The Notorious BIG: Life in Photos

On May 21, 1972, Christopher Wallace was born in Brooklyn, New York. The young man would go on to rise to fame as Biggie, Notorious B.I.G., and Biggie Smalls in his early 20s, quickly becoming one of the most celebrated and influential rappers of all time. Biggie released just one studio album during his too-short life, with Life After Death and Born Again seeing posthumous release in March 1997 and December 1999, respectively. The musician was shot and killed just weeks before the scheduled release of his sophomore album; he was murdered in Los Angeles in the early hours of March 9, 1997 in a case that is still unsolved. Twenty years after the loss of Biggie, look back at his life in photos, ahead.