The Notorious B.I.G.

Wallace grew up in Brooklyn and signed with Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records in 1993, the label's first artist. Ready to Die arrived in 1994 with "Juicy" and "Big Poppa," restoring East Coast prominence when the West dominated, and by 1995 he was Billboard's Rapper of the Year. Working on his second album, he fell into the East Coast-West Coast rivalry and a bitter split with former friend Tupac Shakur. After Shakur died in a Las Vegas drive-by in September 1996, rumors swirled about Wallace's involvement. Six months later, in March 1997, Wallace was shot and killed in Los Angeles, the shooter never found. Two weeks after his death Life After Death debuted at number one, went diamond, and spun off "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems." Rolling Stone called him the greatest rapper that ever lived.