The Notorious B.I.G.

On March 9, 1997, the bustling nightlife of Los Angeles came to a startling halt as shots rang out of a black SS Impala, showering a man with bullets and ending his life. Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls or the Notorious B.I.G., died at approximately 1:15 that morning (Hendrickson 29-31). Wallace’s death interests multiple people for various reasons, such as how quickly it happened after Tupac Shakur’s murder and how much the murders reflected one another (Hendrickson 29-31). The…

Many of Alfred Hitchcock films all seem to revolve around the noir genre of films, but Notorious (1946), is a film that is focused on a combination of romance and suspense. This film can also be considered as one Hitchcock’s favorite films since it was one of his first work as a producer. Personally, this film seemed to have a lot going on but in a very simplistic way. The use of “pure cinema” was also used in a variety of cinematic shots of pure genius to helped take the audience in a romance…

either a dropout or has a good chance of becoming one (half of Bed-Stuy's students do not finish high school), and is probably unemployed and likely to stay so” (Douglass 1985). From this downward spiraling of economic uncertainty emerged the Notorious B.I.G. He describes his life growing up in the lowest times of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s history through his rap songs. In his song “Juicy,” Biggie talks about the rough reality of living in Bed-Stuy by rapping “To all the people that lived above the…

The trial process for the B.I.G case has been one full of frustration due to investigations failing to net any suspect. The mystery surrounds seeking to find out the individual(s) responsible for gunning down Notorious B.I.G. a number of theories have been developed that have implicated cops, gang members and beefs in the hip-hop fraternity but none was able to be proved. The lawsuit was filed by the family of the rapper against the city of Los Angeles’ police department. The opening statement…

“Juicy” – The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Total The Notorious B.I.G. career began back in 1992 when he was signed onto Bad Boy Entertainment. The Notorious B.I.G. also known as Biggie Smalls uses his lyrics in the song “Juicy”, to admit to the burden he refers to as his youth, to bear witness, and portray how he eventually redeemed himself. Biggie portrays two of Werner’s three elements found in Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip Hop Cinema by Tani Sanchez. The three elements…

began to bring up a much deeper threat to rappers. In their albums, some rappers would openly threaten each other. Some examples of such behavior are how Dr. Dre and Eazy-E would threaten Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G. The latter two rappers just mentioned, that being Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G, were both killed in a drive-by shooting. Some still speculate to this day that a couple of the east coast rappers were responsible for their deaths, however, these rappers had a strict "no snitch"…

were negative they were necessary to promote the abuse police inflicted on minorities. Aside from police brutality rap also addressed the everyday struggles of inner-city living. Legendary rappers Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) are probably the most influential rappers of all time. Some of their lyrics dubbed “ghetto poetry” that inscribed positive messages to their fans. They used their own personal experiences to express the hardships of drugs, gang banging,…

not matter that we did not know who he was and too young to even know what he was saying. It was just the joy of knowing that we knew one of our daddy's favorite artist's song. Another song that reminds so much of my younger childhood was "The Notorious B.I.G. – Big Poppa". Every time this song would come on my daddy would blast it no matter where we were. I would shout the lyrics as if we were performing a concert for the world to not only see but hear. When he finally finished, he would go on…

Masculinity, especially black masculinity, is portrayed in every rap and hip-hop song. Rap artist mostly portray hegemonic masculinity, or appear to be hypermasculine. Hypermasculinity is defined as the exaggeration of male behavior with an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. Major aspects portrayed in hip-hop and rap music are drugs, weapons, and sexual power. These three aspects form hypermasculinity, and are all in rap and hip-hop songs. Drugs are crucial to the…

Christopher George Latore Wallace, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls, is commonly known for the imprint he left in the music industry. Aside from his death on March 9, 1997, Biggie’s passion is being carried over from one generation to another leaving an influence on music in the 90’s all the way to present day 2016. Smalls left his mark on the rap industry that is currently one of the most successful businesses right now. Born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, Smalls…