-telling abilities displayed in such tracks as “NiggasBleed” and “Warning.”

B.I.G. has been cited as an influence by a number of well-established rappers, including Papoose, Nelly, Fat Joe,Lil’ Wayne, and Jay-Z.

He is survived by his former wife, singer Faith Evans, and his two children.