1. The reason why Biggie Smalls became The Notorious B.I.G.
The name Biggie Smalls originated from a 1975 movie called ‘Let’s Do It Again,’ in it Biggie Smalls, played by Calvin Lockhart, lead a gang. Later, Lockhart sued, and Biggie was forced to change his official name to Notorious B.I.G.
2. His full name is Christopher George Latore Wallace.
3. Biggie is one of the few hip-hop artist to ever record with Michael Jackson.
Not only did he combine his talents with the King of Pop once, but twice. The first he did this was in 1995. He joined MJ on the track called ‘This Time Around’. About six years later, Michael Jackson released his tenth studio album ‘Invincible’ which has a verse from B.I.G.
4. He was overweight growing up.
At Queen of All Saints Middle School, Wallace did very well in class and even won several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed “Big” because of his overweight size by age 10.
5. Biggie went to school with some pretty famous school-mates.
Biggie attended George Westinghouse Information Technology School which is located in downtown Harlem, the same school that Busta Rhymes, DMX and Jay Z attended.
6. Puff gave The Notorious B.I.G approximately $25,000 as an advance for signing with Bad Boy.
Well if that isn’t a true friend then I do not know what is! Voletta Wallace (Biggie’s mother) touched on this in her book Biggie, which she published eight years after her sons death. In the book, she mentions, “The truth is, Christopher accepted the illusion of a friend and mentor for about $25,000. That’s the amount Puffy lured my son with… It was enough money to make my son believe that Puffy was ready to do anything for him.”
7. Biggie had two kids, a boy and a girl.
His first child was his daughter, Tyanna Wallace, with his girlfriend “Jan.” He had his son, Christopher Jordan Wallace with his wife, Faith Evans.
8. It is NOT Notorious B.I.G on the cover of ‘Ready To Die.’
No that little baby on his albums isn’t Biggie himself but the baby is now a 20-year-old basketball player named Keithroy Yearwood living in the US. How much cash did he get for appearing on the album that would go down in history and be regarded as one of the best albums ever to be made in hip-hop? A measly $150.
9. Tupac bought Biggie his first Rolex watch.
I wish my enemies bought me a Rolex. They were known for being “arch enemies”, but before that Tupac and Biggie were really good friends. So much so, that Tupac bought Biggie his very first Rolex watch.
10. Biggie was arrested seven times in all.
His first arrest was in 1989 for carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm. Other arrests were for selling drugs, robbery and assaulting a couple of autograph seekers. The longest amount of time that Biggie spent in jail was nine months.
