still unsolved. There are many factors behind why, such as Suge Knight’s involvement, the LAPD, and Puff Daddy not liking him. Christopher Wallace, known by his rapper name The Notorious B.I.G. was born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. Though skilled in English, Wallace often skipped class at Westinghouse High School and dropped out at age 17 in 1989. He began selling drugs at age 12, as he admitted in a 1994 New York Times interview, working near his mother’s apartment on St. James Place while she worked long hours, unaware. After dropping out, Wallace increased his drug sales but soon got into legal trouble. As a teen, he started rapping to entertain his Brooklyn neighborhood, adopting the name Biggie Smalls, inspired by a 1975 gang …show more content…
The deaths of Biggie and Tupac illustrate the tragic consequences of coastal rivalry. Theories abound over who killed them and whether Tupac's death was faked for safety, but the murders remain unsolved. Biggie was working the streets next to his mother's apartment on St. James Place. Voletta worked long hours and had no idea of her son's activities. Right after Biggie dropped out of school, he stepped up to play this game and soon got in trouble with the law. Biggie began rapping as a teen just to entertain people on the street in his neighborhood. Upon his release from prison, Biggie recorded a demo tape as "Biggie Smalls" (after a gang leader in the 1975 movie Let's do it again). He had no intention of pursuing a career in music, "it was just fun to hear me on tape over beats," but the tape made its way to "The Source" magazine, which was so impressed that it featured Biggie in the March 1992 "Unsigned Hype" column. Sean' "Puffy" Combs offered Biggie a record deal, but soon after, he left the label after falling out with his manager, Andrea Harrell, who had set up his own label, Bad Boy