15 June 2010

Notorious

Rapper with a rap sheet

 

A short, sensational, and troubled life

A short, sensational, and troubled life

By Chester Pach

This essay is excerpted from Pop Culture versus Real America, published by the Bureau of International Information Programs. A profile of young classically trained musicians appears here.

Notorious B.I.G. was one of rap music’s greatest performers, and the film Notorious tells the story of his short, sensational, and troubled life. “Biggie’s” real name was Christopher Wallace, and he grew up in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, a teacher and single parent, provided direction and discipline, but young Christopher decided he could never make it big by staying in school, even though he was a good student. As a teenager in the 1980s, he became a street hustler, selling crack cocaine. He had money for hip clothes and fancy jewelry, but his life was full of problems. His girlfriend became pregnant, and his mother threw him out of their apartment when she found out he was a drug dealer. “I wasn’t the man my mom wanted me to be,” he said in the film.

Wallace then went to jail on a drug charge, and he was behind bars when his daughter was born. He expressed his frustration by writing rhymes in a notebook. Wallace had been a street rapper before his imprisonment. After he got out of jail, Wallace used those rhymes to land a recording contract. At first, he used the stage name Biggie Smalls, a play on his large size — over six feet and 300 pounds. Later, he started calling himself Notorious B.I.G. and released his first album, Ready to Die, in 1994. Among the raps on that album were “Suicidal Thoughts,” “Me and My Bitch,” and “Who Shot Ya?” Although darkly violent and explicitly sexual, these raps won praise from many critics and fans for capturing life on the streets in inner-city neighborhoods.

With money and fame came more difficulties. Biggie became involved in a feud between rap artists that turned violent. Tupac Shakur, another famous rapper, was gunned down in Las Vegas in September 1996, although Biggie was never implicated in the murder. Despite death threats, Biggie went to Los Angeles to promote his new album. On March 9, 1997, he, too, died in a barrage of gunfire during a drive-by shooting. He was only 24 years old. The film ends with scenes of devoted fans mourning Biggie’s death and celebrating his life because he had “proved that no dream is too big.” Two weeks later, his second album was released. The title was Life After Death.

Chester Pach teaches history at Ohio University, where he holds the title of Outstanding Graduate Faculty Member. He is the author of three books on U.S. politics and foreign policy. His next book, which will soon be published by the University Press of Kansas, is The Presidency of Ronald Reagan.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)