Murder of Biggie Smalls [Paperback]

Scott points up biographical details that bring them into focus as human beings. For setting the record straight as well as for limning a major pop music star, this is a valuable book.

The picture painted of the investigation of Biggie's murder is more detailed than anything found in the music press.

Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. is now the subject of a major movie Notorious, starring Jamal Woolard and Angela Bassett. Biggie exploded onto the hip-hop scene with his platinum selling album 'Ready to Die' in 1995. His life had come a long way from the years spent in Brooklyn, New York, where he dropped out of school to pursue street culture and master his rapping style. It was on the street that he began emceeing his original raps and was discovered by Sean 'Puffy' Combs aka P. Diddy. Within a few years he had achieved two successful rap albums, several million dollars in earnings, a Billboard Music Award for Rapper of the Year (1996), and a marriage to R&B singer Faith Evans. Despite becoming king of his world, Biggie didn't leave the life he rapped about. He had several run-ins with the law, on charges ranging from assault to drugs and weapon possession. In 1995 both he and Combs were publicly accused by Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur's camp of setting up the attempted murder of Tupac, a charge they both vehemently denied. In Septemeber 1996, when Tupac was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, many accused Biggie Smalls of playing a part in the murder. On 9th March, 1997, having attended the Soul Train music awards, Biggie Smalls was shot down in LA. His death rocked the music industry and a media storm followed as millions of fans mourned.

Cathy Scott is an award-winning journalist and author of the best-selling 'The Killing of Tupac Shakur'. She has interviewed many of those involved with Biggie Smalls and reviewed court documents and police reports surrounding the case in order to bring us the real story of the murder of the Notorious BIG.