Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that’s why they broke, and you’re so paid (uh)
Hypnotize by The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace — best known as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie — was only 24 years old when he was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997. Whether you like his music style — or his lifestyle — or not, the fact is, if an artist becomes huge, there’s a reason for it. They have talent.
Biggie was known as “the savior of East Coast hip-hop” and is consider by experts in the genre to be one of the best artists in hip hop music, with Source Magazine naming him the greatest rapper of all time in 2002.
The rare video footage below shows a 17-year-old Biggie doing freestyle rap in the streets in Brooklyn. Love him or hate him (I love him!), this is what greatness looks like.
