Top 12 Best Hip Hop Rap Songs by The Notorious BIG

In this blog post, we mention some of the best hip hop rap songs by The Notorious BIG. The music artist is regarded by many as being one of the greatest rappers in history. He is well known for his story-telling style which often focused on crime-related topics.

Bio: Who is The Notorious BIG?

Christopher George Latore Wallace (born May 21, 1972) professionally known as The Notorious BIG (also known as Biggie Smalls or Biggie) was a rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 9, 1997 after being gunned down by an unknown assailant, only a year after his rival Tupac was gunned down in a similar manner the year prior.

Biggie grew up as the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents, Voletta Wallace and Selwyn George Latore. His mother was a preschool teacher whilst his father was a welder and politician. His father left them when he was only two years old, forcing his mother to work two jobs for most of his childhood to help support them.

He earned his nickname ‘Big’ because he was overweight from the age of ten. He began dealing drugs from only the age of 12 unbeknownst to his mother. He began rapping as a teenager, performing with local groups and on the streets.

Biggie’s teacher told him that he would likely be a garbage collector when he was older, his mum recalls Biggie telling the story of how he did some research and got back to the teacher the next day, saying; “A teacher makes a starting salary of $22,500. A garbage collector starts at $29,000…You said some of us inside here are gonna be garbage collectors. But we’re gonna be making more money than you, so that’s cool.” He dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen and was arrested in 1989 for weapon charges. He was arrested again a year later on drug charges and spent nine months in jail before he made bail.

Biggie was only 21-years-old when he recorded ‘Ready To Die’. Biggie wasnted the album to be full of heavy rap and rough around the edges, it was Puff Daddy who at the time convinced him to make more commercial songs and appeal to a wider audience.

Ready To Die wasn’t certified platinum till after Biggie’s death. The album has an iconic status but was actually a slow burner when it was released, having only moved 57,000 copies in its first week album sales. The album picked up momentum when Biggie dropped ‘Big Poppa’, but wasn’t certified platinum till 1999, two years after Biggie’s death. His style and flow would later on define hip-hop for the next generation.